(Some creatures are half man/half animal, some are mere shadows, while others are full-fledged demons, capable of scaring the wits out of just about anyone.) What is fascinating about these characters is that in an oppressive society, their humanity often shines brighter than their human counterparts. For their plight, they somehow manage to enlist the help of century-old creatures from a world that is unseen by most humans. The manhunt drives Alif underground, and he takes his neighbor and childhood friend Dina with him.
Trouble brews pretty quickly for Alif, when he discovers that his lover’s new fiancé is the head of the security system that is bent on destroying him. Inevitably, the censors would move on to hack lives. Hacked accounts were only the first step. … Alif foresaw disaster in this new wave of regional monitoring. In a world where speaking critically of your government will land you in prison (or murdered), anonymity becomes invaluable. In other words, he keeps his clients hidden within the online spectrum, so the oppressive State Security cannot find them. Your unwitting hero is Alif, a young Arab-Indian who lives with his mother (Alif is not his given name, but rather is his handle.) Thanks to his technological prowess, he makes his income by creating hacker shields for a long list of clients, who include everyone from revolutionaries to Islamists.
The story takes place in a Middle Eastern State. In other words, it’s a bit of a wild ride, with characters that range from a 23-year old self-proclaimed computer geek, to shadowy demons that materialize at the worst possible moments. The story is an unbridled mesh of technology, fantasy, religion, revolution, and romance. Thank you Netgalley and Grove Press for the opportunity to read Alif the Unseen before the July 2012 release! I have to confess that this is not the type of book that I typically pick up.
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