Books to Read Before You See the Movie This Summer

This page-turner—about a young Pakistani man who rises to wealth and privilege in the United States but who returns to Pakistan, not to become a fundamentalist but a professor—has a plot so compelling that you may need to keep a heart monitor on hand. It also presents one of the most bedeviling endings ever, the kind that makes you long for (in the best way) a short dumb answer where none will ever exist. The cinematic version stars Kiefer Sutherland, Liev Schreiber and Kate Hudson. The book stars gorgeous, risky, intelligent prose.