A. A. Dhand

Idris Khan runs a pharmacy which serves a run-down area of Headingley. Most of his clientele are drug addicts who take methadone and Khan makes money from supplying the residents of The Mews, a crime-ridden estate. Idris' ex, Rebecca, works with addicts and prostitutes in Beeston and one night she calls Idris for help. A man is dead and he is the brother of a noted criminal. Now Idris is caught between two warring gang leaders and all he wants to do is save his loved ones.
This is a show more fast-paced thriller which stretches belief but is definitely written to entertain. Dhand knows how to spin a plot and multi-cultural influences in the industrial heartland of West Yorkshire are his stock in trade. I loved the expertise brought to the plot, only someone with intimate knowledge of pharmacology could make these details seem convincing and it is an adrenaline-packed read. show less

A.A. Dhand is an author I hadn't read before but I was drawn to reading The Chemist after watching the DI Harry Virdee series on the television which I was completely gripped by. The Chemist didn't let me down and I was just as gripped by this story of a pharmacist and the people in the community he serves, both good and bad.

I hadn't really thought before about how vulnerable a pharmacist is. Dealing with drugs all day long involves Idris Khan supplying methadone to the many addicts at The show more Mews, the notorious estate where a dangerous kingpin runs the show. Idris manages it all very well and maintains a kind of distance until Rebecca, a woman very close to him, needs his help and he finds himself drawn into a terrifying turf war between the two most prominent drug lords in Leeds.

I couldn't imagine how Idris would get himself out of the situation he was in but I hadn't bargained for how very cunning and inventive he could be. As the tagline says, he knows how to save you and he knows how to kill you. This is a very clever story written by an author who is himself a pharmacist. It's authentic and informative whilst also keeping up the incredibly fast pace, aided by short and punchy chapters.

I'm not sure if we'll see Idris again (the ending could certainly lead to more) but I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Chemist and would definitely pick up another book by this author. show less

'A final message for Bradford. There is a resolve among Bradfordians not to allow division, hate and racism to prosper, irrespective of faith. Our time to unite as a city has arrived and, as ever, we will not go down without a fight. Let us show the world, once and for all, that this is truly God's own country.'

Book four in the Harry Virdee series opens with a bang, which will definitely grab the attention of local readers - Bradford's Mirror Pool and part of City Hall are blown to pieces show more after a warning televised on the big screen in Centenary Square - but unfortunately there was too much Hollywood flash about A A Dhand's latest 'seismic plot' to similarly capture my imagination.

The cast, location and subplots are the same - Detective Virdee and his Muslim wife Saima, their little boy Aaron, and the complicated relationship with Harry's parents, played out in familiar locations such as the Bradford Club in the city centre, Bradford City Football Club and the ever ominous Queensbury Tunnel - but the powerful realism of clashing cultures and 'brown on brown' racism between local communities seems to have been given a steroid injection and turned into the plot of an action film. From the explosive introduction to 'Dirty Harry's increasingly violent methods of law enforcement - one particular suspect is put in the hot seat with a nasty dose of chilli powder - every chapter ramps up the tension while leaving credibility far behind. 'Sounds like a speech from one of those crappy nineties movies,' one of the characters quips at one point, and that goes for the plot too, which reads like a terrorist version of Speed - a group of far right terrorists, the Patriots, claim to have planted another bomb in a mosque somewhere in the city and will blow up over a thousand Muslim worshippers unless the four members of an extremist sect, Almukhtaroon, give themselves up - and also if a single person tries to leave any one of the mosques.

Saima, once again caught up in the action, helps to balance the high drama with her usual blend of level-headed intelligence and grace under pressure, and the subplot of Harry's parents looking after little Aaron is perhaps the most affecting of all. When Harry chose to marry a Muslim woman, his father Ranjit, a devout Sikh, disowned him and also forbade his mother to have any contact with Harry, Saima and even their grandson. Having to take care of Aaron overnight, however, forces a childhood memory to the surface which sets Ranjit's heart against his faith. I really felt for Ranjit and Joyti, and their very human fears and failings made a welcome change from Harry the superhero.

Fast-paced and full of action as ever, but Harry Virdee is quickly losing touch with his Bradford roots. 'You don't need to be the saviour of this city any more,' Saima warns; 'Gotham can find another Dark Knight'. Here's hoping book five will bring Harry back to reality. show less

I have read all of A A Dhand's D. I. Harry Virdee series, set in my hometown of Bradford, and enjoyed both the characters and the well-paced plots, until the local and family-based tensions started morphing into Hollywood action thrillers. Dhand's first standalone novel merely transfers the drama to Delhi and the dialogue and storyline to Bollywood.

The opening chapters, introducing the new characters of Jack Baxi and Aisha Iqbal in an explosive setting but still based in the author's home show more turf of Bradford, are gripping and instantly addictive. A dodgy detective, Kuldeep Singh, forces his way into Jack Baxi's corner shop on the equally notorious 'Elmswood' estate, demanding to know about Jack's connection with a mysterious man named Benedict Cave. When Jack denies all knowledge, Singh calls in two dark-coated heavies - and a young girl, gagged and bound, who has clearly suffered the same inquisition (and Aisha's description of her fake arrest and abduction by Singh is a disturbing reminder of Sara Everard's murder). Soon Jack and the girl are fighting for their lives in a burning building, without understanding what they have in common or why the detective wants them dead.

The answer, which quickly finds the unlikely duo on 5,000 miles away on the mean and crowded streets of Delhi, involves family secrets, a 'global network of shadows', the partition of India in 1947 - and an enduring, dangerous grudge spanning continents and generations. I must admit that I struggled to suspend my disbelief with every additional twist and turn of the story, including fake deaths, secret children and sex trafficking. The relentless pace and superficiality of the dialogue made this novel feel more like the script for an action-adventure film than the homegrown cultural differences and subtle characterisation of Dhand's previous books. Cruise, the Delhi taxi driver and Hollywood junkie who gets drawn into Jack and Aisha's quest for the truth, even observes at one point: 'It is being like one crazy movie'. (His cod Indian accent, which reminded me of the racist stereotyping of the character played by Fisher Stevens in Short Circuit, didn't help either!)

The heavy-handed theme of kismet - 'the Indian word for fate', which probably doesn't need explaining - is also belaboured throughout by various characters. I found the religious and historical background to the story very interesting, but there is nothing mystical about the plot, despite throwing in Catholic exorcisms and Indian witch doctors! The story is more soap opera than cultural commentary, playing on 'shocking' revelations and sacrifices which unfortunately don't add any much-needed depth to the characters. Jack is the standard cynical ex-con with no family to give his life meaning, whereas Aisha is a caricature of modern femininity, fighting against her culture and petite stature to live independently and do the right thing.

The action moves at a clip, and the short, punchy chapters make for a swift, exciting read, but I still found myself missing Harry Virdee and the familiar landmarks of Bradford. Perhaps, like the eager and excitable Cruise, the film rights for this novel will soon be optioned for Hollywood! show less