Loved this standalone by Amir Mukherjee. It starts with an explosion in an LA shopping centre and an english woman appears to have planted the bomb.
The plot has many twists and turns spreading across countries, cults, racism, extremism and two parents that will do anything to stop their children getting further involved.

Hunted is a pacey, suspenseful and exciting thriller. However, the bottom line is that, however well written, it is essentially a routine political conspiracy tale with which we are familiar from myriad books, movies and television series. A group of renegade ex-military personnel, operating inside the security structures of the US government, is intent on disrupting the democratic process. Some improbable coincidences and a lack of anything truly innovative were the most disappointing aspects of an otherwise competent addition to the genre.

A breathlessly paced, twisty story, both gripping and unexpectedly moving. A frighteningly plausible political backdrop to the story as well. Because there are so many characters, I did feel some of them were slightly underdeveloped, but this was great fun and very quick to read.

This is the first book I’ve read by author Abir Mukherjee and this one was pretty good! A well written account of prejudice, brutality and culture all interwoven with tension and thrills. Although my interest was piqued I felt as if it took a long time to get any answers, the novelty of keeping me in suspense was getting old and I just wanted enough to get me thinking, to try to figure out what was going to happen next and get me to that point of not just wanting to know the truth but needing to find out the truth instead I was just wanting to get to the end.

The ending felt a bit rushed and through this it felt like we were given half-hearted answers to those big burning questions of who were these people and why was this happening, ending in a way that wasn’t completely shocking and seemed to lack that omg moment I was hoping for.

Overall I enjoyed the book it was fun and full of suspense but just fell short in a few aspects for me so a solid 3 stars 🌟

You can’t save your kids, but can you stop them?

When a bomb is detonated in a busy LA Shopping Mall just a short time before the US Presidential elections, FBI Agent Shreya Mistry finds herself thrown in to the carnage and is determined to find the guilty culprits. A young female Muslim girl seemingly behind the attack, but who is she working with and why? Shreya is sucked in to the hunt, and having been taken off the case, she ignores her boss and goes on a hunt of her own.

Meanwhile, in London, airport worker Sajid Khan’s world is turned upside down when armed police storm Heathrow airport - his daughter Aliyah is reported to be in the USA, having travelled there with the suicide bomber. Sajid is in denial - his daughter is in Japan having travelled there on a ticket he had purchased for her. Or did she? When an American woman Carrie shows up to his house she has some big claims - his daughter is with her son Greg, they are both missing and she knows where they are. He has no choice, he needs to go and find his daughter and bring her home before the authorities catch up with her. No matter what the cost, and despite the risk to his own life can be and Carrie find their children and put an end to this before any other attacks happen?


This was the first book I have read by Abir, and it didn’t disappoint! I was hooked from the first line to the last, it was right in to the story from page one! I was really invested in the characters, I really enjoyed seeing how the different strands of each part of the story came together in the end with a fantastic ending! Absolutely brilliant! The story was well plotted, and you could tell the author put a lot of research in to bring everything together to make the story real. I felt like I was watching it play out like a film over the pages! The writing style was very fluid and it was easy to keep up with the story. Brilliant characters, by the end I felt as a reader I got to know them. I didn’t see the twist coming either!

One of the best books I’ve ever read! Brilliant!

Thank you Abir and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in return for my honest review. Easy 5 ⭐️from me!

I was gripped by the story from the start and thought the pacing was excellent all the way through to the climax. It’s got plenty of action and excitement throughout and some interesting and sympathetic characters, like the FBI agent Shreya and the parents, Carrie and Sajid, as they hunt for their children across America.
There’s plenty of twists especially towards the dramatic ending that keep you guessing as to what’s going to happen. Well worth a read.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher Harvill Secker for an ARC in return for an honest review.

Wow, what a page turning relentlessly turbulent ride.
My first by this author, it won’t be my last.

