Karachi Vice: Life and Death in a Contested City

I very much enjoyed this masterful work of narrative nonfiction, which weaves together the stories of five Karachiites to tell the story of the city's darkest and most violent years. As pen portraits, they work well, but there's also a remarkable section when two of their stories come together in a cinematic set-piece during a terrorist attack. Highly evocative of a place, and emotionally engaging. One comes away almost dizzied by the sense of lives coming together and apart, and the richness of the interior lives of everyone around us ... A strangely hopeful book, in as much as these five individuals are all pushing, in their own ways and for their own reasons, for a better life and a better city.

Karachi is an underreported city in the West. I have to confess I had no idea it was a big as it is - 20 million people! This book takes a look at several intertwined lives there, from . It focuses on the poorer and undeveloped parts of the city - the author alludes to the richer districts of Clifton and Defence, but we don’t spend any real time there - so it’s not a complete picture of the megalopolis, but it is an eye opener. Running gun battles in the streets, entire districts under the control of gangs, the complete entanglement of politics and crime, these aren’t things this Bristolian is used to. Shackle makes the streets come alive, with a vivd and evocative sense of place. The people she follows are drawn in well rounded and sympathetic prose. They may be living in a very different world to mine, but the common humanity is clear, and the book is best when it focuses on these small moments of decency and courage. Safdar the ambulance driver in particular is a real hero. The saddest story is Jannat’s, a bright young woman whose schooling is cut short by circumstance and tradition (although I should make it clear that she doesn’t seem to be unhappy or regretful). A very interesting book that opened a window onto a society previously largely unknown to me past cliche, well worth a read.

A beautiful and heartbreaking portrait of a place through the eyes of five people. The author invites you to see life through the eyes of her subjects, to understand how their environment shaped them and how they in turn shape their environment. As you get to know them, topics that we are used to reading about with distance - headlines about terrorism and gangs - become real and relatable. Reading this book will give you a lot more than an education into Karachi, it will give you empathy.

Incredible book. The author follows a handful of characters as they try to make a life for themselves in a violent, corrupt city. She's picked them well - a teacher, an ambulance driver, a crime reporter etc. - so that each of them shows you a different aspect of the city's politics and different communities. You feel like you are there with them as they try to hold onto their ideals. It's written in an understated way but it must have involved such a lot of research.

Narrative non-fiction is not a type of writing that's easy to do - or more precisely, it's not easy to do well. Some of my all-time favourite books fit that genre but Karachi Vice disappointed me. Whilst the book follows the lives and experiences of a handful of people living and working in Karachi, the threads tying their stories together were, in my opinion, just not strong enough to keep me flicking through the e-pages. I didn't feel I really got to know any of them as deeply as I wanted to.My passion is for books set in India, but I also read a lot set in Pakistan. For a non-local, I'm probably relatively rare in that I've been to Karachi and found the place fascinating. Whenever I travel, I have moments looking out of train or autorickshaw or taxi windows when I glimpse somebody just going about their business and find myself wondering how their life might be, how different it is from mine, and wondering if they are happy with what they have. Books like this offer a window into other people's lives and I actively seek them out.The five people this book focuses on all have interesting lives and my disappointment with the book is not disappointment with them. It was the way the 'story' was put together that frustrated me, not the people it was about. I felt that the author held herself so far apart from her subjects that she might have been better to have left herself out of the book altogether.Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ahead of publication.

This book is a triumph. Informative and compelling about people living in some deprived areas of Karachi it details the lives of five protagonists before widening into interlinked accounts. At turns compassionate, thrilling and horrific the narrative is novel-like in its involving power. Engrossing for everyone with the slightest interest in the subcontinent and also as an object lesson in gratitude for those of us fortunate enough to live in democracies largely governed by the rule of law and democratic accountability.

"Karachi Vice'' is a deeply engaging work of narrative non-fiction. The extent of Samira Shackle's research, visits and interviews is clear throughout. These aren't characters in a story. They're real people, with rich lives which Shackle explores with empathy and respect. The book provides some historical detail, particularly with regards to politics. Glossaries and timelines are provided and I found this helpful. Shackle paints a beautifully nuanced portrait of the city of Karachi through the eyes of its residents. I found the book to be an extremely interesting and informative read.

What an absolutely fascinating and brilliant read! I was surprised by how much I loved this book, because it wasn’t a topic I knew much about. But Samira Shackle’s writing brought the stories so alive that I was plunged into the rich reality of Karachi’s many lives and characters. I read hungrily to the end, truly enriched by these beautiful renditions of real people’s stories. Five stars from me!

Such a great book, read it in one day..she did a great job capturing the essence of the people in Karachi. Thank you for this masterpiece

Very good (true) stories of people trying to make their city better amidst poverty, crime, ignorance, and corruption. It describes very well not only the personalities but also their backgrounds and the forces that drive the challenges and dangers they face. I wish there were more books like this. There must be similar stories waiting to be told about life in other megacities.

Karachi Vice is a beautifully written insight into Karachi. It’s the kind of book that everyone can, and should, read- easy to digest, gripping, well-researched and informative. It was hard to put the book down - I look forward to reading the author‘s future publications!

Vivid portrait of several Karachi locals and their difficult lives as they deal with corruption, violence, poverty, yet still try to improve life for others. Great insight into a world privileged Westerners will never inhabit.

I admire the author for having the patience —and courage—to stick with this story over such an extended period. Writing is clear and easy to read although some sketches of people or photos of streets/hoods would have made it easier for me to differentiate characters. At end of day though I suspect this story might have been written about hoods in Chicago, LA and other cities racked/destroyed by violence, poverty and ineffective government. So while personal stories told are gripping and evidence that in midst of unbearably bad conditions some people still hope and work for better, the stories are not unique to Karachi.