This had an intriguing premise, if one that was a little far-fetched, in that the entire narrative as a closing speech of a murder case, by the accused who has fired his lawyer in order to tell his story in his own words. Whether or not we can suspend disbelief enough to accept that a closing speech can take ten days becomes less important than the fact that we are quickly drawn into the tale.
As a teacher in a London boy's school for many years, the voice of the protagonist was credible and engaging to me, the wider issues relevant and gritty, the story compelling, if overlong.
I liked the main character and if my judgment is relevant, I would have voted Not Guilty!

From the outset this book had me firmly in the palm of its hand. A very different premise to the usual crime book, this book is a monologue. It takes the form of a young man who, having sacked his Q.C. towards the end of his trial, is making his closing summation.
This is a very powerful and compelling story told in the words of a young man whose whole life has been spent amidst the London gangland culture of London housing estates.
We never know his name, but as he speaks – and this is a closing speech that continues for several days – we learn a lot about his family, his friends, and the characters who populate the different gangs. We learn something of the culture that uses young children; where being a gang member is not a choice but a survival tactic.
It ought to be a dark and depressing tale – and in many ways it is a terrible story to hear – but this is a young man who has a powerful sense of self. He is not an academic lad, but he has compassion, the capacity to love and a powerful protective instinct.
In deciding to tell us his ‘truth’; his version of what really happened, he will deal not only with all the evidence that the prosecution has presented, but will also confront us with the truth of the kind of leaves that he and his neighbours have to lead.
In the nature versus nurture argument, this is the potential of nurture, the redemptive possibility.
The reader is part of the jury. As the narrative continues, we come to question quite a lot about how the justice system works; whether juries really have the facts at hand when reaching their decisions. It’s a complex book which raises a lot of questions and is deeply thought-provoking.
It is for us to decide whether this young man has a future and that’s partly what makes it a forceful and compelling novel. The writing is strong and I think Mahmood has done a stunning job of articulating this young man’s life.
I do have a hesitation about the conclusion – it feels way too much of a cop out and not as strong or believable as the rest of the book.
Nevertheless, this does not diminish the strength and depth of this debut novel. I’ve taken it down I star because of this, but I’d urge everyone to read it.
Imran Mahmood is a barrister based in London who specialises in Civil & Criminal Law. He clearly knows whereof he speaks and that pays off in spades.
You Don’t Know Me is a brilliant debut from an author who will undoubtedly do well.

Wow, what a very different book this was to read! I don't think I have ever read one like this before and it really gripped you from the off because it was so different.

Only very occasionally do we enjoy such excellent authorship. From the first page where we hear about Palmerston sending out gunships to force the Greek government to compensate a single British subject who has been wronged, we are hooked. Especially when our narrator then reverts to the patois of gangland in the 21st century. This entire novel is the summing -up speech given by a young man accused of murder - a speech he gives directly to the jury after dismissing his barrister. Why? Well he believes the jury can't make a fair judgement unless they understand both him and the world he occupies. By any courtroom standards he breaks all the rules. He admits to actions that a barrister would claim will prejudice the jury against him, he uses bad language for which he is ever apologising to the judge, he often loses the place. But he does all this in such an engaging, sometimes funny, and forthright way that, by the end, we genuinely feel better placed to issue a verdict. And that reader is exactly what you have to do. Mahmood's writing is absolutely brilliant and whilst the content of the accused's speech is often truly harrowing I would be surprised if his telling of it doesn't cause you to feel "reasonable doubt"". Take up the challenge. Is he guilty or not guilty?

This was an unusual book and one I was not sure what I would think but wow I was blown away by it.

Very impressive. I hope the author is very proud of that book. A real winner in my view.

This is a very intriguing book that's done so, so well. I'm so impressed with the writing, it's so smooth. The whole book, but the last or second to last chapter are transcripts from a defendant accused of murder. The young man decided to get rid of his lawyer and say all the truth, with all the backstory. He decided that he wants to say it as he knows is, without lawyer saying him what is better to omit and what should be said in specific kind of way.

The first thing that got me into this book is definitely the writing, the language, the style. The boy's speech is so smooth, that's the most appropriate word that comes to my mind to describe how it felt to read it. I was instantly hooked, I wanted to see what will he say, how will he describe this story. I can imagine that this book could be an amazing audiobook.

The second thing that got me into this book is the story. It's fascinating and complex. First, we are presented with several pieces of evidence against the defendant. He enumerates them and then starts to explain how those pieces of evidence come to be. And nothing is black and white in this story. There are so many layers and motives. And just when you think that you learn the truth, the story comes around and it's something completely different. We are given few of those moments. They are annoying but done so well...

What is tackled in this book is that we truly don't know anyone. And we cannot judge what happened just on the basis of few pieces of evidence, that don't tell the full story. As we read the book, we realise how easy it was to misjudge and jump to conclusions. How we make judgements based on bias, someone's looks, voice, how they speak. Another issue brought up in this book are gangs. How they affect young boys, how difficult for some of them, living in poor neighbourhoods to avoid stepping on the path to crime and drugs. How some things are inevitable, and where you were born determines your whole life. This book gives an important perspective on those issues and gave me a lot to think about. Especially how complicated is this world, nothing is black and white and you don't know me, him or them.

I've just finished this book and although it was a good idea for a story, a young man in a trial for a murder he has said to of committed but I have to admit it was hard going, The story just went on and on and all the way through I'm thinking a court would never allow a defendant to talk for days on end with no objections etc. It was thought provoking but not for me.

