Abdullah lights Marlboros one after the other, in a restaurant in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. A few years ago, he would have thought himself doomed for smoking just one. He also would’ve beaten up anyone refusing to put his cigarette off before him. This was the time when Abdullah righted the wrongs

Beside its inherent literary quality, this books presents the main interest of being the work of a writer of Arabic language, borne in the country that gave birth to Al-Qaeda.

Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation has recently acquired English rights to Jabbour Douaihy’s novel.

Zahi wears a beard and white tunic. Gradually, his “heart swells with hatred”, like his companions: “I thought like them, I felt like them, I belonged to them.” Yet, his “friends” will end up cursing him. They accuse him of loving music. And it is music that saves him.

This book is a good illustration of the kind of Saudi literature that can be produced, harsh and straightforward, yet not translated enough. The introspection and insight into a society largely unknown put forward by this novel, makes it worth the interest.

Retracing the route of thirty year old Saudi who resembles the 19 hijackers of September 11 through fiction, the author examines his own journey and the motivations of djihadist organizations.