In an action packed thriller, Ammar Merchant takes you from the streets of Bangkok to a Middle Eastern desert fortress housing a black prison. Irfan Mirza was supposed to protect Mahmoud, the nephew of a king, and his fiancée Ren. Mahmoud was being hunted by security forces after taking a stand against the king’s authoritarian regime. When the couple comes under attack, the security forces make the mistake of kidnapping Ren along with Mahmoud. Ren was raised in an orphanage with Mirza and he considers her a sister. The orphanage was run by someone who trained the orphans to be fighters and now Mirza is a freelance mercenary who makes the world better one fistfight at a time. With the help of Omen, a professional thief who loves him, Bey, a hacker, and Finn, his best friend, he sets out to find Mahmoud and Ren. The couple had been taken back to the kingdom, where they were imprisoned in an undisclosed location, a prison with no hope to escape. It was run by Atlas Boss, a sadistic leader of the king’s mercenaries. When Finn asks too many questions the hunters become the hunted. With the police on their tail and an armed fortress that is impossible to breach, it does not look good. The problem is that they don’s know Mirza and what he is capable of.

Merchant’s story is one of constant action. His characters work well together and often break the tension with humor. Mirza is resourceful and reminiscent of Jack Reacher in stature, powerfully built. Fans of Reacher will find a new hero in Irfan Mirza and hopefully Merchant will bring him back in the future. I would like to thank NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing this book.

This novel starts out with action and does not let up. Since the novel takes place in a fictional foreign country, there is quite a bit of description and explaining. There is also some political commentary. But there is plenty of action too. The main character reminds me more of Orphan X than Jack Reacher. For readers who like serious action and a very capable hero and support group battling deadly villains.

I received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher. My comments are an independent review

The Palace of Sinners and Saints is the debut, action-thriller from Ammar Merchant.

"Irfan Mirza was kidnapped as a child and forced to train as a killer in an orphanage. Now he is a ruthless mercenary.

Despot King Nimir has been sending dissidents to his black hole of a prison - a desert keep built centuries ago - and run by a merciless psychopath. But now he has 'disappeared' Renata Bardales, a woman raised with Mirza - one he considers his sister.

Mirza assembles a motley group and heads to the desert, determined to rescue his sister. There's a reason they call it a keep..."

This is a full-on action thriller with a Middle-Eastern flavor. Mirza is a big man and used to beating whoever he goes up against because of his size and ability to manage pain. The cast of characters is interesting and the keep location is also. Who doesn't want to see a big battle in the medieval fortress? At times the writing is a little jerky - it feels like a debut - but it's mostly entertaining.

Fans of action thrillers should enjoy this one.

This has non-stop action from beginning to end. Mirza is quite the character. He is tough and brutal. He lives by his own code. Mirza has an unconventional family that he doesn't really claim, but when his sister needs his help, he is there to help her. He has to find her first. She has been kidnapped and taken to a top-secret spot in the middle of the desert. It is guarded by elite soldiers, and it will only be Mirza and his friend Omen going in to save her. When they get there, they find there are more problems than solutions. His sister will not leave without the others that are being held captive. What will he do now? He isn't good at planning; he is an in-your-face kind of guy. Will they all make it out? The odds seem to be against them.

Published by Simon & Schuster on May 20, 2025

Tough guy thrillers are too often clones of Reacher novels. Some recent Reacher novels have been clones of earlier Reacher novels. Fortunately, a few tough guy novelists have managed to bring something fresh to the genre. Newcomer Ammar Merchant managed that feat with The Palace of Saints and Sinners.

While the novel’s plot is familiar, Irfan Mirza differs from other thriller tough guys. He’s the first fictional Muslim tough guy I can recall encountering. Beyond that, he isn’t an American or a Western European. He spent his early childhood “as an urchin in Karachi, begging, stealing, fighting, and hustling to survive.” Then he was taken to Turkey, where a general trained children for his private army. The concept of children raised to be fighters has been done before, but the setting makes it seem new.

