The Egyptian Assassin

Shortlisted for the Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize for Arabic Literary Translation

“Ezzedine Fishere’s novel takes the reader on a rollicking, high-speed chase through Egypt, Sudan, France and Afghanistan, in a tale motivated above all by revenge. This story of how an ordinary lawyer becomes an unstoppable trained killer is an ambitious blend of globe-trotting thriller, family psychodrama and social panorama. Behind the high-octane caper, however, lies a more serious narrative, exploring themes of global politics and finance and of radicalisation in contemporary autocratic states. Fishere’s novel touches on issues of corruption, fundamentalism, fatherly love and the catastrophic effects of violence on the human spirit in a highly personalised narrative, the spirit of which has been admirably captured by Jonathan Wright in a page-turning English translation.”—Judges' comments, Saif Ghobash Banipal Prize

"Ezzedine C. Fishere is a talented novelist. He has created vivid unforgettable characters who will live with us for years after reading the novel. This is a beautiful, well-written, and absolutely enjoyable novel."—Alaa Al Aswany, author of The Yacoubian Building

“Ezzedine Fishere enters the canon of the Arab contemporary novel . . . . one of the outstanding achievements in Arabic literature.”—Dr. Salah Fadl, Al-Ahram

“A rich and intense novel, with unlimited ambition”—Mahmoud Al-Wirdani, Al-Ahram Al-Massai

“. . . reveals the complexity of human interactions with its various institutions, motives, and deep-seated emotions . . . . creating images of the world and ourselves, in other words, of the human condition.”—Ibrahim Fat’hi, Al Qahira Newspaper

Praise for Embrace on Brooklyn Bridge:

"Taking his literary career to new heights . . . Fishere’s characters defy expectations."—Egypt Independent

"A remarkable novel for its style, its plot, and its reach into the experience of straddling two worlds and two states of being."—Banipal

“These characters are described so well, they arouse such empathy that even the reader who has never taken a plane except to go on vacation becomes attached after a few lines . . . . he finds himself suffering with them, living their loneliness, disorientation, nostalgia.”—L’Espresso