Deliverance is the final book in Saima Mir’s addictive Khan trilogy. Jia Khan, a British-Pakistani character, began in the books as a successful barrister estranged from her family in the North of England. She has since become an international criminal queenpin with strong ties to her family. In Deliverance, Mir explores the role Jia has consolidated over the course of the first two books, The Khan and Vengeance. Is she content with what she has achieved? Things have changed significantly since her father was in charge.
Akbar Khan’s Jirga consisted of old men, while Jia’s approach to organised crime is far more diverse. She has elevated women into positions of power in her organisation. Saima Mir challenges the false assumption that all Muslim women are docile and subservient to the men in their lives. Jia has broken the glass ceiling and is helping other women to join her in taking control.
The prologue of the book highlights this shift in power. Sakina, a former sex worker, has become Jia’s right-hand woman. She confronts Khalid, a pimp who has been accused of skimming money. At one time, Sakina worked for Khalid. He makes the grave mistake of treating her as if their work dynamic was unchanged.
When Khalid hits Sakina and calls her a whore, she knows that news of his response will travel quickly in the organisation. To maintain control over the other pimps, she must kill Khalid so she brutally attacks him with a machete. Small details like the practical way that she follows Jia’s advice and removes her designer jacket before the attack highlight her acceptance that murder is just part of doing business.
Jia is on more solid ground as a leader than she was in Vengeance, however she still has enemies. Another crime boss named Yanik Kaplan wants to destroy her and take control of Jia’s organisation. He begins to target those who work closely with Jia. She feels their deaths deeply and worries about her family. This leads to her consider changing how the Jirga operates.
Themes of motherhood and family run throughout the book. While Jia may not be a typical working mother, her love for her family is deep. Once again Mir flips traditional gender stereotypes. At one point, Jia’s husband Elyas realises how he has looked the other way about how she pays their bills. He enjoys the comforts that the profits from criminal activity bring.
Jia wants to walk away from the crime. In order to do so, she needs to ensure that her family has clean money coming in. She makes a deal with Oliver Blundell, the UK Prime Minister. In exchange for her assistance with getting him re-elected, he will ensure that she gets approval for a government contract that will provide her family with a steady income.
It is fortunate that in addition to running drug and prostitution rings, Jia introduced teams with technical expertise. Power comes with the ability to access and manipulate data. She also has many contacts in Pakistan. Jia is willing to do this one final task supporting a dirty politician, if it gives her the financial freedom that she seeks for her family.
Scattered throughout the book are several subplots. Some involve family, others like the schoolgirls who have been kidnapped, are tied to the main plot. It turns out that there is not much to separate dirty politicians from the other criminals that Jia has dealt with in the past.
Will Jia get all that she wants? You will have to read the book to find out. The final section of the book is set a year later. While that jump in time gives you a peek into the future for the characters, the last five chapters feel a bit superfluous.
In some ways, Deliverance is like a feminine version of The Art of War by Sun Tzu. Instead of focusing on military strategy, there are some insightful comments from Jia on fighting the patriarchy and how she created her network of capable women. Although the book focuses on experiences from the British-Pakistani community, it appears that women’s concerns are universal.
For alternative female anti-heroes see The Old Woman With the Knife by Gu Byeong-mo or Zero Kill by MK Hill.
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CFL Rating: 4 Stars
