Written by contributor Verushka Byrow
Homegrown Hero is one of those books that left me exhausted by the end, and fumbling with my words as to how to write this review. The beauty of this book and this series remains its incredible characterisation. Homegrown Hero is also more Imy’s story than Jay’s I felt. Here’s why:
Imy
Imy is a young Muslim man working in a real estate agency. He is good at what he does, and he hangs out with Shaz, one of his closest friends and does all the things friends like them should be doing. He came to London from Afghanistan, having lost his parents in the war there. Years later when he came to London he walked into the home of an aunt he never knew about, Khala, and found himself with a home he never knew he wanted and a second mother that adores him.
He also found Stephanie, a single mother with an adorable son, Jack who pretty much looks at Imy as his father. Imy finds himself happy, like he never thought he could ever be.
Imy is the quintessential young English man, who just happens to be trying to find a balance between being a Muslim man in love with an English woman, and not disappoint his Khala or lose Stephanie in the process. That’s all he needs to be worrying about.
But, he’s also a jihadi ordered to kill Jay. And my heart broke into a thousand little pieces for him by the end.
Characterisation
I maintain this series exhibits some out of this world excellent characterisation wrapped around a plot point that could have gone so easily wrong. I have no problems mentioning who Imy is here, because the minute it was revealed that someone was after Jay, Imy’s POV started. There is no mistaking who Imy is in the book — and I made excuses and more excuses as to why Imy couldn’t be the man sent after Jay because I wanted him to have the life he was working so hard for.
There’s also no mistaking that Imy doesn’t want to do anything to Jay, and wants nothing more than his normal life back. There are reasons for his regret, and there’s a vast difference between the man who was saved by the unconditional love of his Khala, finding a life of his own in London that was more than he ever thought possible.
Along with Imy, there’s the story of Naaim, a young man who loses the love of his life after an attack on a bus that is uploaded to Youtube. Homegrown Hero explores how he descends into extremism, alongside Imy who is trying to break free of the memories of his life after his parents’ death — of being indoctrinated into Ghurfat-al-Mudarris, the terrorist organisation run by Jay’s father, the Teacher. That same situation also explores how Daniel, one of the boys who attacked them is pulled into a group of racists, who take advantage of his isolation, the loss of his mother and the grief he still carries with him.
Khurrum Rahman doesn’t pull any punches in dealing with either storyline, and each is as gripping and heartbreaking as the other. Their stories and the characters are infinitely complex, and you will sympathise with them all, and still wonder how they could do the things they do. And, of course, it all revolves around Jay.
Jay
After book 1, Jay has left MI5 behind. He goes to a 9-5 job, hangs out with acquaintances, who are becoming friends no matter how much he insists to himself they aren’t. He catches up with Idris, and shoots the breeze like they used to, but underneath it all lies his experiences with MI5, the loss of his friend, Parvaz, in a terrorist attack, and wondering about his father, about why he left his mother and himself. Jay hates him, and everything he stands for. But at the same he doesn’t want to, he can’t understand the choices he’s made — and why Jay himself was never something his father chose.
As a result of the failure of that attack in East of Hounslow, and his involvement a fatwa has been placed on him, without his father’s knowledge — why? Because his father is on the run, hiding in caves and with other sympathisers in Afghanistan trying to avoid being caught because his son gave away all his secrets to MI5. And yet, he still wants to save Jay from the fatwa.
Jay has some serious PTSD going on I think. He is trying to ground himself and it’s not working. He gets drawn into Naaim’s loss and quest for vengeance despite trying very hard not to, and he wants to be there for him, as much as he resists that pull and even though he doesn’t quite admit it to himself.
Jay is older, wiser, and just a little more broken knowing the truth of his father and after the losses he experienced in book 1. He’s shared it with no one, save a nameless therapist MI5 suggested.
Naaim reminded me of Parvaz, that innocence that is slowly eroded because of everything he experiences, despite everything Jay did.
The Ending
Bloody cliffhangers. My heart was in my mouth and I swear I gasped out “Nooooo” in the middle of my bus ride to work. Bloody hell. I needed a moment or several after that ending.
The Jay Qasim series is hands down one of the best series I’ve read in a long time. Please go read it.
Homegrown Hero is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Will you be picking up Homegrown Hero? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
JAY QASIM is back home in West London and in pursuit of normality. He’s swapped dop-dealing for admin, and spends his free time at the local Muslim Community Centre or cruising around Hounslow in his beloved BMW. No-one would guess that he was the MI5 spy who foiled the most devastating terrorist attack in recent history. But Jay’s part in sabotaging Ghurfat-Al-Mudarris’ hit on London didn’t pass unnoticed. IMRAN SIDDIQUI was trained to kill in Afghanistan by tthe terrorist cell who saved his life after his home was destroyed by war. The time has finally come for him to repay them – throwing him headlong into the path of Jay Qasim. Now, they must each decide whose side they’re really on.
