Author: T. Akhtar

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Review: The Sun Down Motel

Rating: 3.5 Stars

If The Broken Girls was creepy, The Sun Down Motel promises to be so much more! Simone St. James has outdone herself in chills and secrets. A mystery spanning 35 years, the story is full of intrigue and suspense; and it has a few ghosts thrown in for additional thrill! I had fun reading this book, especially late at night when you can actually feel the creepiness of the Sun Down Motel.

In 1982, Viv Delaney stumbles onto the Sun Down Motel on her way to New York. Circumstances make her stay back in the small, strange town of Fell. The owner practically hands her the night shift, and thus begins the spooky tale of the ghostly motel. The place is frightening, and haunted, yet Viv finds herself being drawn into this dark world. Then she stumbles upon an unsolved murder and things start spiraling downwards from there.

In 2017, Carly Kirk decides to visit the town where here aunt Viv disappeared mysteriously, before Carly was born. But fate has decided to play a joke and Carly ends up with the same job as her aunt at the Sun Down Motel. Before long, she too finds herself going down the same rabbit hole as her aunt. Nothing seems to have changed at the Sun Down in the last 35 years.

The story mostly takes place during the night when the Sun Down comes to life in a very creepy way. The parallels between the lives of Viv and Carly are startling, and their destinies seem intertwined. Many times I found myself wanting to tell them to stay away from the place and leave town.

Yet, not once did I feel like the two women acted stupidly. Normally, in such situations you feel like the protagonist made stupid choices by going it alone and not asking for help. No such thing in this book. Both women are smart, courageous, and not afraid to ask for help. Yes, there are a few instances where you feel like Viv is taking too many chances, but when you know you’re right and no one believes you, there are times when you don’t really have much of a choice.

The mystery part becomes a bit easy to work out as the story progresses but that is not really the main draw of the book in the first place. The climax could have been a bit more detailed. I could have read a few more pages if I had gotten all the answers, the most bothersome being the story of Callum MacRae. Other than that, I was happy with the whole story and would recommend it to all fans of supernatural thrillers.

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Sunday Pet Peeve: The Pakistani Stereotype

Last week I read a book by a well known Pakistani author. I was looking forward to reading it, the author being someone I really admire in real life. As I delved deeper into the book, I couldn’t help but be disappointed. On the surface, there wasn’t anything wrong with the story or the characters, yet something kept nagging at me. After a while I realized what it was that was bothering me so much. It is the same thing that I have encountered time and again in many books, some of which have been popular worldwide: Stereotype.

When you’re reading about a place close to your heart, or about people like you or like someone you know, you become sensitive to the smallest of details and nuances. You start seeing discrepancies and false facts, sometimes exaggerations and even blatant lies. Ideally it shouldn’t matter too much. Everyone has the right to put their original thoughts on paper, and the world can go hang! Sometimes, however, it is not so easy to overlook this perpetuation of stereotype.

My problem has never been with the stories or the actual things happening in these books. My beef is with authors who seem to be writing things that they have no idea about. It shows lack of proper research and lazy editing.

Many people accused me of being oblivious to the multitude of sins this city hides, when I criticized Karachi, You’re Killing Me. It makes Karachi seem like a city of drug filled parties and sex and booze. I have always considered Moth Smoke an amazing book, and that whole book is about drugs, parties and all such. While one paints the 20-somethings of the whole city with the same brush, the second one makes it clear that it is talking about one segment of the city. And this is where the difference lies.

When you read The Party Worker, you will see the political under belly of this very city. A city where drugs, alcohol, sex and murder are rampant and unapologetic. Yet you will never think that this is all that Karachi has to offer. It is not the story, the characters or their actions that are problematic, it is the way they are presented in the text. Any metropolitan city in the world has many shades, no one can claim to know all of them. The least a writer can do is realize that what they’re writing does not represent the city as a whole. It is but a subset that the writer has had experience with.

Then there is the Urdu in these books. With the example of so many Hollywood Movies and TV shows getting the language wrong, one would expect the local writers to put a little more effort in using proper Urdu words wherever necessary. There have been countless instances where the word used has been correct, but its tense or form is wrong. To a person who knows the language, this just seems like sloppy writing.

