Dogstar Rising

Summer (northern hemisphere), 2001, and religious and political tensions in Egypt form the basis of the second Makana crime novel by Parker Bilal. Whilst there's nothing new in the use of crime fiction as the vehicle for exploring society on the edge, DOGSTAR RISING set, as it is, in that place at that time, provides an illuminating alternative viewpoint. Not automatically that of the "opposing", it is a look at pressures and perspectives from another angle. It's edgy fiction based in a very edgy world.

Whilst it's obvious to Makana, Private Investigator and Sudanese refugee, that the rise of religious hatred and intolerance is history repeating itself, other outcomes are less obvious. The plot of the book revolves around the connections show more between the murder of a number of young boys mostly forgotten, abandoned children and the persecution of Coptic Christians. Into this mix must fit the State Security Services, the local police, religious leaders, a lowly travel agent and his family connections and a disreputable Sudanese businessman. There is also the story of Makana himself, a refugee from war-torn, corrupt Sudan, his family gone, his life lived now somewhere on the outskirts. Partially as a result of being a refugee, partly because of who he is.

Bilal works his way steadily through a plot which, whilst complicated, never bogs down. He does that whilst continuing to draw a picture of a place and a culture which is searingly honest and instructive.

DOGSTAR RISING is the second book in the Makana series, and in two books it's proved itself extremely impressive. Tackling a range of issues in a society that is particularly on edge, neither book (THE GOLDEN SCALES is the first) pull any punches, albeit without beating the reader around the head and shoulders. Clever, intelligent and extremely thought-provoking, in two books, in the space of a couple of months for this reader, this has become a series to follow closely.


Parker Bilal will be attending the Perth Writer's Festival and Adelaide Writers Week where he'll also be doing Crime Writing Workshops and launching Bloomsbury's Short Sentence Writing competition for Budding Crime Writers

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/review/dogstar-rising-parker-bilal show less

DOGSTAR RISING takes place during the Egyptian summer of 2001. Makana is an exiled Sudanese policeman now working as a private detective in Cairo and he is hired by the owner of a struggling travel agency to look into the matter of some threatening letters that the agency has received. When he starts working undercover at the travel agency Makana meets a woman called Meera and it is her secret that begins to shed light on what might be going on. At the same time, a series of brutal murders of young boys is taking place in the city and suspicion is directed towards the Copts, a minority religious group. Makana becomes unwittingly involved in this case too.

Jamal Mahjoub has written five literary novels but it was his pseudonymous show more creations as Parker Bilal that were the subject of the session I caught at a local writers’ festival last month. DOGSTAR RISING is the second book to feature the character of Makana and I wish I’d read the first one as I did have the occasional sense I was missing out on something by not having read the story that introduced Makana. That aside though this is a terrifically atmospheric novel, offering the unique mixture of insights that only someone who was born in England to an English mum and a Sudanese dad and has lived in Sudan, Egypt, the UK, Denmark and (currently) Spain can supply.

The strongest element of the novel by far is the sense of time and place conveyed. Cairo is depicted as a place of poverty, corruption and a kind of vague, direction-less social unrest (it would take another decade for that to coalesce into something stronger). In some ways it is an exotic world very different to my own but it other ways, such as the ease with which ‘the mob’ can be manipulated to turn on minorities, is eerily and sadly familiar. The anti refugee sentiment in particular could be plucked from some of my own country’s present-day newspapers.

Makana lives on the fringes of his community mostly because few people let him forget for long that he is an outsider, though also I think because of the tragedies in his own personal history which have led him to choose a more solitary life than he might otherwise have led. But despite those tragedies and the harsh way he tends to be treated he is one of the good guys, aiming always to get to the truth of a thing even if that proves to be dangerous. He isn’t unrealistically wholesome though. In this novel he is presented with a very real moral dilemma and we see him struggle with the difficult decision in a credible way.

Although recognisably a work of crime fiction DOGSTAR RISING does offer a lot more than the standard whodunnit. In fact in some ways the mystery element of the book is the weakest due to some unnecessary complexities that feel a bit contrived. But overall this is a very entertaining and thought provoking novel that I would recommend to those who enjoy exotic locations depicted authentically (though I would read THE GOLDEN SCALES, the first book in the series, if you can lay your hands on that one first). show less

This is number two in a series I've had problems getting from the library. Finally I have managed to find the later ones in the series. And the novels do improve as the author becomes more confidant in his writing style and more comfortable with his main character. Certainly the series is well worth reading.

'Dogstar Rising' is an unusual mystery novel set in contemporary Egypt. Young boys are turning up dead and mutilated. In the muddle that is Eygpt's mix of cultures someone is trying to stir up trouble and blame the Coptic Christians.

Investigator Makana, a mystery man from the Sudan, a refugee form the war there, becomes involved when he sees a murder. He finds a thread linking that murder to those of the boys. Suddenly the police and show more state security services are breathing down his neck and all hell breaks loose.

Tightly written, the second in a series, and well worth a read for the exotic locations. show less

This second in the Makana series very much continues where the first left off. A well ploted criminal investigation sits within a wider portrayal of Cairo at a time when its society is close to the edge - and inexorably inching closer to that edge.. Both angles are presented in a thoughtful and unhyped way which draws this reader further in as the book proceeds. 24 October 2017.

Enjoyed plot & characters but felt the ending was a little too quick- will try another in the series

This is the second book in the series by Parker Bilal with the private detective, Makana, a Sudenese exile living in a very seedy Cairo. He's asked to investigate some threatening letters and things turn very nasty. In the background are religious tensions and a serial killer.
I think I enjoyed the first book better, but this was still quite good.
3.5 stars

Een prive detective krijgt opdracht om uit te zoeken waar dreigbrieven vandaan komen. Daarnaast spelen nog een aantal andere misdaden. Uiteindelijk komt alles samen en wordt het mysterie opgelost. Dit is het 2e boek in de Makane reeks. Het verhaal is goed geschreven, maar je krijgt op een zeker moment het gevoel dat je wel weet wat er gaat komen. De hoofdpersoon wordt regelmatig lichamelijk toegetakeld, maar lijkt daar nauwelijks hinder van te ondervinden. En natuurlijk heeft hij altijd weer geluk en ontsnapt hij aan de dood, wat normale mensen niet zou lukken. Daarom zi ik voorlopig nog even niet uit naar deel 3.