Looking for the Mahdi

ISBN: 0-441-00450-4 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com

A tense political thriller in the near future, with a good hero and partner, marred slightly by a cartoonish plot.

Reviewed by David on June 13, 1998

Genre: Science Fiction (Cloak and Dagger, Near Future, Political Thriller)

Synopsis: A woman journalist is asked to smuggle in an android bodyguard into a country on the brink of civil war. Her trip, however, is only a cover for deeper plots, and she and the android are forced to run and hide when the plots become murderous.

Full Review: Kay Munadi, a journalist for a news network in the near future is asked to travel to her native country in the Middle East to deliver a fabricant—a humanoid manufactured with superior reflexes and strength—to the local ruler to serve as a bodyguard. Unfortunately, the country is in the middle of a brutal struggle for power, and all parties, including the American intelligence that sent Munadi, think nothing of torture and murder in the pursuit of their agenda.

Playing a man in the deeply conservative Muslim country, Kay has to run for her life while trying to figure out whom to trust. The fabricant, who was apparently created to be a convenient victim, provides Kay with his somewhat unreliable help amidst a brutal struggle degenerating into a civil war.

The plot moves with an amazing speed, and the tone is gritty and brutal in its portrayal of the ruthless struggles for power in the Middle East. Unfortunately, I found too many elements of the plot putting strain on my suspension of disbelief. The brilliant students, the evil government conspiracies blackmailed into submission, and the plots within plots, all to resolve like a happy ending in the end—I found it a bit unrealistic.

However, the pain and desperation, love and determination of Kay Bee and the people around her ring true, and tense plot keeps the reader in suspense until the end. On the whole, this is an impressive debut.

Overall: 6.5; Plot: 5; Characters: 7; Style: 5; World-building: 4.5; Originality: 6;

ISBN: 0-441-00450-4 Order from: Amazon.com Barnes & Noble.com