In my opinion, this has mainly to do with the fact that most of our English writers are not very proficient with their mother tongue. They come from a certain educational background which makes them unaware of what they are doing wrong. This is what editors are for. Unfortunately, foreign publishing houses and editors take it for granted that the writer would know their own language. They don’t realize that knowing how to speak a language doesn’t automatically make you an expert at it.

It is unfortunate that we as a nation don’t own our language, and that it is Urdu that is a foreign language for us. The disparity in our education system is such that it is difficult to find writers proficient in both languages. Educational institutions that give importance to one and ignore the other, leading to this unfortunate result.

Now I come to the problem with how Muslims are depicted in books. I am so tired of reading the same depictions of Muslim, either religious fanatics or complete liberals. It is time to move on from the Bollywood stereotype of topi-wearing, checkered handkerchief-carrying men, with eyes full of kajal, and mouths full of Astaghfirullahs! The world happens to be full of Muslims who are not at either extreme. It seems like most writers are trying to pander to a set narrative. They are writing that which appeals to the western audience. And when you write to please someone other than yourself, it shows in your writing.

I wanted to write about all the books that I find problematic in this sense. However, I’d rather talk about books like A Place For Us and The Family Tree. Books that show the face of millions of Muslims living all over the world not up in arms or drowned in alcohol. Again, I’m not denying the existence of militants or people who have turned away from religion. But in all fairness, it is absurd to stereotype all Muslims and make it seem that these are the only ones left on this earth.

While I can rant and rave about the injustice of misrepresentation for hours, I think I should stop here. This blog is just a way for me to let out some steam. It is in no way meant to offend or please anyone. I write my thoughts without censoring them (much!) So, that’s all for today. Until next time.

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Review: The Family Tree

Rating: 4.5 Stars

First and foremost, I want to thank Sairish Hussain for writing The Family Tree. It was so refreshing to read about people that I could relate to; people like me, my friends, and my family. There have been very few books about people of Pakistani origin that portray them as normal, everyday humans, with average families and average lives, without the specter of religion haunting the whole story, sometimes even overshadowing it!

The story spans a period of some 24 years, from 1993 to 2017, and is the tale of a family living in Yorkshire. The mother dies in childbirth and leaves behind a new-born girl and a ten year old boy. This situation is bewildering and upsetting for the poor father. He fights his way through depression and brings up his children to the best of his ability. There is nothing stereotypical about this man, or any other man in this book. These characters are all as real as any living person.

Amjad is a British-born man. His parents migrated to Britain from Pakistan before his birth. He works at a warehouse and lives in a modest house, but dreams of giving his children a better life. Dreaming the same dream with him is Harun, Amjad’s best friend. Amjad’s son Saahil and Harun’s son Ehsan are also inseparable and do everything together. When his wife Neelam dies while giving birth to their daughter Zarah, it shatters Amjad. He is determined to do his best by his children and give them everything that he is capable of providing.

With Harun and his wife’s support, and with Saahil helping him along, Amjad manages to give his kids a loving home, not remarrying despite his Ammi’s constant nagging. Things start looking up when Zahra turns ten, and Saahil and Ehsan are all set to graduate from engineering university. And then everything changes in just one night. The lives of all these people change after an act of senseless violence, and Amjad finds himself left alone to raise Zahra with only the aid of his ageing Ammi.

The three main characters are also the narrators of the story. There is a background of cultural and religious identities clashing with the politics of the times. The characters are so well fleshed out that it is easy to picture them all as if they were right in front of you.

While there are many instances where I might have shed a tear or two, this book is not heavy on the heart; you never feel hopeless. Every character is determined in their own way, trying to navigate life like everyone does in the real world. They have their strengths and weaknesses; their highs and lows; yet they remain hopeful. This sense of hope is why The Family Tree stands apart from other similar books.

All through the book we encounter things like racism, religious identity, inter racial friendships, sexism, and other relevant issues. Yet, not once do these issues take over the narrative and draw you away from the real story. It is like all these things are a part of life, not anyone’s whole life. And this is what makes this book amazing in my eyes.

Amjad is representative of all those fathers who live their lives for their children. His love for his family shines in his character above everything else. My heart ached so much for this man who has to raise 2 kids on his own, and yet does the best that he can to give them a better future. There are so many fathers like him in this world, who are willing to sacrifice everything for their children, and who work tirelessly towards this end.