Mirza is now a mercenary who solves problems with brute force because he’s not a heavy thinker. His approach to a problem is to charge at it and smash it with his shoulder. He manages to knock down a wall using that tactic. I appreciate Amar Merchant’s decision to make Mirza a tough guy who makes no pretense of being anything else. Mirza’s simplicity is appealing.

Mirza sometimes teams with a talented thief named Omen Ferris. Omen would like to sleep with Mirza and he shares that desire, but Mirza’s divorce has not been finalized and he has a thing about keeping his oaths.

Mirza is still in touch with some of the other weaponized orphans, thanks to the efforts of Finn Thompson, who treats them as siblings and tries to keep track of them. One of the orphans, Renata Bardales, is the closest thing to a sister that Mirza has. Ren is engaged to a prince from Aldatan whose father is a cousin of the country’s king.

Mirza begins the novel by taking revenge on terrorists in Malaysia who killed a travel vlogger, having been hired for that task by the vlogger’s father. After establishing Mirza’s tough guy bona fides, Merchant sends Mirza on the kind of fast-action plot that makes a well-crafted tough guy novel enjoyable.

Ren’s fiancé and his father have made an enemy of the king by criticizing his undemocratic tendencies. The king pretends he has reformed Aldatan to encourage investment from western nations, but he permits no dissent while allowing powerless citizens of the country to exercise little personal freedom. Merchant situated the fictional country of Aldatan to the north of Yemen.

The prince, his father, and Ren are being held in a secret prison to which the king makes his enemies disappear. The prison is in a castle that is managed by the head of a private security company who has been instructed to extract confessions that can be used to discredit the prince and his father.

When Finn tells Mirza of Ren’s predicament, he and Omen travel to Aldatan. While the reader suspects that Mirza might try to knock down the prison castle by charging into it, they embark on a traditional thriller assault. Finn runs into some trouble that sidelines him (he needs to be hidden and tended by nuns who mend his wounds), so Mirza and Omen carry the load. Pitting a lightly armed tough guy and a thief against thirty heavily armed security guards might seem like poor odds, but modern thriller writers like to turn tough guys into unkillable superheroes who can wipe out bad guys a dozen at a time.

Merchant sprinkles human interest into the story through Mirza’s relationship with his daughter. She isn’t a character in the novel, but Mirza needs to decide whether he’s doing the right thing by calling her every time he starts a mission to let her know that it might be his last. He does that because his father promised to return after walking away while carrying a suitcase but never did. Mirza thinks it’s more honest to let his daughter know that he might not return, but as others tell him, he’s only freaking his daughter out with his calls. That plot thread leads to a touching moment when he calls his daughter for what he assumes will be the last time after sustaining one of the many wounds he absorbs during the novel.

The novel has more graphic violence than most. Women are raped but Merchant spares the reader a description of those assaults. Readers who are sensitive to torture scenes might want to give The Palace of Sinners and Saints a pass. I recommend it to other thriller fans because Merchant’s prose is energetic, Mirza is an appealing tough guy protagonist, and the fast-moving plot is so fun that the reader has little reason to consider its improbability.

RECOMMENDED

I thoroughly enjoyed this book from beginning to end. It had me turning pages and wanting so much. I could not put this one down. Loved it.

I was hooked from the beginning!!
It was amazing and engaging.
I was instantly sucked in by the atmosphere and writing style.
The characters were all very well developed .
The writing is exceptional and I was hooked after the first sentence.

