Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous

(Paperback)

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Description

On the day that Hindu nationalists and their controversial leader have won a spectacular election victory, a large apartment building collapses in Mumbai. The rescue operation finds only one survivor, a man trapped under a beam, mumbling in delirium. But what he is saying is that two people are on their way to carry out a terror attack. Not only must they get him out, the police must find out what he knows, and act quickly.; A young woman, Akhila Iyer, a medical student but also a notorious prankster, has rushed to the scene. She is small and light enough to crawl along to the tunnel to the dying man to administer painkillers as they try to dig him out of the rubble. Akhila is the only link between him and the police, hearing what he is whispering.; Elsewhere, a young intelligence agent, Mukundan, is assigned to shadow the two terror suspects, one of whom is a teenager and the sweetheart of her street, the enigmatic Laila. And so the chase is on ...; Manu Joseph's new novel poses some very big questions, but at its heart are the ordinary people, the watchers and the followers, and those who are trapped when buildings fall.

Reviews

'Caustic, comic and determinedly controversial. And there's a thriller lurking beneath too...' - The Observer 'The plot twist is so axing and hits you out of nowhere and just leaves you so shocked... This book is a must-read for all looking to read a good thriller.' - Bookclub for Two 8/10 review, Bookstagrammer 'Another winner from the acclaimed Indian author.' - Booklist 'Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous is a thoughtful, well-conceived novel, with characters of surprising depth, even where they seem almost simply sketched, presenting a society and a political culture so crushingly overwhelming (like that natural disaster that easily brings down the building at the start of the novel ...) that the individual can seem completely helpless to act. But Joseph's characters do act, and act out... It is a somewhat bleak novel, but also a surprising hopeful one -- and not just in its final, distant promise.' - Complete Review 'With thrills and social criticism, Manu Joseph creates a political masterpiece.' - Disclaimer Magazine 'Absolutely nothing escapes the sharp wit of Manu Joseph in this intelligent and entertaining thriller. Miss Laila, Armed and Dangerous is jam-packed with ideas and reads as smoothly as the best page-turners do. The writing is beautiful, insightful and elegant. This is a truly original and important novel. One that is also an awful lot of fun to read.' - Nudge 'Laila is a wonderful creation. She is spirited, clever, funny, industrious... This is Manu Joseph's most all-encompassing novel yet, a startlingly angry portrait of contemporary India... [It is] a romping satirical thriller that recognises no sacred cows but scorches a path through the corridors of political power.' - Mariella Frostrup on BBC Radio 4 'Open Book' 'It has the breathless pace of a Hollywood car chase, dry, clever humour worthy of Aaron Sorkin, and the heavy heart and soul of Marquez. A thrilling novelistic entry point to the hierarchies, power-plays, comedies and tragedies of contemporary India.' - The Big Issue 'The finest comic novelists know that a small world can illuminate culture and an age... Manu Joseph does just that.' - Boyd Tonkin

Author Bio

Manu Joseph is the author of two previous novels, Serious Men (winner of the Hindu Literary Prize and the PEN/Open Book Award) and The Illicit Happiness of Other People (shortlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize and the PG Wodehouse Prize for the Best Comic Novel). He lives in Delhi and is a columnist for The Mint Lounge. He used to write the `Letter from India' column for The International New York Times.