BACKLASH

Rod Duncan

Simon and Schuster £6.99pbk Rel: Aug 2003

Reviewed by

Ali Karim

A very robust debut novel set in the shadowy world of race-hatred. Backlash is really an urban thriller focusing on how a riot builds upon the fractures present in a racially divided city. Set in Leicester, the UK’s first city to have an ethnic majority, we follow the trail of Inspector Mo Akanbai, a mixed race police officer in charge of community policing. The action starts on page one, where a gutted pig is found inside a mosque and soon tempers fray on the streets. Trying to keep a lid on the rising tensions is not easy for Mo, as her own personal-life is far from placid. The criminal investigation is led by her former lover, Inspector Paresh Gupta, and to make matters worse, she fears that she is pregnant. Mo luckily has a good sense of humour which helps diffuse some of the darkness in this book. The urban landscape is also populated by corruption from within the police to local politicians adding to the fever in the city. The asylum-seeker issue is handled topically, and shows what a political ‘hot-potato’ it really is. A good story for a hot summer night, and soon to be followed up by a sequel ‘Backbeat’ in February 2004.