Customer Reviews

Fidali's Way: A Novel

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Be prepared to stay up late into the night, as this novel is a page-turner that you cannot put down. At the same time, however, this is no potboiler thriller you'll soon forget a few days after you're done. "Fidali's Way" is exceptional -- a story that combines a murder mystery, adventure, and romance, all interwoven into a thrilling plot that also examines some of the big questions of the human condition: redemption and forgiveness, faith versus dogma, obsession, fate, and the true meaning of freedom. Mastras not only draws the reader in with his suspenseful plot, like any best-seller would, he does so with vivid imagery of the vast mountains and glaciers of perhaps the most rugged region on earth, powerful scenes of tragic violence and emotion, and true insight into the conflicting cultures, religions, and philosophies of the diverse people of South Asia, as well as between East and West.

The story follows the main character, Nick, an American lawyer who chose to give up his successful career to travel through Asia. Immediately, the reader is drawn into his story within the first chapter, as Nick is arrested in Pakistan for the murder of his lover and travel companion, a sensual and impulsive French girl named Yvette. The plot evolves as Nick escapes capture by the Pakistani police on foot through the Himalayas, and along the way we are introduced to different characters before ending up in conflict-riven Kashmir. These characters include Ghulam and Fidali, two impoverished Kashmiri smugglers who befriend Nick, and serve as Nick's guide through the treacherous Karakoram and Himalayas. As the danger of the journey escalates, they also become Nick's mentor by way of example, showing him their capacity for selflessness, the power of their humanity, and their ability to surrender their suffering to fate -- all derived from their
unquestioning faith -- traits that are at first misunderstood, and very alien to Nick, a product of the egoism and secularism of the West.

As Nick's dangerous journey unfolds, the author also tells the story of Aysha, a village girl who grows up to be the village healer and inspirational leader; and Kazim, Aysha's childhood lover. Kazim comes under the influence of the fiery mullah of a newly-built, radical madrassa, and becomes torn between his love for Aysha and his devotion to the ideal of Kashmiri freedom. He eventually becomes a revered leader of the regional Mujahideen rebels, pitting the two former lovers against each other. As Nick's and Aysha's two stories are organically woven together, Mastras skillfully develops the interplay among all these diverse characters, hooking the reader with scenes that range from the sensual and erotic, to the comical, to the tragically violent and horrifying.

As I read the novel, I found myself frequently assuming the thoughts of Nick in my own mind, contemplating in self-introspection for an answer to the many ideological questions that are subtly posed within the drama. This thoughtful, philosophical and spiritual level to the novel, along with the moving descriptions and violent climax, is perhaps one of the reasons why the book has stayed with me, and I suspect will continue to affect me for a long time to come.

There is no question that Mastras is an exceptional writer who is not only skillful in developing a dramatic plot that is original, complex, and engaging. He is also a writer who delves deeply into human nature and controversial cultural issues in search of truth, and who is not afraid to describe the intense emotions and passions of life with frank honesty that is both beautiful to read and powerful.

On top of all these qualities, Fidali's Way is certainly timely given the current events in Mumbai, Afghanistan, the Gaza strip, and even here at home where many are questioning the ideal balance between materialism and quality of life, and between the pursuit of egoistic goals and humanity. I highly recommend "Fidali's Way" to anyone who enjoys murder mysteries, thrillers, romance novels, and travel stories, and to those readers who are interested in issues of faith, philosophy, and who desire to perhaps better understand the major world conflict of our time -- particularly, the confrontation between Islam and the West. Then again, to put it more simply, I recommend Fidali's Way to anyone who loves great literature. A request out to the author for future writings as this novel left me with a void craving for more!

Fidali's Way is a mixed bag. It is a book I immensely enjoyed, as Mastras is a rich storyteller and paces the events well to keep the pages turning and the tension taut and ripe. However, it is also uneven in significant ways that undermine some of its strengths.