Saahil is one of those young men whose dreams are cut short by tragic circumstances. He is forced to grow up much before his time. His actions and their consequences are so real and believable that you can’t help but feel sad for this boy. He thinks and reacts like a normal teenager and while his actions are questionable, he thankfully doesn’t succumb to the too-common fate of becoming radicalized!

Then there is Zahra.

…everyone is too busy telling us who we are. It’s time we spoke for ourselves.

My favourite character by far has to be Zahra. She is intelligent, smart, beautiful, and knows what she wants. Her identity does not confuse her, nor is she apologetic about her heritage. Zahra is a British Muslim with Pakistani roots, and the world has to accept her for who she is. It was sheer pleasure to encounter such a strong female character who doesn’t have to resort to props like a shalwar kameez or a hijab to make her a Muslim, nor does she need validation from the males around her to make her a good Pakistani girl. These are the kind of girls that I want to read about.

I would also like to add that I really love the cover of The Family Tree. It is beautiful, and so in sync with the book. Neelam’s shawl plays a major role in the story. It is the thread that binds this family together. If there is one thing that can represent this family, it is this piece of cloth. It truly does connect all three people in this family.

The Family Tree is one book that I would recommend everyone to read, whether you are a South Asian or not. I promise you will not regret it!

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Review: Lock Every Door

Rating: 3 Stars

Riley Sager is an author whose books are a must-buy for me. I enjoyed his first two books so much that even the weak links in the books didn’t really matter. To say that I was looking forward to reading Lock Every Door, is an understatement; which is why I was so very disappointed with it! Even though there are some stellar reviews and this is a highly rated book, it failed to impress.

The book starts off spectacularly with Jules Larsen finding an apartment sitting job that seems too good to be true. She is unemployed and has been unceremoniously dumped by her boyfriend. The address is the prestigious Bartholomew, a New York landmark, exclusive and secretive. The apartment is everything that she has ever dreamed of, and more. Except that it gives her the creeps and she can feel something sinister within its walls. Shrugging off the feeling as a residue of her past experiences, and ignoring the warnings of her best friend, Jules decides to spend the next 3 months living in luxury and earning the easiest money ever.

The rules are very strict. Jules cannot disturb any other residents; she cannot spend any nights away from the apartment; and she can not have any visitors. For Jules, these rules are just the eccentricities of the rich and famous, and not something to worry about.

There are also other apartment sitters in the building. Jules soon finds herself befriending Ingrid who lives in the apartment right beneath Jules’s. Ingrid tells Jules that she feels scared, like something is not right in their building. Jules laughs off her fears and doesn’t think much of them. Until one night she hears a scream from Ingrid’s apartment, and finds out that Ingrid has disappeared without trace. As Jules is afraid that history might repeat itself, she decides to find Ingrid and lay her own demons to rest.

The suspense and tension till here is absolutely fantastic; you can feel the sinister presence of evil within the Bartholomew. However, as Lock Every Door rushes towards the climax, everything starts spinning out of control. Jules suddenly becomes a dumb girl making poor choices, yet being smart enough or lucky enough to get away with them. Then comes the last part of the book that is one of the most unbelievable sequences that I have ever read. I understand that it is not easy to find a balance between the sinister and the real world, and sometimes writers find it hard to come up with a resolution that is good enough to justify the whole spooky scenario while being realistic at the same time. Still, this was a bit much for me, and a big let down after such an excellent rest of the book!

This brings me to the fact that all three of Riley Sager’s books have very weak climax sequences. The perpetrator is a surprise for sure, but once you look back, the whole plot starts to look shaky. This time around, more than shaky, it seems downright ridiculous and full of plot holes. If I seem too harsh, then it’s only because I expected so much from Lock Every Door, and I don’t like being disappointed.

Still, that doesn’t stop me from looking forward to Sager’s next book. I have bought it already and can’t wait to read it.

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Review: The Hunting Party

Rating: 3 Stars

The Hunting Party by Lucy Foley is definitely a page turner. It has all the elements that make it a great thriller. At least, till you finish. Then you realize that there are some unanswered questions that keep niggling at you.

A group of friends has been spending New Year’s Eve together for the last ten years. This tradition has continued ever since they were students at Oxford. This year they find themselves isolated and cut off from the rest of the world on an estate spread over thousands of acres in the Scottish Highlands. The cracks in their long lasting friendship begin to appear on the train journey to the remote location. They reach the estate on 30th December, and by New Year’s Day, one of them has disappeared.