The Palace Of Sinners And Saints, by Amar Merchant, the book starts in Thailand in a little hole in the wall restaurant that has recently lost business due to the deadly gang that has made it their own hangout,when a man over 6 feet tall resembling a mountain walks in even the gang members lower their voice and speak amongst their selves the mountain asked the owner if he seen the girl in the missing poster he has in his hand when the owner glances at the gang members the mountain asked “did they do it?” The owner says “yes.” The mountain makes an order for Food and then proceeds to kill every gang member at the table he then leaves money to pay for the broken furniture and walks out the restaurant. if this doesn’t clue you in to how awesome this book is you haven’t been paying attention. The mountains name is Irfan Marza, as a child he was kidnapped by a man the children would call the general and made into a fighting machine although he is reluctant to claim them as his family he keeps in touch with Fin and Renata. This is how he learns Renata and her fiancé Prince Mahmud are being hunted by his cousin who is the ruler of their country and acts like a lamb but secretly rules like a lion. He wants to be seen as Pius but makes certain his enemies fear him. Prince Mahmood and his father has spoken out against their king. this is why they go to Thailand to get protection from her brother Irfan. unfortunately when they get to his hotel they realize they have been followed and despite her brother stepping in she and Prince Mahmud are still taken. with a little help from a hacker named bay, Irfan’s American girlfriend omen and brother Finn who works for the Aldany government who has taken Renata and Mahmud, this Mötley Crüe a found family will start a mission to get the missing members back with lots of death and destruction not to mention great fight scenes and even better dialogue they will do the undoable. If this is the beginning of a series with Irfan and his siblings sign me up I am down to read anything with him in it he is a man of action and few words but the reason I liked him so much is he isn’t like other “heroes“ he can carry a conversation quotes poetry, the Quran and always and I do mean always keeps his word. just an FYI if you take great dislike and most villains you’ll absolutely deplore the one in this book and I am not even talking about the leopards nor the ruler the king. This was such an awesome book when it was over I just wanted more of it so good so so good! #NetGalley, #TheBlindreviewer, #MyHonestReview,#AmmarMerchant, #ThePalaceOfSinnersAndSaints,

The Palace of Sinners and Saints by Ammar Merchant is an electrifying masterpiece that kept me riveted. Fast-paced and action-packed, the novel plunges readers into a world brimming with political intrigue.

Merchant’s storytelling is impeccable, painting vivid scenes that pulse with tension and urgency. The characters are richly developed, each layered with complexity and moral ambiguity that reflect the intricate webs of political strife they navigate. Every twist and turn feels purposeful, propelling the plot forward with relentless energy.

What sets this novel apart is its seamless blend of thrilling action sequences and thought-provoking political commentary. The stakes feel real and immediate, making it impossible to put down.

wow, this book seems like it should be about 4th in a series, but it is actually a debut novel. Irfan Mirza is a Pakistani Jack Reacher, no question. The premise is that a nameless General collected and possibly kidnapped a group of children to train them to be a fighting force. It ultimately failed, but a group considering themselves brothers and sisters seem to be mercenaries paid to do jobs.
There is a backstory that Mirza was married to a British woman who tried to tame him, with whom he has a 25 year old daughter. However, he is now a week away from a divorce when he takes a job to be a bodyguard to one of his "sisters," Renata, whose fiancée is running from his uncle.
The uncle is a monarch ( of an invented country) who is imprisoning or, worse, killing all those who are trying to incite a rebellion.
When Renata and her fiancée are captured, It is up to Mirza and his team to rescue her.
I loved this premise. A Muslim good guy who quotes the Quran and poetry and who is seen by all as indestructible. He has a solid moral compass (he refuses to sleep with his teammate, though they both want to because he is still married. He calls his daughter before a mission to tell her he might die, though his teammate explains this might not be the best thing for a 15 year old to hear.
Also, knowing that he has a 15 year old gives us a context for how long he was married.
I look forward to the next book, and there better be one!
Also, a warning is that this is a very violent book, including torture and lots of fighting.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the EARC. This is my honest opinion.

