Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah

Today Mandie is back in charge, sharing her thoughts on Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah. Here’s what the book is all about:

About the Book

ON AN ORDINARY WORKING DAY…

Leila Syed receives a call that cleaves her life in two. Her brother-in-law’s voice is filled with panic. His son’s nursery has called to ask where little Max is.

YOUR WORST NIGHTMARE…

Leila was supposed to drop Max off that morning. But she forgot.

Racing to the carpark, she grasps the horror of what she has done.

IS ABOUT TO COME TRUE…

What follows is an explosive, high-profile trial that will tear the family apart. But as the case progresses it becomes clear there’s more to this incident than meets the eye…

A gripping, brave and tense courtroom drama, Next of Kin will keep you on the edge of your seat until the final, heart-stopping page.

My Thoughts

I came across Next of Kin whilst mooching in one of my local Waterstones and bagged myself a couple of bargains. I am not really familiar with any of the books written by Kia Abdullah, but there was something about the blurb in the book that caught my eye and was also slightly different to what I might normally read but sometimes a change is just what you need.

Leila Syed appears to have a good life and career and is very close to her sister, in fact they live not far from each other, so it was not unusual for her to be asked to look after her nephew Max. When her brother-in-law calls asking if she could drop him off at nursery as its not too far from her office she agrees. Its not until she is distracted by a crisis at her office that the day and her life begins to crumble. The consequences of her actions have a devastating effect on those she loves the most and Max ultimately pays the price. In my head I could hear myself saying “don’t forget Max” and already playing out what I knew was going to happen with no way to stop it.

To most people Leila is a cool, calm character who Is very driven, and she certainly comes across like that to the reader to begin with, in fact there were times that even I wondered if her reputation and her career were more important to her than dealing with what she had done. As the book progressed however I did get more of an insight into why she acts the way she does and also learn about her own devastating lossesall of which are played out in court and not always to show her in a good light. I can’t say that I warmed to either sister as they both seemed quite self-centred, but it didn’t stop me watching the events play out. And my hats off to Kia Abdullah for the ending that I was not expecting in any shape or form.

We all have moments where we forget something – I know I have, in fact it’s a running joke in my house about how I will leave and then suddenly go back to check if I had done something that they saw me do not five minutes before. Thankfully for me my lapses are not life threatening and don’t have any real consequences other than I may be five minutes later to my destination. Leila is not so lucky and as she has a reputation of never forgetting anything it is hard for even her own sister to believe that she did just that. This may be a subject matter that may distress some people but it was skilfully handled from start to finish and I would recommend it to anyone.

About the Author

Kia Abdullah is an author and travel writer from London. She has written for The New York Times, the Guardian and the Telegraph, and is the author of Truth Be Told, which was shortlisted for The Diverse Book Awards, and Take It Back, named one of the best thrillers of the year by the Guardian and the Telegraph.

Kia frequently contributes to the BBC, commenting on a variety of issues affecting the British Asian community, and is the founder of Asian Booklist, a site that helps readers discover new books by British Asian authors. Kia also runs Atlas & Boots, a travel blog read by 250,000 people a month.