Two narrative threads converge. First we meet Nick Sunder, a disillusioned American lawyer who has been backpacking in perilous areas of Central Asia for several years. Encountering a couple along the way--a brazen French woman and her British boyfriend--the three travel together and evolve into a passionate love triangle. After separating under mysterious circumstances (which unfold gradually and non-linearly), Nick is later arrested in Pakistan at his hotel room just moments before boarding a train to India. The police torture him in a filthy prison cell and later negotiate a dicey deal for his release, which is unacceptable to Nick. After managing to escape, Nick subsequently has to trek for many weeks through the Himalayas on the other side of the Tribal Line of Control. He ends up traveling with two very spiritual, noble men (Ghulam and Fidali) from these mountainous regions who invite Nick to accompany them under their aegis and experience with the harsh domain.

Introduced next are Aysha and Kazim, the stunning and brilliant Muslim star-crossed lovers from the small, primitive village of Indian-controlled Gilkamosh in the Kashmir mountains. They separate when Kazim leaves to train as a Mujahid in the rural mountains and Aysha goes to medical school in New Delhi. The question is whether they will reunite when she returns to Gilkamosh to open a clinic. This is also where Nick ends up after his long trek with Ghulam and Fidali.

After a short, lyrical, and haunting prologue, the story begins with muscular, crisp, and thrilling prose. The descriptions of landscape and the difficulties of survival from prison to the Himalayas and the crossing of the Tribal Line of Control are breathtaking. The author writes riveting details of these hardships, and a sense of immediacy and urgency lures the reader on. Additionally, the sensuous, enchanting coming-of-age story of Kazim and Aysha is very moving and compelling.

Unfortunately, as the novel deepens, the tone becomes inconsistent. From a brutal and sharp and often laconic tone at the beginning, the prose turns sentimental. And the parts written to reveal spiritual contemplation and reflection are conveyed through heavy-handed and expository writing. These cogitations tend to be synthetic and cloying. Instead of offering visionary and invigorating argument and thought into spiritual and religious debate, it offers up overused and simplistic notions.

The characters of Nick, Kazim, and Aysha are arch and three-dimensional, with realistic and textured lives and complex inner conflicts. However, they are often thwarted by the uneven tone and style, which lead us into convenient (and sometimes predictable) plot contrivances at various points in the story. And Ghulam, who starts out as enigmatic and formidable, narrows into a background caricature that emerges ceremoniously as a disposable vehicle for other characters or events.

The author has a cinematic talent to his writing, and I frequently envisioned a potent film version of the novel while reading. Mastras has a keen eye for visual appeal and sensuality when he isn't being derivative. Some of the dialogue and scenes could potentially be improved and heightened to correspond to this otherwise lush and exciting story. I was annoyed with one scene between Nick and Aysha that was all but airlifted from the movie Witness (with a few altered details); however, if you are not familiar with the movie, it could stir you with its intoxicating sensuality.

The climax of the story is powerful, and I had to tear my eyes away from the pages to digest and accept some of the bracing and harrowing scenes. I did feel largely satisfied by story's end, and I would recommend it with the caveat that it suffers from the pitfalls that impede many first-time novelists. I look forward to more from this author.

In Fidali's Way, a young and reckless American takes an incredible journey through a land plagued by violence and unrest, and surprisingly discovers beauty, love and redemption. It's a rare gem of a novel with characters that stay with you long after you've put the book down. George Mastras is a great new literary voice that deserves to be noticed. For those who enjoy travel and adventure off the beaten path, this one is highly recommended.

If you like adventure stories with a terrific mystery and romance at their core you have to read this book. I'm a armchair traveler myself, that is to say I would never have the courage to explore the kind of tough terrain and dangerous places that this book takes its hero into, but reading this gripping tale of a contemporary ex-pat who finds himself in over his head in a land of extreme beauty and extreme ironies is the next best thing. I read it in a weekend because I couldn't wait to see what happened next.

