Review
"With 21 Immortals, Rozlan Mohd Noor proves that a great character can be found anywhere on the globe. Undaunted and determined, Inspector Mislan Latif is my kind of detective. Harry Bosch would ride shotgun with him anytime."—Michael Connelly
"Stellar . . . Fans of honest cops working in a rigged system are in for a treat."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
"Takes readers to a darker, edgier Malaysia than . . . Shamini Flint's Inspector Singh cozies; fans of John Burdett and Timothy Hallinan will be drawn to the gritty KL streets and to Mislan's disregard for politics as he pursues justice."—Booklist
"Written in terse prose with to-the-point dialogue, little gets in the way of Noor’s narrative momentum and he tears through the story’s investigation with a nimble touch. . . . Noor’s descriptions of Kuala Lumpur are rich in references to food and neighborhoods. . . . What we’re given in this first installment is enough to pique curiosity about a place completely of its own, and Noor is successful in developing a character who is perhaps equally specific to his place and time."—LA Review of Books
“Razor-sharp and full of the grit and color of the streets of Kuala Lumpur, 21 Immortals is a gripping examination of the link between organized crime and politics. Total edge-of-the-seat stuff."—Tash Aw, award-winning author of The Harmony Silk Factory and We, the Survivors
"Rozlan Mohd Noor's 21 Immortals is set in a vividly evoked contemporary Kuala Lumpur and has all the makings of classic detective novel—a tough, engaging detective, a story that grips from the first page, and an ending that is just as intriguing and satisfying as you hoped it would be. Highly recommended."—W. C. Ryan, author of A House of Ghosts
"A compelling and nefarious crime with corruption at its heart. Inspector Mislan is a fierce adversary."—Lauren A. Forry, author of They Did Bad Things
"Rozian Mohd Noor tells the harrowing tale of a tough cop on the streets of Kuala Lumpur who attempts to solve the grotesque murder of an entire family. The suspense winds tighter with each new twist. Inspector Mislan, Noor’s all-too-human hero, is the perfect cop to solve this perfect crime."—Bart Paul, author of the Tommy Smith High Country Noir series
"From a macabre murder scene to an unexpected ending, Noor effortlessly leads us through the complexities of a police investigation supercharged with corruption, politics, and unfettered egos. His style puts the reader always at Inspector Mislan’s side, discovering evidence and identifying suspects in the same breath. Nothing is predictable in this atmospheric story set in exotic Malaysia." —Timothy Jay Smith, author of Fire on the Island and The Fourth Courier
"As approachable as it is brilliant, 21 Immortals could and should become a classic of detective fiction. I like to think of Inspector Mislan Latif as Malaysia's Montalbano, not just for the love of food, coffee, and cigarettes, but for the wit, resolve, and humanity."—Davide Cazzaro, publisher of Nangmagazine
"It has a great title, a wonderful mix of characters, and a complex story line that twists and turns like KL roads. . . .The pleasure in 21 Immortals arises from the fact the writer enjoys the storytelling. He is having fun, and it spills into the novel. He loves his hero. The unpretentious Inspector Mislan, who doesn’t ‘wear shades, or talk standing sideways,' is more likable than the lead in CSI Miami."—SH Lim, Time Out Kuala Lumpur
"Enter Inspector Mislan Latif; hard-boiled, tough as nails, logical, unsentimental, but not quite cynical. In a Kuala Lumpur full of dirty criminals and dirtier cops, he is the last among the few good men (and women) that remain. . . . 21 Immortals is deliberately paced. Rozlan Mohd Noor writes with a meticulousness that mirrors that of his protagonist. It is prose that is methodical. Carefully, systematically unraveling the murder mystery that lies before us. . . . He has written a novel that is for us; completely and utterly."—New Straits Times(Malaysia)
“The voices are real. They are ours or fragments of our society. . . . It is very courageous for a former officer of the Royal Malaysian Police to detail what could go wrong in police investigations. . . . The book is not of a world to be judged based on morality and accepted cultural norms. Rozlan is brave enough to offer this insight and his representations of changing values in modern Malaysia. . . . My final verdict: Go get the book!"—Asiatic Journal (Malaysia)
“Rozlan Mohd Noor's books are exceptionally good in a lot of senses but more importantly, they capture the subtleties and nuances of Malaysian culture, language, politics, and crime.21 Immortals is a highly recommended read.”—Choose and Book
“He is a maverick, badass investigator who is determined to solve all his cases despite pressure from his superiors and politicians to close them. The stories walk us through the procedures that take place when a crime is reported, how CSI and the police work together, and what are the challenges they face. Even more interesting is the fact the stories take Kuala Lumpur and its surroundings as their location. The author has injected some local dialect, the reality of Malaysia.”—purplymoon
“The books in Rozlan’s Inspector Mislan series deal with serious social issues, among them the corruption of higher-ups in the police force.”—The Star(Malaysia)
“21 Immortals highlights the commitment of Inspector Mislan, a cop who is honest, hardworking, and has integrity—but this attitude makes him unpopular among some of his colleagues and superiors on the police force and even politicians, making him a victim sometimes of internal politics in his department.”— Kosmo newspaper (Malaysia)
About the Author
Rozlan Mohd Noor served for eleven years as a crime investigator in the CID of the Royal Malaysia Police and a court prosecutor before joining the private sector. 21 Immortals, his first Inspector Mislan novel, was shortlisted for the Commonwealth Writer’s Best First Book Award and longlisted for the International DUBLIN Literary Award. He has published three more Inspector Mislan novels and he’s working on the fifth. He currently resides in Thailand.
