Works by
Yasmina Khadra
(Aka Mohammed Moulessehoul)
(Writer)
[January 10, 1955 - ]

Les sirènes de Bagdad (2006)

The Attack (2006)
From the bestselling author of The Swallows of Kabul comes this timely and haunting novel that powerfully illuminates the devastating human costs of terrorism.

Dr. Amin Jaafari is an Arab-Israeli surgeon at a hospital in Tel Aviv. As an admired and respected member of his community, he has carved a space for himself and his wife, Sihem, at the crossroads of two troubled societies. Jaafari’s world is abruptly shattered when Sihem is killed in a suicide bombing.

As evidence mounts that Sihem could have been responsible for the catastrophic bombing, Jaafari begins a tortured search for answers. Faced with the ultimate betrayal, he must find a way to reconcile his cherished memories of his wife with the growing realization that she may have had another life, one that was entirely removed from the comfortable, modern existence that they shared.

L'attentat (2005)

Dead Man's Share / La part du mort (2004)
Superintendent Brahim Llob is bored. Nothing seems to need his attention in an unusually peaceful Algiers. Then suddenly peace is shatterd in ways Llob could never have imagined. His subordinate, Lieutenant Lino, falls for an entirely unsuitable woman, and is devastated when she returns to a previous lover, the wealthy and influential Haj Thobane. Thobane survives an attempted murder that kills his chauffeur and Lino's gun is found at the scene. With Lino languishing in prison, it is up to Llob to face down the corrupt echelons of the Algerian goverment to find the truth about what happened the night of the murder. The search will take the world-weary Llob down avenues even he has never encountered and will force him to delve into his beloved country's brutal past.

Cousine K (2003)

L'imposture des mots (2002)

The Swallows of Kabul / Les hirondelles de kaboul (2002)
Set in Kabul under the rule of the Taliban, this extraordinary novel takes readers into the lives of two couples: Mohsen, who comes from a family of wealthy shopkeepers whom the Taliban has destroyed; Zunaira, his wife, exceedingly beautiful, who was once a brilliant teacher and is now no longer allowed to leave her home without an escort or covering her face. Intersecting their world is Atiq, a prison keeper, a man who has sincerely adopted the Taliban ideology and struggles to keep his faith, and his wife, Musarrat, who once rescued Atiq and is now dying of sickness and despair.

Desperate, exhausted Mohsen wanders through Kabul when he is surrounded by a crowd about to stone an adulterous woman. Numbed by the hysterical atmosphere and drawn into their rage, he too throws stones at the face of the condemned woman buried up to her waist. With this gesture the lives of all four protagonists move toward their destinies.

The Swallows of Kabul is a dazzling novel written with compassion and exquisite detail by one of the most lucid writers about the mentality of Islamic fundamentalists and the complexities of the Muslim world. Yasmina Khadra brings readers into the hot, dusty streets of Kabul and offers them an unflinching but compassionate insight into a society that violence and hypocrisy have brought to the edge of despair.

In the Name of God (2000)
The descent of a peaceful village into the horrors of civil war: Khadra brings to life a conflict largely unknown to those in the English speaking world. Imagine becoming accustomed to terror on a daily basis. Imagine finding it normal to betray your neighbour. Imagine your worst fears being replaced by complacency, your natural compassion by cold indifference. IN THE NAME OF GOD illustrates the way evil can become a part of everyday life. And it is the story of Algeria today.

Wolf Dreams / À quoi rêvent les loups (1999)
How does a handsome young man who keeps company with poets and dreams of fame and fortune in the movie business become a brutal killer who massacres women and children without turning a hair? "Wolf Dreams" reveals this transformation in a novel of unflinching detail and commanding prose. The story follows Nafa Walid, heart-throb of the Casbah, as he gradually loses control of his destiny and becomes drawn into the Islamic Fundamentalist movement. "Wolf Dreams" illustrates how disappointment and disillusion, when they intersect with the persuasive voice of fundamentalism and the chaos of civil war, can transform a normal, middle-class young man into a mindless assassin; a man who inflicts pain and terror on others without qualms, and accepts the idea of his own death with devotion.

Double Blank / Double blanc (1998)
Ben Ouda, a senior ranking diplomat is found savagely murdered. Is this yet another victim of the never ending Islamic fundamentalist violence plaguing Algiers? Inspector Llob has doubts: Ben Ouda had too many fiends, too many far fetched theories...Against the background of a city in turmoil, Inspector Llob navigates the Algiers underworld and its rich elite. He resists the pressure of politicians, fundamentalists and crooks, in his pursuit of the truth.

Autumn of the Phantoms / L'automne des chimères (1998)
Brahim Llob, the policeman-writer, is summoned by the chief of Algerian police and is fired for having published Morituri, the book which the Algerian establishment considered dishonourable and full of lies. Following a trip back to his hometown where he becomes a victim of an attack by a GIA commando, Llob goes back to Algiers. Fiction and reality intermesh in this third volume of the Inspector Llob series, which has the violence of Algeria as a constant supporting character throughout.

Morituri (1997)
This remarkable roman policier introduces us to the formidable and yet very human detective-writer, Superintendent Llob and his devoted lieutenant Lino. It follows Llob in his search for the missing daughter of Ghoul Malek, one of the top power brokers in Algiers. In his search, Llob must traverse the fear-filled streets of Algiers, from the dens of the drug pushers to those of the cruel and fanatical Islamic fundamentalists. The poverty and constant terror and suspicion endemic to Algiers, torn apart by civil war, is set against contrasting glimpses of the corrupt and luxurious high society. The memory of the serene and beautiful Algiers that was makes the current situation all the more heartbreaking. More than just an outstanding mystery novel, with Morituri Khadra paints an unforgettable picture of the tragedy of modern Algeria, in language of breathtaking power and poetry.