Corruption and greed in modern Pakistan take centre stage in the new novel from Kashmiri-born Sheikh, author of the memoir Moon Over Marrakech. A wealthy (and politically ambitous) art collector purchases a 5,000-year-old Buddhist sculpture from a Pakistani dealer; when the ex-military man sent to Afghanistan to illegally transport the object across the border absconds with the piece, the other two conspire to get it back. Sheikh’s novel investigates the confluence of art, politics, and religion in a deeply divided part of the world, providing context for the region’s sectarian conflicts.