This amazing novel has been written by a criminal barrister and completely changes the premise of other legal thrillers about face.
I love any any legal thriller with courtroom scenes with the clashing arguments af the prosecution and defence sides. But this time the defendant decides to dismiss his barrister and defend himself for the closing argument. So starts our journey with the defendant laying out the why's, who and what brought him to this courtroom. Although not well educated though no means without a brain and speaking in the dialect of the housing estates in London he begins to tell his story to the judge and jury as 'they don't know him' and he feels he must make them see what type of life he had led to bring him in front of them.
So it begins, he tells his story with honesty and passion, we are dragged into a world of gang culture, drugs prostitution and hopelessness, where carrying a weapon be it a gun or knife is a normal way of life.
You can't help but become fully involved in his tale, willing for a better life for this defendant and others like him that are dragged into a system with no moral,, educational or social support appear to be available to help one escape from a seemingly hopeless existence.
This is an extremely well written and thought provoking novel, it should shoot up the bestseller lists and deservedly so.
Thanks to net galley and publisher for opportunity to review this book, and thank you Mr Mahmoud I look forward to your next book!

An interesting read. Very unusual story giving us a clear insight into a totally different world. Complex characters,richly described.

Gritty and uncomfortable material but approached in such an honest way you cannot help but be fascinated.
As you follow the protagonist's story in this court room setting it opens your eyes to a world that exists but everyone tries to ignore.
Honest, raw and bitingly real, everyone should be aware of this area in society. Very important read.

Once in a while you read a book that not only gets under your skin, but it leaves your breathless and gasping out loud. You Don't Know Me is an incredible debut novel. Told entirely through Court Transcripts - a young man charged with murder sacks his lawyer and tells his defence story in his own voice to the jury over a period of ten days. Covering gang culture and social issues, our young narrator breathes life in his story and brings it vividly into the readers imagination. Keeping the reader interested for over 400 pages highlights the skill of this author. A truly fascinating, entralling, thought provoking book which will stay in my thoughts for a long time. My thanks to the publisher Michael Joseph and Netgalley for the ARC.

A defendant's statement as to why he is innocent. This is his account of the events surrounding the murder he is accused of. Did he do it? I thought that the book was edgy and gripping and page turning in places but not quite believable in others. At the end I felt I had been left hanging. I expected a better ending.

This was a fascinating read. I would very happily listen to an audiobook - hearing the speech performed would be incredibly powerful, I think. I felt really involved, quite invested in the story, and was a little bit miffed when it was over without a verdict - though I realise that's the point and it's there for me to decide (which I have). Loved it.

The judge and jury might have become tired by the length of thecdefendant's speech but I didn't. This is an outstanding piece of writing, sensitive and skilful. The concept is original and enables the author to explore social and racial issues with perception and an uncanny ability to get the reader onside. It would make a good film.

Struggled to read. Found it hard to believe that an English Court of Law would allow testimony in this fashion and lost interest as a result.

Well written and an interesting lead character but just not for me.

I haven't yet been tapped for jury service, and the circumstances of the transcript that makes up this book are highly unusual, but reading this is the closest I've come so far to being given the heavy responsibility of judging someone as innocent or guilty.

Imagine "Twelve Angry Men" but where you, the reader, are in the role of both the foreman and every other member of the jury. As I was reading I could imagine the conversations I might have with the other members of the jury as we considered the Defendant's closing arguments.

Rather than giving us all of the evidence that had been presented earlier in the trial the book gives us enough information to consider it by having the Defendant mention each item in turn during his closing statements. The circumstantial evidence that led to his arrest is identified turn by turn and we slowly find ourselves being drawn into the Defendant's world as the details of the case begin to become clear.

My initial sympathy started to sour with later revelations, especially when doubts began to creep in that the Defendant was being completely truthful with the jury.

This is an excellent, thought-provoking book which does a great job (at least to my relatively ignorant ear) of evoking the dialect and slang of a young Black Londoner. The story told by the Defendant is fascinating and, though it did become wearying at times I certainly never found it boring.

By the end of the transcript I had formed a decision about how I would vote in the jury room... but with a willingness to discuss and be persuaded by the other jurors.... and so I look forward to this finally being published so I can discuss the case with others and see what they would decide!

I really enjoyed this book, although the subject matter was hard I was gripped by it. I would recommend this book. .

An intense, gripping read, "You Don't Know Me" consists almost entirely of one character speaking for himself in a court room, leaving us breathlessly following his story without pause to divert elsewhere. Not many authors could get away with such a story, but Mahmood pulls it off brilliantly.

Even more brilliant is the range of emotions this book created within me. All at once I felt bad for the main character, who has a very 'disadvantaged' background, yet I could never feel too bad due to his unique kind of in-eloquent intelligence. I felt conflicted and confused, was he a victim of his own environment and essentially a good person? But then again, he couldn't be good if he did even half the things that he himself claimed that he did. This tugging back and forth with my emotions went from beginning to end, where I STILL don't have an answer.

In all, a very good read and one that makes you stop and think!

Wow! What a rollercoaster of a ride. A totally original thriller that chills and thrills from the opening page. An unknown defendant accused of a gangland, drugs related murder stuns everyone by sacking his defence barrister and decides to give his closing statement himself at the end of a trial that appears to be an open and shut case.

What follows is an entree in the demi mode of gang culture and the criminal underbelly of London.

This is a thought provoking description of the life of the youngsters who society forgot - the outcasts who find their missing or non-existent family in the gangs that they form. Their lives are nasty, brutal and short and the book brilliantly captures their argot and the meaningless of their lives.

Utterly unputdownable as he weaves an intricate tale of what really might have happened and what brought about the murder that almost inevitably seems to be pinned upon him.

His closing statement lasts an heroic 10 days - will it be enough to get him off the hook? Read the book and you might just find out!

Brilliant book. Excellent main characters and plot. I would recommend this book.