Review of Khanjar

[Janki Patel]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Khanjar" by Bob O'Brien.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Khanjar by Bob O'Brien is a political crime thriller set in the United States. It revolves around the geopolitical crisis between Israel and Palestine and the role played by superpowers like the United States and China. 

Nasir has studied civil engineering in China and is now on his way to America as a fellow researcher and a guest lecturer. He hails from Palestine, and his project involves supplying clean drinking water to the people of Palestine by setting up a desalination plant. However, this project is being funded by China, which decides to set up this plant in Egypt instead of Palestine. Behind the garb of humanitarian assistance, China might have some ulterior motives behind this move. More than anything else, Nasir is in America to garner the US support for this project, which would help check China's moves. However, when a bomb goes off near one of America's reservoirs, Nasir becomes a suspect in the eyes of the FBI.
 
Amidst the present conflict going on in West Asia between Israel and Hamas, this book took on a more real shape in my mind. This thriller presents a clear picture of how smaller, often underdeveloped states become the battleground for developed nations. Instead of providing them with humanitarian help, they most often remain a means to an end. In the context of this book, Palestine is the state under consideration. While empathy for the people of Palestine is warranted against the backdrop of human rights violations, the narrative also throws light on the other side of the picture. It depicts how no one party is fully absolved of any wrongdoing. 
 
Apart from the political intrigue, the book is also about greed, disloyalty, and patriotism. This book goes on to symbolise the never-ending loop of violence associated with geopolitics. Thus, the focus of this book is also on using a more persuasive and dialogue-orientated approach to solve such a crisis. 
 
The characters and their motives in the book are reasonably justified by the author. The book is bereft of any typing or grammatical errors. I do not have any complaints with the storyline or the characters and had a fast-paced reading experience. 
 
For the above-mentioned reasons, I rate this book five out of five.
 
 
 
 
 

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Khanjar
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