Highly recommend 5stars

Hunted by Abir Mukherjee is the first book from the author that I have read, and it won’t be my last. This is a fantastic fast-paced thriller that will have you hooked to the last page.
When a bomb goes off in a US shopping mall before the Presidential Elections. Your first thought is that it is a suicide bomber belonging to a radical group. But when FBI agent Shreya Mistry is looks at the CCTV footage of what happened that day. She knows something is not right.
In London Sajid Khan is visited by Armed Police, not only do they think that he has something to do with the bombing in the US but his daughter instead of going to Japan where she told her father she was going. She joined the cause of the group what bombed the mall. Is she responsible for all of them deaths?
This is not only a fast-paced political thriller but about terrorism and racism, but prejudice because you are a certain colour and the differences of how the two countries deal with that. Because of that not only did I enjoy this for the thriller element, which I couldn’t put down. But I found it to be also a quite thought provoking read. 5 stars from me

Thank you NetGalley, author and publisher for the free pre published eBook to review, this is my unbiased review.
The author Abir Mukherjee has several books under his belt, this is my first review by this author, so here goes. Born in the UK with a successful series set in the Raj era of India; Hunted is set across the UK and the US with a stand alone story involving two parents with adult children possibly part of a terrorist plot to bomb in the US. Racing across the US to keep ahead of the authorities and locating their family is essentially the plot. Constant tension oozes on every page, tension rarely eases. No breaks to catch your breath, often in cinema films we get a tension breaking joke or down time - but boy no breaks in this story. even roller coasters you get ups and downs. So have a cuppa to make your own breaks you will need it.

A refreshingly non cliched, well researched and utterly plausible read, Hunted combines the pace of a thriller with the depth of a well researched piece of literary fiction.

Emotionally and physically draining! I felt the author had lived through every moment of this story taking me along with him, causing me to hold my breath at the end of each chapter! Shreya, the FBI Agent whose hunches may or may not be her downfall, Sajid who doesn’t want to lose another daughter, Greg, whose love for his fellow terrorist Alijah, could be his downfall and Corrie his mother, who just wants to save her boy from making the same mistakes as she made in her past! All these characters leap out from the pages; their fears, their passions, their naivety, their bravery, their sheer endurance unite them on their journey towards a breathtaking conclusion! Brilliant!

One word…..relentless!

Read this ARC in a couple of sittings and just when I’d caught my breath from one thrilling part, it hurtles straight into the next!

Abir is a new author to me - but after this rollercoaster of a ride, I’m going to search out the rest of the back catalogue.

No spoilers here - but it started in dramatic fashion and didn’t let up till the very end which finished as it started.

Very enjoyable - here’s to the next one!

I am an enormous fan of Abir Mukherjee's Wyndham and Banerjee series of historic murder mysteries, so I recognised his name and jumped at the chance to get Hunted.

That said, if I hadn't KNOWN it was the same writer, I would not have BELIEVED it was the same writer.

It's the biggest change of direction that I've seen since Jhumpa Lahiri announced she was giving up writing about India and only going to write about Italy.

Argghhhhh

That said, Hunted is an entirely competent and intriguing contemporary mystery, combining very pertinent themes around US elections, terrorism, political dissatisfaction, and, perhaps strongest of all, the drive of parents to protect their children.

When a young Muslim girl blows up a shopping arcade in America, it's easy for the authorities to jump to the conclusion that it's an act of Islamic terror. But is it? If it is, why does she appear to be trying to run away and looking so scared. FBI agent, Shreya, is not convinced that everything is as it seems, but her FBI and police colleagues don't want to listen.

I never had a problem with Mukherjee writing as a 1920s Englishman. I bought the character of Sam Wyndham 100%. Unfortunately, I didn't feel the same about his attempt to write as an American-born Sikh woman FBI agent. This is the second book I've read already this year in which the story has been great, but the female protagonist written by a man just doesn't quite hit the mark.

The book will keep you guessing to the end. It has plenty of twists and turns and it's well crafted. My only reservation would be that so many authors are writing books that are a lot like this one. Mukherjee is the only writer I know who can do Wyndham and Mukherjee. I fear that hundreds of writers can 'do' Shreya Singh.

Well paced, feels relevant to the upcoming year and really refreshing to read a story from the parents perspective - something I've not seen before! I still found the narrative thought-provoking on the balance of racism vs terrorism, despite being one of those roller-coaster reads that you can't put down. Can see this becoming a social media sensation!

