The Trenches
Parker Bilal
Available as Paperback, eBook
In this powerful, pacy thriller with a fresh perspective on crime in London, Theakston Crime Novel of the Year nominee Parker Bilal tackles our multicultural capital with blazing originality
A TIMES BEST CRIME BOOK OF THE YEAR
In London, private investigator Dr Rayhana Crane is contacted by a woman who has received an unexpected letter from her estranged son Jason, not seen since he left to become a fighter for Islamic State. When his steps are traced back to the old stamping ground of her partner, Cal Drake, the former policeman goes undercover to infiltrate the sinister network which took Jason abroad.
Meanwhile, Crane pursues a woman whose seemingly unconnected disappearance off the English coast is soon found to reveal a deadlier connection. As the two investigators delve deeper, they find themselves mired in a violent world where terror and organised crime intersect.
“Parker Bilal has his finger on the racing pulse of London, a multicultural nexus of organised crime and terrorism whether you’re in a swanky penthouse or on a sink estate. The miasma of corruption is inescapable; bile and rage make the prose sting. A senior cop remarks: ‘It’s a f***ed up world whichever way you look at it.’ That’s why we need and read excellent crime fiction like this”
Mark Sanderson
the Times
See more reviews
”Praise for The Heights: Inventive and original … The Heights is a complex and satisfying mystery involving finance, gangland, trafficking and prostitution. A layered, no nonsense thriller that is intriguing and exciting”
nb Magazine
”Praise for The Divinities: Terrific crime fiction rooted in geopolitics”
sunday Times
“Bilal tells the story with ferocious, exhilarating energy … essential reading”
daily Telegraph
“A firecracker of a novel that delves deep into the rot infecting both politics and big business”
Eric Van Lustbader, Author Of The Bourne Legacy
Parker Bilal
Parker Bilal is the author of the Makana Investigations series, the third of which, The Ghost Runner, was longlisted for the Theakston Old Peculier Crime Novel of the Year Award. The Divinities, the first in his Crane & Drake London crime series, was published in 2019. Parker Bilal is the pseudonym of Jamal Mahjoub, the critically acclaimed literary novelist. Born in London, he has lived in a number of places, including the UK, Denmark, Spain and, currently, the Netherlands.
@Parker_Bilal | jamalmahjoub.com