Abdoh was born in Iran and spent two years of his early childhood in England. When Abdoh was fourteen his family was forced to flee Iran and arrived in the U.S. His father died shortly after the family’s arrival in the States, leaving his children homeless in Los Angeles. After traveling the country, Abdoh eventually earned an undergraduate degree from U.C. Berkeley and received a Master’s from City College.

Abdoh’s first novel, The Poet Game, focuses on a young agent sent by a top-secret Iranian government agency to infiltrate a group of Islamic extremists in New York. Though the book was published in 1999, it received greater attention following the September 11, 2001 attack on the World Trade Center. His second novel, Opium (2004) tells the story of a young American who used to work as a drug-runner along the Afghan/Iran border, living in New York and trying to keep a low profile when his past suddenly catches up with him.

Abdoh also co-wrote the play Quotations from a Ruined City with his older brother, Reza Abdoh. It was first produced in 1994.