Omar Shahid Hamid's life rivals the adrenaline-fueled roller coaster of his novel, The Prisoner. He left Karachi, Pakistan when there were too many contracts on his life. His father was assassinated. Hamid served with the Karachi Police and was targeted by various terrorist groups. He was wounded in the line of duty, and his office was bombed by the Taliban in 2010. He definitely has the background to write this book.

There are two separate storylines in The Prisoner: the current hunt for the kidnapped journalist, and the backstory showing Constantine D'Souza and Akbar Khan working together as police officers and Khan's subsequent imprisonment for a crime he didn't commit. The pace at the beginning was a bit slow and took some time to get moving, and occasionally the transitions between the two stories were muddled and it took me a few seconds to get myself straightened out, but these certainly weren't major issues. Although the story held my attention captive until its climax, that wasn't the most important part of the book for me.

The part that kept rocking me back on my heels was the portrait of Karachi. The differences between rich and poor. The fact that the police and government are so corrupt that policemen often have to break the law in order to get the worst criminals in prison where they belong. And-- great merciful heaven-- that labyrinthine, almost incestuous system of politics, military, and police! Most officials seem to be in their positions for the number of bribes they can rake in. It's all about the money (hundreds upon hundreds of thousands of dollars) and has little to do with justice or doing what's right. It's all fascinating but not conducive to me journeying there any time soon.

I picked up The Prisoner because I wanted to know more about Pakistan. When I'd turned the last page, I knew that I'd gotten much more than I'd bargained for. What an experience, especially for a first book! ( )

This is my first Pakistani detective, mystery book - in fact, my first Pakistani book! Most enjoyable. The English is superb and very well written and a joy to read - there are numerous Paki/Urdu words but not too many and easily looked up if one doesn't understand them and add a lot to the book.

The story is not too complex but a meaty enough plot line. What comes over very loud and clear, is an astonishing level of corruption and violence in the police and the politicians. Astonishing even if it's half true.

A refeshingly diferent cops and robbers book. ( )