Amman — The novel The Spider’s Heart by Jordanian writer Maen Abdul Rahman Al-Adassi, published by Al-An Publishers and Distributors, offers readers a distinctive experience that blends realistic suspense with innovative narrative artistry. Al-Adassi opens his novel with a single line born of a dream he had after losing consciousness from extreme exhaustion in the holy city of Najaf. The narrative then gradually unfolds into a complex web of events and characters that reflect the grayness of reality and the conflicts between power and principles.
اضافة اعلان
The novel’s protagonist, Sami Abdul Hamid, a pragmatic businessman, confronts an intricate network of influence and alliances. Through this journey, the novel raises questions about ethics, conscience, and the balance between ambition and humanity, inviting the reader to witness a fateful game from which no one emerges the same as they entered. The back cover of the novel reads:
“A skilled, pragmatic businessman finds himself entangled in a complex web linking politics, money, and gangs when he draws close to a pragmatic prime minister willing to sell any principle to remain in power. As their alliances intertwine, the businessman discovers that the game is far bigger than he imagined—and that the price may be his family… or his soul. Why and how did he become involved? And how will he get out?”
At the beginning of the novel, Al-Adassi includes a disclaimer stating that this work is “purely fictional and does not rely on any real facts or events. All characters, names, events, and countries mentioned in this text are products of imagination, and any resemblance to existing, past, or potential persons, entities, or events is purely coincidental and unintentional, for which we apologize in advance.
The use of real country names is solely for artistic and narrative purposes and is not intended to refer to any political, social, or legal reality, nor should it be understood as expressing any stance or opinion toward those countries, their peoples, institutions, officials, or governments.”
In the introduction to The Spider’s Heart, Al-Adassi notes that this is not a conventional novel. It began with a single line inspired by a dream he experienced after losing consciousness from severe exhaustion in Najaf, and then evolved and was revised repeatedly until it reached its current form.
It is a journey into a web of intertwined interests, where no one leaves as they entered—decisions are never pure, and heroes are never innocent. The events unfold in a deeply gray world: the world of money, pharmaceuticals, politics, gangs, and opportunism disguised as success and alliances, and what happens behind the scenes.
In the novel’s conclusion, the author writes:
“The threads intertwine between politics, business, and gangs in a secret game that governs everyone’s fate. At the center of this scene stands the novel’s protagonist, Sami Abdul Hamid, a shrewd and pragmatic businessman who sees the world as a series of deals. Behind his smile lies a legacy of anger: his father lost everything during the era of nationalization, leading him to believe that the laws and principles of social justice do not protect the successful—but rather punish them.”
