- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Knopf; 1 edition (July 13 2010)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0307268381
- ISBN-13: 978-0307268389
- Product Dimensions: 23.1 x 16.8 x 3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 567 g
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #287,483 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“Layover in Dubai is a frantic tale of cold murder, cunning double-crosses, and narrow escapes. Yet by setting his story in the mind-numbingly hot and soul-crushingly glitzy city of Dubai, Fesperman allows his novel to raise troubling questions about our globalized era . . . All the while, as if gobbling fistfuls of buttered popcorn, we plow our way through sharp scenes of brilliant resourcefulness in the face of a towering conspiracy . . . Fesperman has once again given us—to use Graham Greene’s term for his own books of straight-up intrigue and violent doings—a solid ‘entertainment.'”
—NPR.org
“Fesperman sharpens his storytelling acumen to cut through various global issues in his latest thriller . . . Dubai proves to be an ideal spot for excess, intrigue, and nefarious corporate shenanigans . . . Fesperman builds tension and contrast with various subplots that buttress the overall story, and he deftly weaves a looming countdown into the tale for added suspense . . . And Fesperman gets extra credit for not shying from the harsh conditions faced by Dubai's migrant labor force, an issue that usually gets lost, or conveniently forgotten, amidst the glitzy sprawl.”
—Baltimore Magazine
“Sam, Anwar, and Laleh are pleasingly conflicted characters . . . but Fesperman makes Dubai his book’s finest character. Fabulous wealth and opulence grind like tectonic plates against traditional Muslim culture, foreign workers outnumber ‘emiratis’ by nine to one, and rival clans still plot against each other. Layover in Dubai has plenty of action, but it’s Fesperman’s portrait of a truly bizarre place that will captivate readers.”
—Booklist
“Dan Fesperman is a writer who delivers thrillers with a plus. His book are thrilling, so that’s covered, but his careful research, his eye for historical detail and interesting social and cultural divisions, have always left his readers with a richer understanding of the settings of his books. All of Fesperman’s strengths are on display in his latest novel, Layover in Dubai. Dubai is a fascinating setting . . . I found myself genuinely caring for the characters and pulling for them . . . And the reader’s interest never flags . . . The exciting conclusion manages to be both believable and affecting. Anyone looking for more than just an a la carte thriller will find Layover in Dubai to be a soup to nuts reading experience indeed.”
—Daily Bulldog (Franklin County, Maine)
—NPR.org
“Fesperman sharpens his storytelling acumen to cut through various global issues in his latest thriller . . . Dubai proves to be an ideal spot for excess, intrigue, and nefarious corporate shenanigans . . . Fesperman builds tension and contrast with various subplots that buttress the overall story, and he deftly weaves a looming countdown into the tale for added suspense . . . And Fesperman gets extra credit for not shying from the harsh conditions faced by Dubai's migrant labor force, an issue that usually gets lost, or conveniently forgotten, amidst the glitzy sprawl.”
—Baltimore Magazine
“Sam, Anwar, and Laleh are pleasingly conflicted characters . . . but Fesperman makes Dubai his book’s finest character. Fabulous wealth and opulence grind like tectonic plates against traditional Muslim culture, foreign workers outnumber ‘emiratis’ by nine to one, and rival clans still plot against each other. Layover in Dubai has plenty of action, but it’s Fesperman’s portrait of a truly bizarre place that will captivate readers.”
—Booklist
“Dan Fesperman is a writer who delivers thrillers with a plus. His book are thrilling, so that’s covered, but his careful research, his eye for historical detail and interesting social and cultural divisions, have always left his readers with a richer understanding of the settings of his books. All of Fesperman’s strengths are on display in his latest novel, Layover in Dubai. Dubai is a fascinating setting . . . I found myself genuinely caring for the characters and pulling for them . . . And the reader’s interest never flags . . . The exciting conclusion manages to be both believable and affecting. Anyone looking for more than just an a la carte thriller will find Layover in Dubai to be a soup to nuts reading experience indeed.”
—Daily Bulldog (Franklin County, Maine)
Product Description
The newest thriller from the author of The Amateur Spy and The Prisoner of Guantánamo (“Worthy of sharing shelf space with the novels of John le Carré and Ken Follett”—USA Today) is as dazzling as its setting.
