Throwing Sparks

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A&C Black, Jun 5, 2014 - Fiction - 368 pages
When an opulent palace is built on the Jeddah waterfront near his poverty-stricken neighbourhood, ambitious Tariq sees a way out of his life of petty crime. He stares longingly at the huge gates, dreaming of the luxuries beyond.

But dream quickly turns into nightmare. The Palace is ruled by an enigmatic Master whose influence in the city is as wide as it is wicked. When Tariq succeeds in being appointed to serve the Master it becomes clear that he has been chosen for a single, terrible task.

Thirty years later, Tariq feels trapped. In between punishing the Master's enemies through unspeakable acts, falling for Maram, the Master's beautiful mistress, and resisting his brother's pleas to return home, he realises that he has become no more than a slave – and that there is only one way out.
 

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Contents

Outcast and dispirited
First threshold
3
4
5
6
7
8
13
14
15
16
Second threshold
17
18
19

9
10
11
12
20
21
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About the author (2014)

Born in Saudi Arabia in 1962, Abdo Khal studied political science and began his career as a preacher before becoming a primary school teacher. He turned to writing as a way of attacking the corruption of the wealthy in the Arab world. Throwing Sparks won the International Prize for Arabic Fiction and is his first novel to be published in English.

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