Ahmed Masoud
Ahmed Masoud’s Vanished is a gripping political thriller about a boy seeking justice amid war, secrets, and betrayal.
Ahmed Masoud’s Vanished is a searing, suspense-filled mystery that dives deep into the heart of a family fractured by war, secrets, and betrayal. Part political thriller, part emotional odyssey—this unforgettable novel traces one boy’s relentless pursuit of justice and belonging in a world where truth is often buried beneath rubble. Praise for Vanished: The Mysterious Disappearance of Mustafa Ouda “Mixing a thriller story with the reality of life in the Palestinian occupied territories. Vanished is a novel which can be enjoyed by a wide public, not only by people interested in the Arab world.” —Banipal Magazine (London) “In this gripping coming-of-age novel, life for young Omar in Gaza’s Jabalia Camp is full of fear and danger as he pieces together the story of his father’s mysterious disappearance. While navigating the machinations of a brutal Israeli military occupation and growing up among resistance fighters as well as collaborators, Omar has to make impossible choices and learns painful lessons…” —Zeina Azzam, author of Some Things Never Leave You “Vanished takes the reader deep into Gazan society…. and the suspense is maintained until its final pages.” —The Tanjara “Masoud is skilful at building up suspense; he drops no early hints of what happened to Omar’s father.” —The Jordan Times “There are many bittersweet references to the idea of loss and return: the lost country, the lost father. The resolution of those themes, when it comes, towards the end of the novel, is both startling and unexpected.” —Rebecca Sowray, in Louder Than War “Vanished is an accomplished novel that, quietly and without didacticism, gets to the heart of the terrible sacrifices demanded of a people living in a state of permanent, unrelenting siege.” —The New Internationalist (London)
