A Jay Qasim short story and prequel to EAST OF HOUNSLOW written for Quick Reads 2021
Business has been slow for Hounslow’s small time dope-dealer, Jay Qasim. A student house party means quick easy cash but it also means breaking his own rules. But desperate times lead him there – and Jay finds himself in the middle of a crime scene.
Idris Zaidi, a Police Constable and Jay’s best friend, is having a quiet night when he gets a call out following a noise complaint at a house party. Fed up with the lack of excitement in his job, he visits the scene and quickly realises that people are in danger after a stabbing.
Someone will stop at nothing to get revenge . . .
Book information: Print length: 140 pages. Publisher: HQ. Publication Date: 27 May 2021
Khurrum Rahman is a Pakistani and English author of fiction.
He has born in Karachi in Pakistan in 1975. When he was just one years old, he moved to England. Rahman hails from west London but does not live there today. He currently resides in England with his family.
Rahman graduated from university with honors. Besides writing, he’s been working in IT for a total of nearly two decades. However, you can never rule out him turning over to writing for a full time career.
The author’s high interest in fiction led him to try and write some screenplays. He also tried out writing for independent film making companies. He says that his passion resides in checking out a good crime thriller novel. After all, good ones in the past have inspired him to do some of his current writing.
Rahman states that he has put his singular point of view into his writing combined with what he has taken away from a ‘study’ of other writers that he admires. He says that hopefully as a result he has developed ‘a fresh voice’ that is alive with originality.
He is the creator and author of the Jay Kasim series of fictional novels. This series kicked off in 2017 with the publication of the first novel in the series, titled East of Hounslow. The sequel to the first book is titled Homegrown Hero. It was released in 2018.
My Review:
I am NOT a fan of quick reads or short stories because in my opinion they are too short and tend to end too soon, but I was lucky enough to receive a copy of The Motive in the post and as my reading mojo had temporarily disappeared I thought that a little bit of Khurrum was exactly what I needed and I was right.
I have read and loved all 3 of Khurrum’s books about Jay Qasim, part-time drug dealer and reluctant M15 spy and therefore went into this short story with the knowledge of Jay’s personality and background which, in my personal opinion, is really important to read before you start this prequel.
In The Motive, Jay finds himself at the centre of a violent attack on a young white man whilst dealing drugs at a house party and when his best friend and police officer Idris turns up things become even more tense and potentially fatal.
With Khurrum’s usual dry wit, observational humour, topical and thought-provoking themes, The Motive doesn’t disappoint. A great quick read but I strongly recommend you read the trilogy first.
Book 1: East of Hounslow. Book 2: Homegrown Hero. Book 3: Ride or Die.
