Kamyonistan

At one level, Robert Hackford`s immensely readable novel is about the tough world of intercontinental truck drivers, treacherous mountain passes, desert storms and TIR truck stops in the Middle East, focussing on the `Kamyonistan` community near Damascus in Syria. At another level, it`s a tender, discreetly told story of two teenage boys, Ro and Nuri, one English, one Arab, who find themselves in a harsh moral environment tainted by fundamentalism. They look to each other for comfort, and discover firdaus - paradise. Few authors touch on such sensitive issues as these, and Kamyonistan is bound to appeal to a broad range of readers, especially youngsters. It is a feast for the casual reader, for the traveller and truck addict, and for the philosopher in search of kismet.