The Sirens of Baghdad

TKhadra draws the moods and motives of his village lad-turned-apprentice jihadi with engrossing power.

Twisting action, emotional subtlety and a plausibly scary picture of a ruined Baghdad combine to lift this novel far above the standard headline-inspired genre piece. It lets you taste the sand, dust, and blood - and, most of all, the despair ...

In his own unsettling way, Yasmina Khadra offers the kind of truth that only well-wrought fiction tells.