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ASYLUM CITY
by Liad Shoham and Sara Kitai, trans.
Harper Collins, December 2014
336 pages
$25.99
ISBN: 0062237535


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

A North American reading a thriller set in Tel Aviv might expect to find a plot laden with issues connected to the Jewish-Arab conflict. However, in this case, the reader would be mistaken. Israeli author Liad Shoham has written an engrossing mystery revolving around the moral issues created by the collision of two different cultures: refugees from Eritrea seeking political asylum and Israeli society.

The "mystery" itself – the murder of Michal Poleg, an Israeli woman who is a passionate volunteer with the Organization of Migrant Aid (OMA)working with Eritrean asylum seekers– will take a seasoned mystery reader only a few chapters to solve. Is the murder based on her personal life? Or is it connected to her fanatical pursuit of a criminal banking ring that preys on the refugees she supports? There are a few red herrings thrown into the mix to keep us guessing. I suspect that the red herrings have more to do with advancing the author's point of view on the corruptibility of human nature than with providing reasonable solutions to the murder.

The best part of the book for me was several of the characters that Shoham created. They were both realistic and likeable. Anat Nachmias, the Israeli detective who solves the case, has to deal with parents who would like to see her safety married as well as with fellow officers who are not sure that women belong on the police force. She also has to face some difficult internal Israeli policy struggles around dealing with the Eritrean asylum seekers who are seeking to escape a brutal regime in their homeland. There are powerful Israeli political forces that are hostile to these new refugees; they blame them for increasing crime rates and economic hardships.

The other major character I found myself drawn to was Itai Fisher, who serves as director of the OMA, and was Michal's boss. The author created a very nuanced picture of a murder victim who is too passionate to be very likeable – in real life we have all come across people like Michal who are so convinced of the rightness of their positions that they can be difficult to work with and exasperating to be around. Itai struggles with both his respect for Michal's dedication to the cause they share and his irritation when she repeatedly oversteps her bounds. After her murder, he also faces a tremendous sense of guilt for not listening to her more carefully.

Even the villains created by Shoham are multi-dimensional for the most part. They seek to justify their behavior and operate with their own moral compasses. Readers will be left grappling with big questions: what happens with legal banking systems exclude segments of a population? What are society's obligations to the least fortunate? The moral questions raised are not simple nor are easy solutions suggested

There was one character whose portrayal I found off the mark. The first suspect for the crime is Gabriel, a refugee who is a talented artist. He is a young Eritrean who confesses to committing the murder in order to protect his sister. The author does not paint a picture of him as a capable adult; he comes across as a very simple individual, which seemed to be a bit demeaning.

Even with my few quibbles, ASYLUM CITY was a very satisfying read. Shoham is a practicing attorney who was able to clearly describe the Israeli legal landscape and internal politics. Kudos must go to Sara Kitai for her excellent translation. Let's hope we see more of Detective Nachmias.

§ Phyllis Onstad has been a writer, editor, civil servant, teacher and voracious reader. She currently lives in the California wine country.

Reviewed by Phylllis Onstad, January 2015

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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