Sam Keller has been enlisted by his V.P. for Corporate Security and Investigation to spy on another employee while they’re traveling for the company. Ordinarily careful to a fault, Sam decides to live it up. What better spot for business-class hedonism than boomtown Dubai, where resort islands materialize from open ocean, fortunes are made overnight, and skiers crisscross the snowy slope of a shopping mall.
But when Sam’s charge is murdered during a night on the town, it is only the first in a series of bewildering events that plunge him waist-deep into a lethal mix of mobsters, prostitutes, crooked cops, consuls, and corporate players.
Offering a chancy way out is Anwar Sharaf, the unlikeliest of detectives. A former pearl diver and gold smuggler with an undignified demeanor, Sharaf is sometimes as baffled as Sam by the changes to his homeland, especially as they are embodied in the behavior of his rebelliously independent—and hauntingly beautiful—daughter. But he knows where the levers of power reside. As the unlikely duo work their way toward the heart of the case, each man must confront the darkest forces threatening Dubai from within.
Here is Dan Fesperman’s most suspenseful novel yet: a stunning portrait of a city whose mysterious rhythm (“like the precision throb of an artificial heart, clicking and insistent, yet cool to the touch”) is underscored by the insistent clashing of old and new.
Sam Keller has been enlisted by his V.P. for Corporate Security and Investigation to spy on another employee while they’re traveling for the company. Ordinarily careful to a fault, Sam decides to live it up. What better spot for business-class hedonism than boomtown Dubai, where resort islands materialize from open ocean, fortunes are made overnight, and skiers crisscross the snowy slope of a shopping mall.
But when Sam’s charge is murdered during a night on the town, it is only the first in a series of bewildering events that plunge him waist-deep into a lethal mix of mobsters, prostitutes, crooked cops, consuls, and corporate players.
Offering a chancy way out is Anwar Sharaf, the unlikeliest of detectives. A former pearl diver and gold smuggler with an undignified demeanor, Sharaf is sometimes as baffled as Sam by the changes to his homeland, especially as they are embodied in the behavior of his rebelliously independent—and hauntingly beautiful—daughter. But he knows where the levers of power reside. As the unlikely duo work their way toward the heart of the case, each man must confront the darkest forces threatening Dubai from within.
Here is Dan Fesperman’s most suspenseful novel yet: a stunning portrait of a city whose mysterious rhythm (“like the precision throb of an artificial heart, clicking and insistent, yet cool to the touch”) is underscored by the insistent clashing of old and new.
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Customer Reviews
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3.6 out of 5 stars (16 customer reviews)
8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
exciting thriller, July 15 2010
By Harriet Klausner - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Layover in Dubai (Hardcover)
Road weary American auditor Sam Keller is in his twentieth nation as an employee of Pfluger Klaxon. He and his business companion Charlie Hatcher are in Dubai when the latter is murdered. Although Sam vomits twice at the sight of the blown away Charlie, the cops believe he is the killer so he flees rather than take his chances on Middle East justice even if Dubai is a very westernized center.
He soon finds the Russian Mafia and his own pharmaceutical company want him dead. Dubai police officer Anwar Sharaf believes the American is innocent as the alleged motive fails to hold up under minor scrutiny. However, his investigation leads to him on run from his corrupt peers, the Russians and the hired guns of Sam's firm.
This is an exciting over the top of the Burj Khalifa as the audience gets a close up look at perhaps the most capitalist center in the world conflicted between money and religious beliefs. Fast-paced, Sharaf makes the tale work as he rejects the mainstream bias news, jealous peers and deadly others who threaten his loved ones to insure the right people are arrested. Sam pales in comparison to him during his Layover in Dubai.
Harriet Klausner
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Fun reading! Entertaining and informative., Sep 21 2010
By D. Yancey - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Layover in Dubai (Hardcover)
The author lived several weeks in Dubai researching this book. Gives you a feeling for Dubai and to some extent the importance of personal relationships in doing business in the UAE. Mostly, this book is a lot of fun! Informative and entertaining!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Couldn't Put it Down!, Sep 12 2010
By Candy Baker "Artemis Topalian" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Layover in Dubai (Hardcover)
"Layover in Dubai" was certainly the best book of the summer. It kept me guessing until the last few pages. As a past resident of the Arabian Gulf, I can attest to the fact that the author had his cultural facts straight and it was clear he has been to the Gulf or had an editor who knows the region personally. I give this book a top rating and recommend it to all mystery/murder fans.
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