A Case of Exploding Mangoes

The central theme of the book is a fictitious story behind the real-life plane crash which killed General Zia, president of Pakistan from 1977 to 1988, about which there are many conspiracy theories. After witnessing a tank parade in Bahawalpur, Pakistan on August 17, 1988, Zia leaves the small Punjabi town in the C-130 Hercules aircraft designated "Pak One," along with several of his senior army officials, the US Ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel, and some crates of mangoes. Shortly after a smooth takeoff, the control tower loses contact with the aircraft. Witnesses who saw the plane in the air later claim it was flying erratically, before nosediving and exploding on impact, killing all 31 on board. Zia had ruled Pakistan for 11 years prior to his death.

Lazy, irreverent Ali Shigri narrates the story. Ali's father, Col. Quli Shigri, has recently died in what was called a suicide, but Ali discovers that his father was killed by a rogue ISI officer, Major Kiyani, under Zia's orders. The story takes place in the months before the plane crash, jumping back and forth between Ali's revenge plans and his third-person observations of Zia's life. Ali attends the Pakistani Air Force Academy with his fellow cadets and their instructors. His best friend is Cadet "Baby O" Obaid, his roommate and lover.

Interspersed between pieces of Ali's narrative are glimpses into the lives of other key Pakistani and American political players: Chief of Pakistani Intelligence General Akhtar Abdur Rahman, American ambassador to Pakistan Arnold Raphel, and President Zia ul-Haq himself. The book also touches on the perspectives of some of Zia's closest confidants.

Over the course of the book, Zia grows ever more suspicious of those in his inner circle until he is driven utterly mad by his own paranoia. Every morning, he asks his chief of security, "Who's trying to kill me?" A devout Muslim, he attends daily prayers, where he weeps loudly (an occurrence to which the other worshippers have become accustomed). He fights with his wife and takes every opportunity to leer at non-Muslim cleavage.

In one subplot, General Zia sentences Zainab, a blind woman, to death by stoning for being the victim of a gang rape. According to Zia’s sharia court, she has committed adultery. For condemning her, Zainab calls down a curse upon Zia. The curse is picked up by a sugar-obsessed crow. In another subplot, Arnold Raphel holds a Fourth of July party in Islamabad. A young, bearded Saudi known as "OBL" attends. OBL works for Laden and Co. Constructions, making this a clear reference to, and a cameo by, Osama bin Laden.

Ali's revenge plot consists of stabbing Zia in the eye with his under-officer sword, a move he practices daily in secret. But Baby O concocts a new plot to kill Zia by crashing a plane kamikaze-style down on him. He even goes so far as to steal a plane for the job, but in doing so, he accidentally lands Ali in prison at Lahore Fort, a torture center. While there, Ali listens to the screams of his tortured fellow prisoners and talks via a hole in the wall with the "Secretary General" who has been in solitary confinement there for nine years. Ali eventually learns that his own father is the one responsible for turning Lahore Fort into a torture center ("Nice work, Dad," he responds). Meanwhile, Major Kiyani appears on the scene, intending to torture Ali.

A sudden change in ISI command takes place, and Ali is freed in time to avoid torture. Upon his arrival back at the Pakistani Air Force Academy, he learns that he has been chosen as part of the squad that will perform a silent drill salute for Zia. Ali will finally have his opportunity, and he decides to stake his revenge plot on the use of snake venom from Uncle Starchy (launderer for PAF Academy), injected into Zia's hand via Ali's sword. After the silent drill salute, Zia boards the doomed Pak One.

The novel does not confirm whether or not Ali is successful in his attempt to assassinate General Zia. Rather, several alternatives are offered: the curse-carrying crow that crashed into the plane's engines while pursuing the mangoes, an explosive planted in the mangoes by the All Pakistan Sweepers Union in revenge for the death of their general-secretary at the hands of Major Kiyani, or one of Zia's confidants, each with their own secrets and motivations. The book even speculates that it could be the work of the CIA.

The Guardian described the novel as "woven in language as explosive as the mangoes themselves, is wickedly cynical and reveals layers of outrageous – and plausible – corruption."[4] The New York Times, in a review, called the novel "eerie timeliness".[5] The Washington Post concluded its review by attesting that "Hanif has his own story to tell, one that defies expectations at every turn."[6]

• Winner of the 2009 Commonwealth Book Prize in the Best First Book category.[7]
• Winner of the 2008 Shakti Bhatt First Book Prize.[8]
• Shortlisted for the 2008 Guardian First Book Award.[9]
• Longlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize.[10]