Umair Naeem’s second novel, The Runaway, is an exercise in patience. Taking one into the inner workings of the city of Karachi, the author attempts to show us the nefarious side of the city and its inhabitants, in an attempt to carve out a story of hope and redemption.

Nilofer is finally done piecing her life back together for herself and her son, following a separation. Kashan, having faced a tragedy, is still navigating the dark haze surrounding him. Sarmad, assuming an alias, finds his way to Karachi from Punjab looking for vengeance, whilst Falak Sher is consumed with climbing the ranks of Karachi’s crime syndicate — power-hungry and merciless. The plot progresses with each of the characters moving through the narrative, giving readers plenty of insight into their journeys. Layers of the plot are slowly peeled away as the story climbs to a crescendo where all characters collide, leading the way to a resolution. Sarmad, new to the city, finds employment as a caretaker to Kashan, while on a mission to find and harm Nilofer who he has never met. He contacts Falak Sher, a henchman belonging to the largest crime ring in the city, to help locate her. Falak Sher, having found Nilofer for him, is in turn contacted by her feudal brother who, like Sarmad, is in the city to exact revenge, although of a more vindictive nature. Somewhere along the way, Sarmad exhausts his appetite for revenge, leaving Falak Sher to carry forth a plan to kidnap Nilofer’s son as ordered by her brother. Meanwhile, Kashan and Nilofer’s mutual friends have decided to set them up, lending further twists to the plot.

Umair Naeem’s characters are brought together against the senseless violence and unflinching hope that define Karachi

The narrative moves sequentially through the characters, beginning with Sarmad and Kashan, then Falak Sher and Nilofer, interweaving the disparate and intersecting plot details and characters. The narrative also attempts to show us how characters across different class lines operate, and in this instance, move into each others’ lives. Notably, the book makes several astute observations as the storyline progresses: the importance of education for the middle class, of faith and looking forward, of resilience and resolve, all presented as general musings through the intertwined tale. However, as much as the book seeks to tell us about the different facets of life in Pakistan, set in Karachi, there is not much resonance or depth to the plot. It is thinly carved, the centrality of the narrative lost in the multiple narratives. In exploring its characters’ innermost thoughts, their intimations and motivations, the book loses the reader’s interest and attention. The characters end up becoming repetitive and tiresome, rendering the plot anti- climatic. Better editing could have resolved this, paired with less clichéd plot variances.

Up until the denouement, one is left wondering what the point of the book was. The many demons of Karachi provide plenty of fodder for writers to weave all sorts of harrowing tales, most of which are based on true experiences. Here, despite all factors in place — homes left vulnerable to crime gangs, a feudal element within the plot, and a roadside robbery gone awry — the execution remains flawed.

The reviewer is a freelance journalist writing on politics, current affairs and culture.

The Runaway
(NOVEL)
By Umair Naeem
Tara, India
ISBN: 978-8183861274
373pp.

Published in Dawn, Books & Authors, July 31st, 2016