The protagonist of A.X. Ahmad's The Caretaker is a former officer in India's mountain division, patrolling the Siachen glacier between India and Pakistan. It's a no-man's land neither country particularly wants--though each fiercely wants to prevent the other from having it. Captain Ranjit Singh led a doomed squadron--16 Indian soldiers died--in a shady friendly-fire attack meant to discredit Pakistan and build Indian political support for war. When Singh refused to reveal the deception, he was court-martialed and imprisoned. After his release, his steadfast wife and young daughter reluctantly accompany him to Boston to escape further political persecution.
A devout Sikh committed to the symbolic uncut hair and turban of his religion, Singh finds nothing in Boston but menial labor and abuse until he takes his family to Martha's Vineyard to do landscaping for the wealthy. When winter comes and the island shuts down, Singh finds himself caretaker of several mansions... and Ahmad's leisurely novel of Indian culture shifts into a high-speed story of international espionage, troubled marriage, government deceit and murder.
Against the car chases, pit bull attacks, knife fights and adultery, Ahmad skillfully balances the internal ambiguity of Singh, "a brown man in a turban" struggling with his religious beliefs, marital traditions and military training in an America frightened and suspicious of all immigrants--and where it's impossible to get a good cup of chai. He is a complex character strong enough to drive what will likely be an interesting and welcome new series of literary crime novels. --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kansas.