The main character, a disillusioned lawyer turned backpacker in one of the world's most dangerous places, is a fresh take on the man-in-search-of-meaning. You are never sure, even up to the book's surprising conclusion, whether or not Nick Sunder is guilty of the crime he's been accused of committing; but the skillful unfolding of his character by author George Mastras whisks you along on Sunder's emotional journey as he experiences the utterly foreign culture of pre-war Kashmir, becomes immersed physically and psychologically in that society, and falls in love both with a beautiful female physician and the troubled land into which she has been born. There are descriptive passages in this book that are written with such clarity and detail that you are carried away into this fascinating place and time. The love story is compelling, exotic, and heart wrenching. It's a great read.

Do I recommend Fidali's Way? Absolutely! If you put this book down before finishing it, you will obsess until the time you are again able to pick it up.

It is rare that a novel engages so deeply through thoughtful and multi-dimensional character development set in the context of a story that is both eerily current as well as timeless in its relation to the long ebb and flow of history. And oh, by the way, it also provides plenty of intrigue, excitement of every nature (both pleasing and horrific) and a compelling storyline. The characters in this story are extremely well-developed; even when there are obvious "good" and "bad" people, why they are who they are is always given shape and human dimension. I was particularly aware during my experience with this story of the way that people are fundamentally the same, while being shaped by their backgrounds and the history the envelops them. Human nature has developed in so many myriad ways, each of which has pluses and minuses, and by engaging in an exploration of these issues in the context of richly evolved characters, the reader is given the type of compassion, understanding and empathy for divergent cultures that normally only is experienced by direct experience and travel in foreign lands. I was also struck by the way that the actions of the few (generally extreme people who are formed by fear into hate) can have such profound impact on the many.

The story is of American expat and former attorney Nick Sunder, on a spiritual quest/running from himself-journey through Central Asia. He hooks up with a beautiful, hedonistic, strong yet vulnerable woman named Yvette and travels with her and her companion Simon, a similarly searching soul. The three of them belong to nowhere yet cannot escape themselves in the attempt to do so, and their emotional and sexual triangle defines the confusion with which they are all desperately grappling, if not entirely knowingly. After Yvette's murder under circumstances that gradually unfold through flashback, Nick and Simon are pitted against one another by the Pakistani police looking to pin her murder on one of them. Without giving away too much plot, Nick is able to flee and eventually kills a Pakistani police officer while on the run. It is after this that the story takes us more deeply into the examination of human redemption. There is still plenty of action (some of it would seem torn from today's headlines in graphic and wrenching style), intrigue and momentum to drive the story, but somehow the journey has now taken a decidedly spiritual turn.

Nick is aided in his flight by Ghulan and Fidali who, having met them briefly earlier in the story, reappear and become his willing and knowing guides while they themselves try to carefully cross the "Line of Control" with their smugglers' booty back into India from Pakistan. These two seemingly simple yet knowing beings serve as the candle with which Nick is gradually, and then violently, forced to examine the dark corners of who he is. One thing I really appreciated about Mastras's development of Nick's character is that he does not evolve too quickly and does not have a sudden "ah, ha" moment, but instead is who he is throughout; just the ever-evolving version of that self.

All the while, another storyline focusing on preternaturally beautiful and star-crossed lovers cum victims of moral certitude, Aysha and Kazim, from the idyllic Kashmir village of Gilkamosh, is unfolding and the reader knows that these storylines will eventually merge, as they must. Gilkamosh is a metaphoric microcosm of a world in which different people happily co-exist because of the simplicity of shared values that are nevertheless dragged into a complex world where right and wrong seem to be no one's province but everyone's heartfelt and arrogant belief. The people of the village are in many ways manifested by Aysha, their favorite daughter and local "healer" since a young age, sent to India to become a very rare woman Muslim doctor in Kashmir, and Kazim, the passionate and righteous-leaning boy who becomes a revered if not always respected warrior mujahedin, fighting to cleanse his homeland of the infidel occupiers from India. Their story represents the struggle within all human beings between the ideal of blissful love and the destructive forces of the world around us.