The Palace of Sinners and Saints by Ammar Merchant marks the arrival of a new action hero: Irfan Mirza. While the book’s blurb makes comparison’s to Lee Child’s Reacher series. And while I can see why, Mirza is much more than just a Middle Eastern Jack Reacher. In fact given his upbringing, it feels likelike he’s more of a cross between James Bond and John Wick. Right from the opening it’s clear this was going to be a wild action packed adventure, and it most certainly was. Not only does Merchant deliver a gripping action packed story, he’s laid the foundation for an exciting new series and I can’t wait for the next adventure. Thanks so much to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the allowing me access to an ARC of The Palace Sinners and Saints.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-palace-of-sinners-and-saints-ammar-merchant/1146384382?ean=9781668067581&bvnotificationId=c9f1ecdd-35a0-11f0-be62-0e118dcffd0d&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/346785313

Fast-paced, entertaining, lots of fun (if a bit graphic for me in the descriptions of violence at times). This debut novel from Ammar Merchant is going to be a great one for fans of Lee Child, Clive Cussler, Tom Clancy, and all of those guys. It's your standard action-packed thriller, but it's well-written and compelling, so I give it four stars.

An Unfocused Anti-Thriller About Terrorist-Pirates
Ammar Merchant, The Palace of Sinners and Saints: A Thriller (New York: Simon & Schuster, May 20, 2025). EBook: $28.99. 352pp; Thriller. ISBN: 978-1-668067-58-1.
**
“In this action-packed thrill ride, a small band of mercenaries must infiltrate a 12th-century Middle Eastern castle turned black-site prison, where the life of a hero of democracy hangs in the balance. Irfan Mirza is the ultimate killing machine. Kidnapped as a child and forced to train to become an elite gun for hire at an orphanage, he is now a ruthless freelance mercenary. In a wealthy Middle Eastern kingdom, despotic King Nimir is determined to quash all dissidents calling for free elections. Billionaires, clerics, influencers, and journalists who dared challenge King Nimir’s regime have vanished without a trace. The most recent person Nimir has had ‘disappeared’ is Renata Bardales, a trained fighter raised alongside Mirza—his sister, of sorts. Now things are personal, and Irfan Mirza doesn’t like it when things get personal.” These types of novels or action-movies always must make it “personal” by inserting a relationship between the Hero and the kidnapped Victim he is rescuing. I have started skilling watching many action-films about such relative-kidnappings because they are so repetitive, and unrealistic. A personal connection gives a lazy author platitudes to insert in an echo-chamber, instead of researching or developing innovative scenes, settings, or plot conflicts. “Assembling a ragtag team of specialists, Mirza sets off on a wild rescue mission, determined to save his sister from a medieval fortress that has now been transformed into a heavily fortified blacksite. The prison is surrounded by endless stretches of uninhabited sand, making it difficult to approach and impossible to escape from… Where courage and loyalty reign and anyone who wants freedom must pay a price.”
The cover is well designed. The fire sparks and rain falling in the background and foreground are stylish. The building at the bottom, the figure in the center and the helicopters at the top are a good combination that has been artistically simplified. The fiery theme catches attention, while being a pleasant composition for the viewer.
The “Prologue” oddly starts with a character who is not named in the blurb, Ahmad Haikal, and with the note that this guy is “afraid of wolves”. This note seems irrelevant at this point: as he has never encountered wolves in his past life. Instead of explaining why wolves are relevant, the narrative digresses into another new character’s looks: this new guy enters the restaurant. Instead of getting to the point of why Ahmad is afraid of this newcomer the narrative refocuses on still other characters in this restaurant: “part terrorists, part pirates.” What? How can somebody be both a terrorist and pirate, or if they are both why not call them terrorist-pirates? And why would there be terrorist pirates in this part of Philippines… This seems to be the only country mentioned on this page. On looking this up, I learned that there is indeed piracy in Philippines today on the Sulu and Celebes Seas, with the Abu Sayyaf group engaging in kidnappings. Cases where pirates hijack ships turn into terrorist acts. Southeast Asia has a problem with overlapping political piracy and maritime terrorism. It would have been helpful for readers to explain this instead of the much empty-air content on these opening pages.
The first relevant action appears at the end of the second page: a foreign stranger pulls out a picture of a woman the cook recognizes: “Cilek Osman”, a “foreigner” who “disappeared” after coming to the region to “snorkel”.
This narrative is not easily readable. There is some clarity. It seems to be heading somewhere. But not enough care has been taken to start with a high-tension scene, or to tie paragraphs together logically. Readers searching for action, are likely to be frustrated by its relative lack. And those who hope for literary sophistication will not find it. I do not recommend this book.
Pennsylvania Literary Journal: Spring 2025 issue: https://anaphoraliterary.com/journals/plj/plj-excerpts/book-reviews-spring-2025

