Prisoners in Paradise

Akmal Shebl's second novel, Prisoners in Paradise, is an intriguing maze of plot twists, psychological conundrums, historical mysteries, and the paranormal from the get go.The book starts with Salma Farid trapped in a burial chamber in Cairo, Egypt, with Salem Hamdan "A man she hates the most" burying a young girl with golden eyes that her boyfriend, Ehab Rawi, ran over. Ehab, drunk and locked out, is cursing outside: "We're going to hell for this!" while they discover that the girl was raped.This kind of intensity does not fade throughout the book.Seven years later, Salma is surprisingly married to Salem. Ehab is a starving architect with a death wish. We don't get to know what exactly happened that night yet, but something sinister lurks in every corner of their lives. Salma, once a talented swimmer, is now aquaphobic (abnormal fear of water) and frequently visited by the girl's ghost. Salem is blue-blind (unable to see the color blue) and his life is devoted to vandalizing Egyptian monuments in search for an ancient secret. Ehab is an alcohol addict, having a paranormal sexual affair with Salma's child-abused sister, Nora.What is it that that happened that night? Are they cursed by Pharaohs, or is this the lesser of two evils?Only when a scientist discovers that no one died in Cairo in the last seven years, the plot thickens and twists into surprises that neither the characters nor the readers are ready for. The world believes the ancient Cairo of Egypt is now Paradise; the ultimate promise for immortality, protected by international troops and a mysterious fog preventing anyone from leaving or entering.Only Slama, Salem, and Ehab have a clue of what's going on, and to solve the mystery they have to go back to that awful night., or forever stay prisoners in Paradise.