Things seem to be normal as they all try to capture the old feelings of being carefree and having a good time. But over time, each one of them has become resentful. They all hold grudges from things said and done over the last decade. As events start to unravel, it seems like any one of them could be a murderer….or the victim.

Going back and forth in time, the story is told from 5 different perspectives. It is not clear who the victim is until very near the climax. The suspense is gripping and the setting is bleak and brutal. The characters are nothing new, just the typical type of people in almost every book about old friends. There’s the Queen Bee around whom the whole group revolves; the handsome but shallow Hunk married to the Queen Bee; the simple and quiet Best Friend; the Angry dude with a secret crush on the Queen Bee; the Gay couple; the Loved Up couple with a kid; and the Wannabe who wants to be best friends with the Queen Bee.

Even with such cliched characters, The Hunting party is interesting and keeps you glued to find out who has been killed, and who has the stomach to commit murder. However, the ending leaves a lot of things up in the air. The climax is not spectacular, but it is satisfactory. The epilogue, though leaves a lot of relevant questions unanswered while giving details on things that were rather irrelevant to the main story.

WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD!!!!

I have some questions that I need answered. I was ready to give the book a higher rating, until I realized that there were some very glaring loose ends.

  • What was the purpose of the converstion that Heather overhears in her office? How did the guy get the note in the first place? And did it turn up later on to destory him? Also, why was the woman talking to him like it mattered to her, if she was already resentful and disillusioned with him?
  • The court case was biased because the jury was impressed by the killer’s plea that it was unintentional, but what about the attempt to murder that was quite deliberate with a rifle stolen from the estate? Weren’t there more than enough eyewitnesses for that?
  • I have a problem with protagonists being stupid, taking matters into their own hands, and wandering, deliberately and knowingly, into danger without telling anyone else!
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Friendship Trope In Real Life

This is an ode to the friendship of all those people who have stuck by me through thick and thin, uplifted me and supported me, and sometimes even fed me to the wolves! Ladies and gentlemen, these people are commonly known as my friends. While I love all of them unconditionally, I have to admit that there are a few who embody the saying that who needs enemies when you have friends like these!

I have always been somewhat cold about friendships. I have left people behind and moved on. Even as it shames me when I think about it, I don’t think I have any lasting regrets except one. So, for a person like me, to realize that I still have friends from school who I count as my biggest supports, is quite a revelation. When I say school friends, I’m talking about 30 odd years of friendship here. That in itself is an achievement. To be able to stay together for this long even if we talk once or twice a year, is something that makes me feel warm inside. These are my Harry Potter friends. They have seen me through childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and will probably be there to send me into insanity when I’m old and wrinkled!

People say that you form the strongest bonds with your school friends. While it is true, I have also found everlasting friendship in my university. These people, they refuse to leave me alone, and drag me into every crazy conversation that they’re having. Over the last 20 years, it is they who have made efforts to keep me in the loop, me being the one to do occasional disappearing acts. These are my Lord Of The Rings friends. Always ready to make grand plans and taking me on useless adventures. They make me roll my eyes and take the most pleasure in yanking their chains.

I worked in a corporate sector for just one year, and managed to make a couple of lifelong friends. My Travelling Cat Chronicles friends. I don’t see them for years, don’t talk to them for months. They live in completely different parts of the world now. Yet, I know that any time I need help, I can just call upon them and they will be there.  I know this because I have done it, and they have proven me right.

As I entered my thirties, I knew that I would never make new best friends again. It was too late, I was too set in my ways and a little bit anti-social, if I am honest.

Little did I know that just around the corner waited 5 women who would turn my life upside down. On the surface it made sense that we got together: our husbands worked in the same office, our kids went to the same school, and we lived in approximately the same vicinity. Yet, out of the many women who came under this category, the 6 of us found our way to each other. And it isn’t our husbands or kids that still keep us connected even when we are thousands of miles apart now. This is the kind of friendship that is very hard to find in the world. I present to you, my Big Little Lies friends. They are loud, irreverent, funny and will probably commit murder one of these days!

