Truth is a Flightless Bird

by Akbar Hussain

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.

Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org

*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.

Pub Date Oct 24 2022 | Archive Date May 31 2024

Iskanchi Press

General Fiction (Adult) | Horror | Literary Fiction

Talking about this book? Use #CrimeContemporaryFictionAfrican #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!

Description

In a city choking on inequality, truth is elusive, love is dangerous—and escape is never simple.

Customer-Facing Description A pregnant aid worker swallows narcotics to escape Somalia—and vanishes into Nairobi’s slums. In this Nairobi crime thriller of African noir and psychological thrillers, a disillusioned missionary pastor races the city’s underworld to save her and the unborn child she’ll protect at any cost. Caught between a ruthless Somali dealer, a corrupt cop, and Ciru—a healer who wields ancient power with modern violence—Duncan must navigate police corruption, postcolonial power, and his own moral collapse.

Set in modern Kenya, this women’s survival thriller blends medical thrillers intensity with the moral weight of postcolonial African fiction. From fetid underground safe houses to neon-lit streets where marabou storks circle like omens, the story explores motherhood, faith, and the brutal calculus of survival.

For readers of The Last House on Needless Street and Look Closer (David Ellis), with the atmosphere of Local Woman Missing, We Have Always Lived in the Castle, No Longer at Ease, and the systemic rot of Slow Horses. Ideal if you browse best thriller books, police procedural mysteries, African noir, and Kenya crime thrillers.

You’ll enjoy this if you’re searching for:
*psychological thrillers and medical thrillers with high stakes and heart
*African noir / Kenya crime thriller / Nairobi thriller set in today’s Nairobi
*women’s survival thriller with maternal stakes and moral ambiguity
*postcolonial African fiction that confronts power, faith, and corruption
*police corruption stories with elements of police procedural mysteries,

A Note From the Publisher

A lawyer and co-founder of a successful fintech startup, Akbar Hussain lived in Nairobi for 7 years and currently resides in New York.

Advance Praise

“Hussain’s earnest debut dramatizes the fraught social and economic circumstances of modern-day East Africa.”~Publisher’s Weekly

“ A deftly crafted and riveting read from first page to last, "Truth Is A Flightless Bird" by novelist Akbar Hussain is an impressively written crime thriller with more unexpected twists and turns that a Coney Island roller coaster. The stuff of which movies are made (and this one is soon to be a major television series), "Truth Is A Flightless Bird" is highly recommended, especially for community library Mystery/Suspense collections. It should be noted for personal reading lists of suspense/thriller fans that "Truth Is A Flightless Bird" is also available in a digital book format." Midwest Book Review

"It's a wonderful read - a genre I'm not very familiar with, but I enjoyed very much. I also gave a shout-out to the Press, which I think is doing admirable (and necessary) work." “Getting Lit with Linda” (podcast)

"Truth Is a Flightless Bird is a compelling thriller that blends literary and noir elements into a harrowing character study of three flawed people in blind pursuit of an unobtainable future." John M. Murray, Forward Review

“This novel was a breathless rush from beginning to end. I can see how this would make a fantastic television series…Truth is a Flightless Bird is a fantastic novel of place. It gives the reader a view into a world most of us will never get to see or experience in person…”

~Dr JoAnn LoSavio

“Hussain’s earnest debut dramatizes the fraught social and economic circumstances of modern-day East Africa.”~Publisher’s Weekly

“ A deftly crafted and riveting read from first page to last, "Truth Is...