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MWSA Review
Kemal and Shirin are two Turkish intelligence agents fleeing their country during one of its interminable military coups during the 1980s. Shirin is the somewhat estranged and missing sister of Kemal’s girlfriend Nadiye. They join forces out of need and embark on a 5,000-mile journey via boat, car, truck, camel, and foot across some of the world’s harshest terrain and most unforgiving cultures: Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan and western China. Each border crossing is an adventure unto itself. Friends and foes alike contribute to a rousing and believable tale.
Shirin proves to be a courageous woman who must adapt her appearance to the changing strict cultures and expectations for women in each country. Being a highly trained agent, she successfully gets herself out of dangerous situations with unforgiving and evil men who lack respect for women. She is not hesitant to meet violence with violence. Kemal always has her back.
A pictorial depiction at the beginning of the book provides a reference for readers unfamiliar with the clothes Shirin must wear in these mostly Muslim countries: hijib, burqa, niqab and chador. Maps of each country with their route highlighted clarifies the geography of the journey.
Wittenborn’s descriptions of the land, the people, the cultures and harsh living conditions are spot on. All of it leads to an incredible exploration which leads to a deeper understanding of each other between Kemal and Shirin and an eventual coming to grips with their relationship formed by overcoming shared challenges. Their return to Istanbul provides an unexpected and rewarding conclusion.
Review by James Elsener (March 2022)
Author's Synopsis
It’s 1980 and the Middle East is engulfed in chaos and war. Turkey’s coup finds two seasoned operatives, Kemal Yilmaz and Shirin Demirel, forced to cooperate to survive. They’re complete strangers but in the world of spy craft they know about each other. Although political opposites, their common denominator is Nadiye, Kemal’s fiancée and Shirin’s estranged sister who has disappeared. But there’s no time to deal with her. Kemal and Shirin are fugitive agents uprooted from their former lives, and on the run. They agree to a mad, improvised plan to flee Turkey and head east for China’s Sinjiang province where he has relations. Together they persevere by car, bus, truck, and foot on a five-thousand-mile odyssey beset with agonizing life-or-death encounters. Their desperate flight through four war-torn countries—Turkey, Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan—and into the desert vastness of western China forces them to confront their own tenuous relationship as well as to uncover the mystery about Nadiye.
Format(s) for review: Paper and Kindle
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 429