These are just a few of the friends that I am grateful for. Over the years, I have gone through regular phases of being too social or completely anti-social. I have made friends, lost touch with them, moved on, reconnected, lost touch again and so on, so forth. Some of them have stuck by me despite my shortcomings, making time for me whenever I have needed them to. I came to appreciate these amazing people when I was going through a personal tragedy a couple of years ago. They showed up, ready to support me even when I had been absent from their lives for the longest of times. 

I am thankful for all these thoughtful people today; my friends, my tribe, my family by choice.

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Review: Conviction

Rating: 3 Stars

Conviction by Denise Mina follows Anna McDonald as her life unravels one fine day. She gets up early like always, relishing her “me time” before her husband and daughters wake up. She has no idea how things are going to go down on this particular morning. Engrossed in her new true crime podcast, it takes her some time to catch on with what is going on with her husband. Before long, she is alone in the house, desperate, and on the verge of doing something stupid. The only thing she can think of is to listen to the podcast, and try to forget her own troubles for a while.

As it turns out, the events of the morning are just the beginning of her troubles. As she listens to the podcast about a family murdered on board a cursed yacht, she realizes that not only does she know one of the victims, she has also come across another person mentioned in the podcast. Someone connected to the past that Anna has tried to delete from her life; a past that her husband, daughters and friends have no idea about.

Even though she is certain she knows what happened to the ill-fated family, Anna has no intention of telling anyone about it. Until Fin Cohen shows up at her door, and a nosy neighbour takes the choice out of Anna’s hands. Now Anna is on the run. She is determined to get to the bottom of the triple murders. An all-too-recognizable ex-rockstar accompanies her. He has no idea about the nest of hornets that he has stirred up.

Conviction is fast paced. The murder mystery keeps the reader hooked for a while at least. But then Anna’s past life starts intruding. While it is commendable that the writer maintains the pace, it also becomes irritating that things are left up in the air where Anna’s past is concerned. All actions and everyone’s motivations are guessed at by Anna, and that too with a superficiality that leaves you thinking, why would anyone do that?

Conviction concludes with the same speed with which it started, leaving behind a lot of unanswered questions. For me, this open ended conclusion is not a negative point. I like books that leave things unsaid and unexplained; in other words I like things to be left to the reader’s imagination. Not all readers are like that, though. So if you like books that tie up all ends and solve all of life’s little mysteries, this book might not be for you. For people like me, pick it up, give it a read.

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Family In The Time Of Pandemic

If the last few months have taught me anything, it’s the importance of family in my life. I have been worried about aunts, uncles and cousins; trying to keep in touch with them as much as I can. It is not easy since my family is spread all over the world. They live in all kinds of crazy time zones, but social media makes it possible. I will forever be grateful to modern technology for this.

I have a large family. My father had five siblings, while my mother has six. It might seem strange in this day and age, but the love among the siblings also transferred into their offspring. So, having cousins living far away in other countries didn’t stop us from loving each other, even when there was no internet or cell phones. To others it still seems like a strange dynamic, but this has always been our normal.

During this lock down, I have had the opportunity to re-connect with the elders who I have looked up to all my life. I have worried about them, scolded them, cried with them and listened to them while they scolded me. It has been the closest that I have ever felt to them; all while sitting in our homes in different countries and sometimes even continents.

As for my cousins, it is sometimes difficult to make people understand that my cousins are my oldest friends. I was friends with them before I knew what friendship was. We have navigated our lives together, giving each other support and encouragement. Even though blood bonds us, our ties are so much more than just that. And that goes for all of them, no matter how much older or younger they are, they’re still my go-to for problem solving, brain storming and even hand holding.

I once read a book called We Were Liars, and it was easy to relate to the relationships in that book. I too have cousins with whom I used to spend days getting in trouble with. And, honestly, there are some of us who are entirely capable of killing each other too! As our world comes closer to opening up, I just wanted to write down how these last few months have made me thankful for all the people who I have always taken for granted. My constants. My family.

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Review: The Girls Weekend

Rating: 3.5 Stars

The Girls Weekend by Jody Gehrman starts off with the usual story that you expect from a book with this title. Some old friends get together for a weekend. One of them is reluctant because of the tension with another, yet things conspire to make her go last minute. So far, so average. Things don’t become much better story wise, since there is nothing new about this trope. However, the reader does get a bit more invested in the story after a while when things start happening.

