A young man uncovers the truth behind his mother's death in this haunting debut that takes you from New York to Tehran. Cyrus Shams has always been lost. He's grown up tangled in the mysteries of his past - an uncle who rode through Iranian battlefields, a haunting work of art by an exiled painter, and his mother, whose plane was shot down over the Persian Gulf when he was just a baby. Now, newly sober and maybe in love, he's headed for an encounter that will transform everything he thought he knew. Can a final revelation change the truth of Cyrus's life?Electrifying and funny, Kaveh Akbar's Martyr! is an all-consuming debut. An instant New York Times BestsellerShortlisted for the Waterstones Debut PrizeBook of the Year in The Observer, The New York Times, and The New YorkerA National Book Award FinalistMartyr! was an instant New York Times bestseller w/c 27/1/24