He provides protection for those who need it

When he was a child Irfan Mirza was snatched from the streets of Karachi and trained to be part of what a man known only as The General envisioned as an elite private squad of assassins for hire. The General told Mirza and the other children he bought, trafficked and stole that he was their father and the children were all siblings but that story didn't hold together long as the children grew up and were sent out on missions. Some of them escaped the life altogether and created normal, everyday lives. Others stayed in the same line of work as individual contractors or by signing on with a private military company (PMC), and these are the ones most likely to have stayed in touch with their "family". Mirza is an independent contractor who, lacking the necessary security clearances to work for the top PMCs, is more often employed by less than reputable groups; he makes less money than other mercenaries, but at least he has the freedom to choose for whom he work.s He's no bleeding heart (and doesn't buy into the whole "family" thing) but he does have a moral code by which to operate. Renata, a woman who had trained alongside him as a child but who stepped away from the mercenary life in search of a normal existence, finds herself and her fiancé Mahmud (a royal Prince from the small Arab nation of Aldatani) in danger, and contacts Finn (another of the assassin "family") who in turn asks Mirza to provide the couple with protection. Before he has even met Ren and Mahmud they are grabbed by a group of commandos known as the Leopards, by order of King Nimir of Aldatani. Mahmud is Nimir's cousin, but is also both the son of one of Nimir's rivals and a dissident who has been publishing unflattering stories about Nimir's actions. Ren is in the wrong place at the wrong time, and both she and Mahmud are taken to Mahmi Castle, a medieval fortification now serving as Nimir's prison for those he considers his enemies. It is in the middle of the desert, impossible to approach unobserved (not to mention to enter)...but taking people whom Mirza was tasked to protect has made it personal for him. With the help of Omen, a beautiful thief, his unlikely best friend Finn, and Bey, a gifted hacker, Mirza is determined to find a way in to Mahmi to free them....but the group of mercenaries under the control of Atlas Boss, the psychopath who oversees the prison, are equally determined to keep him out.
Fans of non-stop action thrillers like those featuring Jack Reacher, Curt Gentry and Jonathan Grave will enjoy this first book to feature Irfan Mizra, a smart Muslim man who balances his deadly skills with his faith. As he replies to a man who wonders why he would leave a place where he had just killed a group of men to go pray, "It's when I need forgiveness the most". His attraction to Omen, upon which he refuses to act as long as he is still married (though the marriage has been over in all but the legal sense for years), offers a hint of romantic tension, while the banter and ribbing that bounce back and forth between Mirza and Finn helps to break the tension of their life-or-death quest. Author Ammar Merchant's knowledge of the Middle East helps bring a vivid sense of place to the story, and Mirza's background and path to being a mercenary sets him apart from the action heroes of other series. Mirza is no debonair James Bond; he is raw and brutal, a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel, but the story is an intriguing read even though it has a few clichéd elements. Readers of Lee Child, Gregg Hurwitz, and John Gilstrap would be well served should they pick up a copy of The Palace of Sinners and Saints...there's a new action hero in print they should get to know. My thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for allowing me access to this entertaining read in exchange for my honest review.

