Ours are the Streets - Softcover

'A compelling tale of a young man's shift from ordinary British tennager to Muslim Radical'
--Bookseller

'[I was} Very impressed by it... remarkably good almost too good... linguistically extremely alive... it reminded my of Clockwork Orange' --Radio 4's Kevin Jackson

'A controversial book that takes us inside the mind of an ordinary man who decides his vocation is to become a jihad martyr... Imtiaz is vulnerable, angry, funny... the details of his life are entirely believable' --Marie Claire

'In impressive debuts of the year... Sunjeev Sahota... audaciously attempts to make us feel sympathy for a suicide bomber' --Observer - 'The Year Ahead'

'An eye-opening and, at times, uncomfortable read. Sahota's debut is engaging and thought-provoking, making it a good bet for the book club.' --Image Magazine

'Gripping...a pacey, unsettlingly sympathetic tale...a solid psychological thriller.' --Metro

`This is a sad, panicked story of physical, mental and moral decay. Imtiaz is not a villain or a monster, but nor is he exonerated; rather, he is a frustrating, lost boy frantically searching for something to attach himself to. What is most chilling, and most successful, is that it all seems so familiar, so close and so easy.' --Sunday Times

'The narrowness of Imtiaz's vision and lack of insight make this, although well written, a shockingly sad little book.' --Mirror Book of the Week

'a fresh and urgent take on a subject that, sadly, could not be more topical.' --New Internationalist

'Sunjeev Sahota conjures a . . . dizzying effect with his extraordinary debut novel. Ours are the Streets is a memoir of Imtiaz Raina and the accent in which the book is written is pure Sheffield. However, Imtiaz is no typical son of the city . . . What Sahota creates is not an exploration of the psyche of a suicide bomber, but an exploration of a man. Reminsicent of Hanif Kureishi's Intimacy, in which a man confesses infidelities to himself and his wife through his writings, Sahota brings to life a damaged young man who was so close to a life of utter normality. . . It would be easy to dismiss Imtiaz as a lunatic, were his voice not so familiar and written with such clarity in this highly impressive first novel that sets out not to offer answers, but to explore the mind of a man.' --Yorkshire Post

An electrifying debut novel from a new British voice: the story of a bright young man radicalized after the death of his father