Review of ‘Malika’s Revenge’

Posted on July 6, 2016 Updated on July 1, 2016

Malika Khalova is a 27-year-old heroin addict and prostitute in a Tajik village near the Afghanistan border that’s used as a transit point for the heroin trade. Her life consists of waiting for the next unwashed heroin smuggler to abuse her in exchange for a fix, until she meets Oleg, a small time Russian gangster who has fled to the region from Moscow, one step ahead of the KGB. Oleg has thrown in with the local Tajik heroin mastermind, and he ends up in the village to do his new master’s bidding. When he meets Malika, his life changes; changes in ways he has no way of anticipating.

Malika’s Revenge by Phillip Strang is a riveting story that could very well have been ripped from the small stories we occasionally see in the back sections of our Western newspapers. The degradation of the drug trade, and the constant state of war among the predators who conduct that trade form the backdrop for a story of survival. For Malika is, if nothing else, a survivor. She’s driven to survive through sheer will power, and the desire to take revenge on those who have abused and dehumanized her.

From the machinations of local warlords to the intrigue of the Russian mafia, Strang has woven a colorful tapestry, in blood-red for all the blood that has been shed, is being shed, and will be shed in the future in this desolate region.

This is a book that will satisfy most adventure junkies, and will delight lovers of contemporary historical fiction.

I received an advance review copy of this book in exchange for my unbiased review.

I give it four stars.