27 Apr Book Preview: Blasphemy-The Trial of Danesh Masih

One of the biggest privileges of working with a publishing house is that one gets to read books even before they hit the market. And if that book becomes one of your favourite reads, you’d go crazy recommending it to everyone as soon as it releases.

That exactly what is happening to me now.

Blasphemy: The Trial of Danesh Masih, published by Readomania, isn’t just an entertaining read. It is powerful, gripping, gut-wrenching, heart-warming – all at the same time! 

Check out the beautiful cover.

Here’s what Readomania says about the release of the book:

Readomania announces the release of Blasphemy – The Trial of Danesh Masih written by Osman Haneef. The e-version is now available and will be followed by the paperback version, which we hope to release in the next few months as we gain clarity about the coronavirus pandemic.

The book explores the insidious and morally corrosive power of Pakistan’s blasphemy laws, and the courage of the individuals who challenge it. The book has received several endorsements from celebrated writers, who acknowledge the importance of its narrative in the current socio-political milieu of religious intolerance that is sweeping across the region.

‘In this novel of quiet creeping horror, Haneef forces us to confront the supreme evil that lies at the heart of Pakistan’s blasphemy law.’

– Aatish Taseer, writer/journalist

‘A courageous and forthright survey of Pakistan’s blasphemy law. The narrative should also persuade Pakistan’s intelligentsia to ponder what they have made their state, especially its legal system, and society into.’

– IA Rehman, Director–Human Rights Commission of Pakistan

‘Love, the law, religion and violence―this book’s got the lot. And it’s a cracking read too.’

– Owen Bennett-Jones, former BBC correspondent

‘You have to remind yourself that Osman’s novel and the characters he conjures are fictional because they are convincingly real, so much so, that their words stay with you long after you have put down the book.’

– Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, Oscar-winning filmmaker

Blurb:

A Christian boy in Pakistan is accused of blasphemy―a crime punishable by death.

Haunted by a tragic past, a young lawyer named Sikander Ghaznavi returns to Pakistan
after many years abroad, and takes on the defence of the boy.
He reaches out to the sharpest human rights lawyer he knows―the woman he has loved for years, but now another man’s wife.

As they deal with their unresolved feelings, the lawyers confront a corrupt system, a town turned against them, and a prophecy that predicts their death.

Will they save the boy? Or will the city of Quetta, its prejudice inflamed by religious
extremists, consume them and deliver them to a deadly fate?

The Kindle edition is out on Amazon. The paperback shall be out soon too.

I can’t wait for people to read this book and explore for themselves this intense story of love, religion, and humanity.

Do pick it up soon, and don’t forget to leave a review once you’re done reading. 🙂