A weekend reunion with her college friends doesn’t interest June Moody. Even though the five of them were inseparable during their college years, the intervening years have made her drift apart from all except one of them. She has always had a difficult friendship with the hostess of this get together, Sadie MacTavish. It doesn’t help that Sadie married June’s ex-boyfriend, and seems to be living a charmed life.

As soon as June arrives at the MacTavish estate with her friend Em, she starts feeling uncomfortable. Soon she realizes that Sadie’s relationship with the other three women is also tense and troubled. On top of that, Sadie and her husband are facing problems in their marriage. He even tries to make a pass at June.

All this changes when the women wake up one morning with no recollection of the night before. There are some clear signs of violence, and Sadie missing from the house. Everyone knows it is not long before a body turns up. No one knows what actually happened. As things heat up, friendships start crumbling, and everyone becomes a suspect, no one more so than June. It is only a matter of time till she gets arrested for a crime that even she is not sure she is innocent of.

When I started reading The Girls Weekend, I was sure that June was another one of those typical heroines. The ones who are flawed and psychotic, and who keep making poor choices throughout the book. Thankfully, June was better behaved than most such characters. Despite making a few questionable decisions, she acted like a woman her age. I fail to understand how writers can create successful women with stellar careers and make them behave like imbeciles where men are concerned.

The murder itself was not that much of a mystery, but everything leading up to the climax was gripping and the suspense held for a long time. I don’t know if people like Sadie exist in the world, but if they do, then there couldn’t have been a better victim for this murder. Not one of the best books that I have read but a good one nonetheless.

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Racism: Of Dark And Light

Harper Lee wrote To Kill A Mockingbird in 1960. Since then, the world has changed beyond recognition for almost everyone. In the last 60 years, man has made progress in every conceivable walk of life. Be it science, technology, arts, religion, geography, or anything else you can think of, we have changed the world. What hasn’t changed in these 60 years, is the way the world treats the Tom Robinsons of the world. Racism is still a constant.

The world has always been divided on the basis of colour. How many places do you know of where dark skinned people are superior to their light skinned counterparts?

Coming from South Asia, I can tell you about our obsession with light skin. I can tell you that despite being discriminated against and being called derogatory names ourselves, we still look down upon black people as someone inferior and unworthy. We believe that we’re inferior to our white masters, but there are people who are beneath even us. These people just happen to have darker colored skin.

In school, when we learned about the history of the Indo-Pakistan subcontinent, the first chapter was about two main races. The Aryans and the Dravidians. The Aryans were bigger, stronger, and whiter than the Dravidians who were the worker class, weaker socio-economically and physically, and darker in colour. We grew up reading about this superior race who achieved greater heights than their counterparts. Is it any wonder then, that our sub-conscience still wants to be like these great invaders?

When that part of history ended, we read about the horror unleashed by the British who came to subjugate the darker skinned Indians. Yet, reading about the great British masters only made the already complexed people of the subcontinent want to be like them in every way that they could. We have always looked up to the “goras” (whites), and tried to follow in their footsteps, clinging on to their ways long after they left our land.  

Racism is a part of us since we are born; our prejudices passed on to us through generations. The names my own relatives call black people appall me to this day! But since I never called anyone out on it, I cannot claim to be so innocent myself. People still ridicule dark-skinned girls and call them “kaali” (black) in our culture. Many of them have ruined their skins trying to become just 2 shades lighter. Despite living in a so called “enlightened” society, one of my kids gets preferential treatment even from strangers because he has light skin, light hair, and light eyes. 

We can scream and shout all we want, but the truth remains that we are all racists in one form or another, and no matter how hard we try, we can never understand how the people at the bottom of the racist color spectrum feel. Because we might not have shunned them actively, but we have been guilty of feigning ignorance when others did it. Today, as the world is awakening to the plight of black people, it is imperative to look within ourselves and weed out even traces of racism, of thoughts that make us think that we are better than someone because of our skin.

Being a Muslim, one of the first things we learn as children, is that all people are equal, regardless of their nationality, ethnicity or skin color. After learning this, how can we ever justify the racism inherent in all of us? Stop making fun of something that no man has control over; don’t bring people down because of their looks; stop making it okay for people to be derogatory about other people; don’t be insensitive to other people’s insecurities. 

The change needs to come from within.  

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