The sensory tapestry created by Mastras was for me a compelling, overarching "character" in this story. The vivid and creative descriptions of the sights, sounds, and scents of the various locales evoke a dimension of "feel" that transports the reader into the story, less as a two-dimensional observer and more as an engaged participant. Not in the way that the reader becomes the protagonist, but more as an actual being within the world that Mastras has created (as well as clearly having visited and studied extensively). I often found myself reading the passages as if I was seeing a film, richly textured, epic yet tangible. To make this story into a film would be a grand undertaking and would require a modern day David Lean/Freddie Young team to film what has the visual, contextual, historical and human dynamic of the great Lawrence of Arabia (while Nick Sunder certainly comes from a different plane than T.E. Lawrence, his struggles, inner-conflict and spiritual journey are no less real to the reader than the real-life Lawrence's journey in that classic film, and that says much for Mastras's mastery (sorry, I've been waiting to use that one) of character development). Keep in mind that Mastras writes for the television program Breaking Bad (which is, by the way, one of my favorite programs on television, so perhaps I am naturally pre-disposed to Mastras's aesthetic), so the ability to transform this story to the screen may not be far-fetched. But I digress...

Nick's flight lands him in Gilkamosh and in the clinic set up by Aysha after her return from medical school. His development, the growth and sometimes destruction of those around him, and the impact of the Kashmir war between Muslim and Hindu, and Pakistani and Indian, are what consumes the rest of the story. Rather than go into further detail about how the relationships develop and how the story concludes, I will say only that on more than one occasion while reading this book, I had visceral, physical reactions, to the events that unfolded and I was thoroughly engaged on an emotional, educational and intellectual level throughout. While some areas of the storytelling outshone others and while the indulgence of detail sometimes bordered on conscious effort, I cannot fault the overall impact and authenticity of the experience of reading this story.

It is unbelievable to me that this is a "freshman" effort, but to judge it in that light alone is to do it disservice: Fidali's Way stands on its own as a literary achievement that those that are fortunate enough to consume it, will be the richer for it.

George Mastras' debut novel, Fidali's Way, is a wonderful depiction of the crucible of modern day Kashmir. The story develops the various conflicts in a rich tapestry that makes them approachable to any reader interested in learning more about the region than what they will ever see on CNN or read in the New York Times. In a concise and approachable manner, Mr. Mastras tackles various diametrically opposed issues: Muslim v. Hindu; Pakistani v. Indian; mujahideen rebels v. security forces; male roles v. female roles; believers v. infidels; Westerners, way out of their depth v. Locals, filled with vitriol towards them; educated v. subsistence workers.

The story follows American Nick Sunder's journey for redemption from the guilt associated with his materialistic past in the States. We meet him as his life hits a flashpoint in Kashmir, with the murder of his current lover, and follows him as he loses his passport and identity while trying to escape capture for the deed. Along his route he meets, and is indeed saved by, a pair of peaceful Kashmiri Muslims who are on their own journey and take an inexplicable interest in saving him. Over time, it is these characters, Ghulam and Fidali who bring Islam to light for Nick, and the reader begins to see them as the hand of Fate which carries Nick along.

While Nick's story is clearly the baseline, we are independently introduced to two other characters, Aysha and Kazim, in the village of Gilkamosh. Their early love is shredded by influences that are largely out of their control and they pursue different paths. While most of the novel will slug the reader over the head with its rawness, the subtlety of Aysha's character is lovingly portrayed. While she is a headstrong, driven woman, she possesses a peaceful, wiry femininity that sucks in her fellow villagers, the men closest to her, and the reader. She is the most rational and confident character, adroitly used by Mr. Mastras to bridge the realities of a mujahideen rebel and a soul-searching Westerner.

Eventually, it is inevitable that all three protagonists' paths will cross, but Mr. Mastras develops the characters so clearly that when that intersection does come, it is easy for the reader to understand the tensions, but unsure how to react. This feeling of unease uncommonly plunges the reader into self-examination. The true strength of Mr. Mastras' writing is that he has so confidently and accurately portrayed the crisis in the area, as well as the underlying layer of common life, that for the Western reader, we must question our intuitive reactions to each situation.