The book opens with a suicide bombing in America by a British Muslim girl, just as the election is about to take place, and the group responsible threaten to strike again.
Greg is part of the group, and wants to save Aliyah from being killed. Their parents are also trying to find them, along with maverick Shreya from the FBI, but who can be trusted?
There's a lot of twists leading to the final showdown. The writing is good and I enjoyed most of the book although I found it a bit improbable and the ending seemed a bit rushed and chaotic.
Good beach read.

This book is a page turning, dynamite lighting read!
I was so pleased to start a whole new year of books with this novel!
Released on the 9th May.

Mukherjee never lets up.

Hunted starts on a high note and ends on a high note as well. He takes us on a twisty road across different continents and different people.

He writes a story which examines terrorism and it's link to racism. How the word terrorism has been highjacked by those who manipulate the media, how the same action can be termed terrorism in one instance, by one group of people and a justifiable act of defense in another instance by another group of people. It's all in how the perspective changes or is manipulated.

He also writes people, what they are, what they feel, how the world changes them and makes them into the people we meet here.

<i>An ARC gently provided by author/publisher via Netgalley.</i>

I am a huge fan of the Wyndham/Banerjee books, and to be honest when I started this I just wanted a bit more of the same. However I was soon gripped by this contemporary thriller. It is completely different, but like the Banerjee books it is populated with well rounded believable characters. Abir Mukherjee has been writing best sellers a while now, and his writing is tight and gripping. The twists and turns of the book were surprising, but the clues were there all the way trough the book, so the conclusion was satisfying. This is an intelligent thriller, which I found hard to put down. I loved Shreya, and hope that this is the start of a new series. Fingers crossed.

I was put off by the very first paragraph with a rather pretentious description of trees, but luckily i read on and thoroughly enjoyed this cracking thriller. Bombs, conspiracies and strange reclusive groups lead to plenty of intrigue. FBI agent Shreya Mistry is not a conventional special agent but very tenacious and willing to throw away the rule book to track down the perpetrators. Easy to feel support for her and the parents of two people involved in the actions.. The setting moves from the UK to Canada and the USA and a fast pace is maintained. Things verged on becoming a bit over the top at the end with slightly unrealistic chases but it wasn’t overdone . Despite my reaction to the first paragraph, i liked the frequent quirky descriptions of rain and sleet throughout the book. I was surprised to find that most of the locations in the USA were real places so i had online maps open several times and I enjoyed investigating the region.
Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for the uncorrected book proof copy.

A new and different style of novel from the pen of experienced crime author Abir Mukherjee. His award winning historical crime series "Wyndham and Banerjee" series set in the British Raj era in India, in a "must read" for me. So, when I heard that Mukherjee was releasing a new, contemporary novel, I had to dive right in.
Our story begins with a young woman setting off in a busy shopping mall, in LA. When CCTV suggests that the bomber is a suicide bomber of Asian ethnicity, the ugly twins of racism and unconscious bias. Our first protoganist, is Shreya Mistry, a determined and experienced FBI agent, with an unerring instinct for tye truth but sadly mistrusted by her superiors, As Shreya battles to be allowed to fully investigate the case, Sajid Khan, finds himself the subject of a shocking arrest and treatment by intelligence officers. The reason? His youngest daughter (Aliyah), is suspected of being involved with the bombing. As Sajid struggles to accept the terrible changes to his life, he is contacted by an American woman, Carrie, claiming that her son (Greg) is being framed and mislead just like Aliyah.
The storyline is fast paced and provides multiple viewpoints, allowing the reader to understand the fears of Sajid and Carrie, along with learning about insidious nature of this terrorist group. There are also numerous twists, as individual strands of the story come together.
When I finished the novel, the story stayed with me for some time. Not just because of the intriguing storyline but also for how
thought-provoker it proved to be. It is incredibly easy as a white woman to overlook the deepening racism and bias that is ingrained in everyday life for so many - and the cruel, abusive attitudes faced because of these dangerous ideals.