The Palace of Sinners and Saints

This one is nonstop action from the jump. Irfan Mirza is a freelance asskicker with a strong moral code, a penchant for honesty, and a ruthlessness that is usually unparalleled among the good guys. He is a giant of a man, a poetry-reading dispenser of brutal justice, having an esoteric knowledge base but being mostly illiterate in the ways of pop culture. And you don’t want to get on the bad side of him or his family.

Irfan was kidnapped as a young child. Along with several other orphans, he was trained to be a killer. Now, the remnants of this ragtag death squad comprise his family, and they will do anything for each other. It was interesting to see the way they interact with each other. The teasing banter and gallows humor kept the intense scenes from being too overwhelming.

The story involves an attempt to rescue prisoners from an ancient desert stronghold that has been turned into a type of black site prison for enemies of a repressive Middle Eastern regime. The plot is pretty streamlined and unadorned. However, in a book like this, the story just serves as a framework to support scene after scene of badassery, and it serves that function well.

I appreciate Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book ahead of publication. It will appeal to anybody who grew up on, and still enjoys, exciting stories of badasses with a heart of gold.

Irfan Mirza is out to rescue his sister from the clutches of of an evil bad guy and he does it in cinematic fashion. This is a page turner for fans of plot driven novels heavy on good guys (with a bit of the bad guy), bad guys, and fighting. Here, Irfan is part of a large loose family raised to be fighters and he pulls them together to go to the castle in the desert where Renata, among others, is being held. Of course, Renata is also a fighter, which helps in this sort of situation. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. This is light on character and big on action which will make it a good read for travel.

I received an ARC through "NetGalley" and I am voluntarily leaving an honest review.

This story begins with Mirza agreeing to protect Ren and her fiancee, Mahmud. Mirza has gone to Bangkok to meet up with them, but before that can happen, the two are abducted. Mira now receiving assistance from Omen and Finn has learned that the two have been taken somewhere in Aldatan. Finn who is in Aldatan already working in the government makes arrangements for them when they arrive.
As it turns out, Finn indirectly created an issue which mad Omen and Mirza targets.

Read along and discover what efforts the group had to perform to discover that the two had been taken to a secret prison. Mirza then laid out a plan to break them out from the prison. Discover what actions were taken and who and how they had to overcome to accomplish the mission.

The action is amiss and the story definitely keeps your interest. This is definitely a book you want to read, don't miss out!

This was a high octane, fast paced thriller with engaging characters and enough humorous banter to help offset the brutal violence. While there are some similarities to Reacher, the author has created a unique set of characters, that will serve the series well as additional books are added. Highly Recommended for fans of Lee Child or Jack Carr.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for an advanced reader copy.

Irfan Mirza and a few close friends grew up in an orphanage where the children were trained to become elite fighting machines. He considers them his “family”. He’s now a freelance mercenary and his idea of fun is breaking “things”, aka, people. When he witnesses his “sister”, Renata and her fiancé being abducted and he was unsuccessful in preventing it, he vows to get her back.

Renata and her fiancé are being held in a medieval fortress in the middle of nowhere, desert all around. A place that won’t be easy to infiltrate. He and one of his associates are up against many, but he’s determined and dedicated and she’s more skilled than he ever gave her credit for. He also has a couple of “family” members on the outside helping as best they can. The only plan he has is to get Renata out. He’ll figure out how along the way.

Action packed, a lot of danger, a little humor, a lot of bad guys, wit, resourcefulness, and more.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Palace of Sinners and Saints by Ammar Merchant captivates readers from the very first page. This thrilling novel is filled with heart-pounding action, emotional depth, humor, and hints of romance. With each turn of the page, readers are taken on a rollercoaster ride of excitement and intrigue. Whatever Ammar Merchant has in store next is sure to be a must-read for fans of gripping storytelling.