Meet Luke Archer, a British Egyptian doctor who struggles to be from two worlds at the same time. He's working in one of the world's most dangerous hospitals in Yemen. When rebel forces take over the city, a group of Western mercenaries take refuge inside the hospital and Luke and his team find themselves in the middle of a deadly clash. To make matters worse, leading the mercenaries is an unwelcome figure from Luke's past. After years saving the lives of others, Luke needs to face the demons of his past in order to save his own.
Set in the UK and Yemen, Guns & Almond Milk is a literary thriller that deals with identity, diversity and old coins of arguable value. It's The Sympathizer mixed with M.A.S.H by the way of Ramy.
Book source ~ TWR Tour
War Fiction
2 April 2024
234 Pages
My Rating ~ 4 bites
Luke Archer is a doctor volunteering in Yemen during the constant conflicts. He and his team mates suddenly find themselves right in the middle of things when the two sides converge on the hospital they are working at. Things go from just merely horrible to FUBAR in the space of seconds.
This is one hella dark and compelling read. It’s horrifying and realistic which, I’m sure, comes from the author’s humanitarian experiences in war torn zones. Totally frightening and makes me wonder why people volunteer for these duties. Yikes.
Luke is a deeply flawed character, but fairly likeable nonetheless. Interspersed with the present are flashbacks to his past where he met one of the mercenaries that now control the hospital where Luke is trying to save lives. Some of the scenes are a bit of a stretch of the imagination, but not so much as to bring the rating down too far. At the end, I wonder if Luke will keep volunteering in such dangerous regions or if this has been enough for him. If you like your stories realistic, dark, and terrifying then this is the one for you.
I am an Egyptian writer, aid worker and trainer.
I have over a decade of humanitarian experience in more than a dozen conflict zones around the world—including most Arab Spring countries at the heights, and lows, of their uprisings.
My Page Turner Award finalist debut, Guns and Almond Milk, is coming out 20 Feb 2024 from Interlink and distributed by Simon & Schuster.
I like neo-noir, dark humour and books that strike the magical balance between the literary and the commercial.
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