Truth Be Told

By: Kia Abdullah

Narrated by: Tania Rodrigues

Shortlisted for The Diverse Book Awards 2021

‘Bold and brave, shocking and heartfelt . . . A very special book from a very special author’ Chris Whitaker, bestselling author of Waterstones Thriller of the Month We Begin at the End

‘Abdullah's legal thrillers make John Grisham seem like a maiden aunt’ Sunday Times Crime Club

‘Vividly examines some of the issues that shape (and deform) society . . . A gritty, extremely hard-hitting drama’ Adele Parks, Platinum magazine

‘A masterpiece [and] a triumph . . . When you get to the final chapters, buckle up . . . She writes with such intelligence, research and compassion’ Daily Record

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ARE YOU READY TO START THIS CONVERSATION?

Kamran Hadid feels invincible. He attends Hampton school, an elite all-boys boarding school in London, he comes from a wealthy family, and he has a place at Oxford next year. The world is at his feet. And then a night of revelry leads to a drunken encounter and he must ask himself a horrific question.

With the help of assault counsellor, Zara Kaleel, Kamran reports the incident in the hopes that will be the end of it. But it’s only the beginning…

Powerful, explosive and important, Truth Be Told is a contemporary courtroom drama that vividly captures today’s society. You will not stop thinking about it for a long time to come.

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‘The court scenes are pacy and atmospheric, and there is more than one unexpected twist’ i

‘Brave, compelling and absolutely riveting’ A A Dhand, bestselling author of Streets of Darkness

‘Tense, harrowing and brilliantly written. A powerful story’ Khurrum Rahman, author of East of Hounslow

‘An excellent and intelligent novel’ The Literary Review

‘A deeply profound and thought-provoking read’ Heat

©2020 Kia Abdullah (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Critic reviews

"A superb legal thriller...crackles with tension." (Guardian)

"Topical and gritty." (Observer)

"Vividly examines some of the issues that shape (and deform) society.... A gritty, extremely hard-hitting drama." (Adele Parks, Platinum)

Another hit

This is the second book I read by this author & again I was left impressed. It took a bit for me to get into beginning of the story but soon after I was engrossed in it. This topic should be talked about more & how it affect boys and young men. The characters were sympathetic & ending shocking (just like the first one). I look forward to read more from this author

PLOT TWIST!!!

The story itself was heartbreaking and the ending left my jaw dropped on the floor! I enjoyed listening to this book. However, they need to edit the title of each chapter for Audible since it says chapter 16 when the book is only up to chapter 14. The audiobook is not properly edited and synchronized to the physical book. Overall it is a great read and tearful one.

That was tough

The ending really was unexpected. The narrator was amazing and the writing not half bad. The characters were ok. I mostly listened to the end because of the performance but would 7.5/10 would recommend.

Lots of Misinformation and Zero Resolve

The narrator was excellent. She's the reason I was able to finish the story.
The reason I call this misinformation is because of how she portrayed Muslims and Islam. I do understand that in India, Pakistan and some countries of the Middle East, there are loads of cultural rules that's so shitty. But that's just it, it's cultural. Islam doesn't teach men to suppress emotions and the whole toxic masculinity narrative. Islam teaches men and women to both be soft and be very much in touch with our emotions. This is evident in prayers when the men bawl while praying and reciting Quran.
And towards the end of the story she said that her brother would think that making tea is feminine or something like that. Meanwhile in Islam, Prophet Mohamed PBUH used to wash his own clothes, clean his household, spend time with his children etc. I wish the author specified that all the things they were talking about is cultural and not religion. And she also implied that wearing clothes that were loose was oppressive or something. This is very close minded and rubbed me the wrong way.
Zero Resolve as in nothing was solved in this story. Nothing changed. Almost 12 hours later, the father didn't learn that he's spreading toxic masculinity. Neither did the main character. He did finally ask for help, so there's that. But other than that, absolutely nothing changed. Too many lose ends and absolutely nothing went right in the story. There were such important issues in this story that could've been presented well, but they all fell short, ironic cause the book is so long.