Mr. Mastras' ability to portray everyday life in the area is due to his having spent much time in the region, as an acute observer and active traveler. Yet, it is his command of so many other issues that reveal how much research he must have done to understand issues as disparate as: law, emergency surgery, munitions, bombing techniques, even fly fishing! He interweaves all of these subjects so as to bring the third person to life, in a way that grips the reader with vivid depiction.

Ultimately, it is the notion of various personal redemptions, however, that engages the reader in the philosophical and theological debates that are used in waging the conflict in Kashmir. The notion of redemption is the only common thread binding the major characters. It is impossible to not sympathize or empathize with any of them, yet when considered one by one, we cannot share the same personal beliefs with each character. Developing this conundrum is the true force of the novel.

Yet, the novel is not merely didactic, it is highly relevant today, especially given the recent attacks in Mumbai. Fidali's Way will go a long way to helping us understand what has gone into those attacks and what the conflict is really all about.

Being Mr. Mastras' first novel leaves the reader anxiously wondering what is next? Will he focus on other various conflicts around the world? Will he stay in Kashmir and plunge even more deeply? Or will he take a totally different tack? So much is broached in Fidali's Way, in such depth, that it is evident that this is a novelist who has much more to offer.

A terrific, taut, and timely tale. While the novel approaches the pace of a thriller and solves all its mysteries, it is much more than a mere whodunit, defying easy categorization. While it is thoroughly entertaining as an adventure story, you will take away from it and carry with you a new lens through which to view the ideological conflicts of our times and perhaps your own struggles as well.

With awesome descriptive and emotive power--and nary a wasted word--Mastras takes us to the top of the world for an explosive culture clash and journey of self-discovery largely devoid of cliché. Tragedy and atrocity abound, yet the protagonist (and reader) emerges from the carnage renewed, and sensing the basic capacity for kindness within even the most flawed individuals.

Mastras clearly knows the region and its peoples, evoking the landscape with vivid detail, and presenting sensitive and unbiased renderings of the local cultures and beliefs--including many nuances--without slouching in a stance of moral equivalence.

This is a tremendous debut. I hope there is more to come from this author.

This book combines drama with action and adventure, mixed in with some mystery. This book will keep you guessing until the very end as it takes numerous twists and turns in the plot. NOT what I would call "chick lit" by any means. I think this book will appeal slightly more to male readers.

It is easy to imagine this book someday becoming a PG-13 movie.

Everything is exaggerated in the rarified air, impossible terrain and endless cultural variations of Pakistan and the surrounding territories. This uncertain environment precludes most outsiders from even visiting the area, much less to understand it.

Luckily for us, author George Mastras has the experience and skill to weave an exciting tale into this complex fabric of lands and cultures.

Many novels set in exotic locals start out with long descriptions and explanations, setting the scene for the story part. This can be very interesting, but the reader has to study it, almost like assigned reading for a book report. Mastras' successful approach is to integrate the explanations and environment of the scene into the telling of the story.

This makes for more interesting and fun reading and indeed Fidali's Way starts out strong and keeps on going. It is consistently exciting and hard to put down.

Fidali's Way is also a cautionary tale for all of us outsiders who might venture to these lands. This is a different world ruled by unquestioning custom, tenuous relationships and drifting loyalties, all to survive. Outcomes are not always predictable or pretty, and neither is the conclusion of this novel.

Highly recommended. The reader will not take interruptions kindly!

I couldn't put this book down. I felt as though I was on the fantastic journey with Nick and his two companions. I hope it's a wonderful beginning to a long and productive writing career. The story is great and it reveals much about the hostilities and conflict in Kashmir and Pakistan. I'm learning more and more about the people there by reading great books like this. The author demonstrates a great deal of knowledge and insight about the region. I was captivated by his descriptions of the journey through the mountains to Kashmir. Don't miss reading this book if you're into adventure and good writing. Mr. Mastras has given us both.