Girls of Yellow

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Pub Date 08 May 2018 | Archive Date 30 Apr 2019

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Description

Imagine a world where modern governments failed their citizens and long-simmering conflicts escalated into global war. Imagine if its survivors migrated toward those who share the same faith. Imagine the continents are ruled by religions.

When the mysterious death of a teenage girl triggers memories of a similar childhood event, police Detective Sami Ali becomes consumed with solving her murder. Persecuted by the shame of his past, Ali will stop at nothing to find the killer, even if his investigation puts his wife and daughter at risk.

As he follows the clues, Ali collides with another lost soul - a foreign spy. Elise De Jong's official mission in Eurabia involves the acquisition of a priceless item that could shift the balance of power among the theocracies. But she also has a personal objective - to find her last living relative, the little sister whom she hasn't seen since her birth.

To succeed in their missions, Elise and Ali must find common ground despite their religious differences, for they can depend only on each other.

Imagine a world where modern governments failed their citizens and long-simmering conflicts escalated into global war. Imagine if its survivors migrated toward those who share the same faith. Imagine...


Available Editions

ISBN 9780999725320
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Average rating from 19 members


Featured Reviews

The author wrote a thriller that started with a bang and just kept going! The twists kept coming, so I couldn't put it down. I cannot wait to read more from this author!

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For me this book has everything. A crime murder mystery and a spy thriller wrapped into one.

Within Europe, we have had various police procedurals and spies coming in from the cold. Then the threat moved from Communism to Islamic fundamentalism.
This becomes tired; fresh angles are sought, new detective teams fashioned or seek out dramatic or stunning locations. Humanise the characters with vices beyond alcoholism or corruption.

Well this book rips that all up and starts from a new made up reality.

After World War III and nuclear destruction the world has polarised around the great faiths. Hinduism, Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. Like ethnic cleansing the populations were advised to gravitate to their own religious areas or live as second class citizens in a theocracy that does not reflect or encourage their beliefs.

The Dhimmi are non-Muslim citizens who have chosen to stay in a territory that is an Islamic State where they are granted protection, freedom of religion but with an expectation to pay taxes and abide by the prevailing laws.

This is a story in this new diaspora set in Budapest which is now in Eurabia and under Islamic law.
This is a great location and the book using this former capital to the full; with references to how Muslim faith and history have supplanted the previous dynasties and government rule.
It is a great canvas upon which the author paints his wonderful fiction; in a world that is both familiar and believable, as it is a story of excesses and human frailties.
Budapest is host to an Intertheocratic Conference so the Eurasian Caliphate want to avoid anything to undermine their rule and achievements.
When the body of a young dhimmi girl is found in the main Catholic Cathedral Major Sami Ali is given the case due in no small part because of his lackadaisical approach to crime investigations.
Meanwhile a Christian Spy is in town for both an official and personal mission. Elise De Jong is a resourceful fluent Arabic speaker who is prepared to risk all for her dual assignments.
When Ali is stirred by the resemblencte of the victim to a girl in his past rather than bury the investigation he becomes a driven conscience-led detective rekindling the merits of his faith and following Muslim tradition to seek justice in this matter. His bosses are appalled by this epiphany and do all they can to make him see sense; that his job, career and family are at stake.
I loved his novel from start to finish. Full of clever insights into this reality. It all fits wonderfully together and gives the author scope to examine faith, fundamentalism, patronage, hypocrisy and double standards within wealth and power.
However, nothing should distract from the excellently plotted crime thriller that looks at:
The persistency in police work rather than flashes of brilliance.
The dangers of faith when other religions are not respected.
The path between a religious zeal and mental health. The power of confession and the co-operation between different faiths.
The equality of gender, sexual orientation, in opportunity and status.
So much to commend this book - but all just words unless the story delivers. Which it does beyond anyone’s expectations
Great concept, rings true and with a joined up scenario. A terrific multi/layered story.

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A dhimmi is a non-Muslim that lives in a Muslim region. He or she is allowed to retain their own faith, but is constantly persecuted, much like the Jews in Nazi controlled areas during WWII. Police Major Sami Ali lives and works in Budapest, where dhimmis are hated and many are enslaved. It is common practice for young girls to be taken from their homes or sold to people who groom them to become obedient to their masters. Ali has taken a vow to hate all Christians and Jews, so when he has to investigate the murder of a young, blonde dhimmi he is expected to sweep the murder under the carpet. Maybe it is because he has a young daughter at home, or maybe he feels compassion in a dispassionate world, it just seems wrong to ignore her death. Whatever the reason, he begins a real investigation into her death, and finds out she is not the first young, pretty blond dhimmi to be murdered.

Elise De Jong is in Budapest on official business. She works as a translator, but today she is on a mission of her own. Her sister was sold at birth by their drug addicted mother. De Jong has traced her to a religious slave training school, and is desperately trying to contact her to clandestinely take her away from slavery before it is too late.

Ali and De Jong meet in unfortunate circumstances. They are both living lies and each true to themselves no matter the outcome. Their unlikely alliance might be the only chance each of them has to find the answers they both seek.

I have to admit that the first few chapters were slow for me. It is understood that the background of the wars, rules for the Muslim countries and settings has to be established. I am so glad I didn’t give up. When the pace picked up, the characters came alive. By the time I got to the end I could not read fast enough to find out what would happen next. Book 2 of the series will be set in the “land formerly known as the United States”, so I am anxious to read it also.

This is the first book I have read by Mr. Stelmach, but not the first he has written. He writes thrillers and mysteries and is the author of the Nadia Tesla series, which are Kindle #1 bestsellers and have been optioned for film development. We need to read them now! Everyone knows that the book is so much better than the movie.

DISCLOSURE OF MATERIAL CONNECTION: I have a material connection because I received a review copy for free from BookBuzz and Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Copyright © 2019 Laura Hartman

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Plot twist until the very last sentence, this book has.

In a dystopia, where countries (?) continents (?) were divided according to their religion, a murder takes place and Major Ali wants to find out the murderer. A strange woman, Elise, crosses his path.

The book alternates each chapter between the two main persons, Ali and Elise. Due to a strange coincidence they meet. Once you get to use to this, this story goes fast and is very compelling. After the start of which I did struggle to understand, having forgot the description about the dystopia, the story took off. I haven't read such a compelling story in a long while. On top of that, the setting made this whodunnit quite unique.

Even with a strong pro-christian/anti-islam bias, it is most definetly worth a read.

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