Memorable characters headline this absorbing (despite its dawdling pace) international thriller.
In Van Le’s debut novel, the first in a trilogy, an English Canadian geologist in West Africa finds himself a captive of jihadists.
Geologist Jake Hall works at Maranga Goldfields, a Canadian “junior” mining company. When his boss sends him to the firm’s Mali headquarters to check on a colleague’s gold exploration project, Hall discovers that the man has been injured and that his pregnant wife, Ayesha, has been abducted. While searching for the woman, Hall himself is taken and winds up in a jihadist group’s clutches. His captors want his company, or perhaps the Canadian government, to fork over a tidy ransom for Hall’s release. But when no one seems willing to pay, the jihadists go another route, determined to find a way to squeeze money out of Maranga Goldfields’ gold mine in Mali; surely, their geologist captive has the know-how and inside information to help them score a hefty payday. There’s no telling how things will play out when the jihadists team up with a North Africa–based ethnic group, the very same one that’s holding Ayesha hostage. Van Le’s story hits the ground running with a daring kidnapping and Hall stumbling into the bloody aftermath. (“In less than sixty seconds, the men had shoved the woman on top of the saddle, mounted their animals, and trotted off into the darkness with their prize.”) The bulk of the novel, however, lingers on Hall’s and Ayesha’s dual internments. This material entails much stagnant philosophical discourse, debates about ransom, and repetitive condemnations of Western religion and politics. Still, the cast is wonderfully diverse, from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police contemplating a rescue attempt to the various groups in North and West Africa, including the Tuareg and Arabs. The standout character is Ayesha, a Muslim woman who finds common ground with her fellow French hostage, Marion, a devout Christian; both are admirably strong women who defy numerous threats while in captivity. The author, who ably details colorful landscapes and harsh desert terrain, builds to a frenzied final act, upon which a sequel will most assuredly elaborate.
Memorable characters headline this absorbing (despite its dawdling pace) international thriller.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2024
ISBN: 9781738305803
Page Count: 420
Publisher: Sattva Publishing Inc.
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A feisty storm of Greek tragedy headlined by three very modern women.
On the isle of Capri, Helen Lingate seeks revenge on the people responsible for her mother’s death 30 years earlier—her own family.
When Sarah Lingate fell to her death on Capri in 1992, she left behind a 3-year-old daughter, Helen, and a legacy as a gifted playwright; her favorite necklace of golden snakes was lost to the sea. Thirty years later, Helen, chafing at the restrictions she’s grown up under as a member of the old-money Lingate family, hatches a plan with her uncle Marcus’ assistant, Lorna Moreno, to blackmail her uncle and her father with that same necklace, which mysteriously entered her possession a few months before. The novel begins on Capri just after Lorna disappears, and then traces her steps from 36 hours earlier. Interweaving chapters from the points of view of Helen, Lorna, and Sarah—as well as, later, a few others—we learn how Sarah gradually became stifled by the constant pressure of keeping up appearances until she became inspired to write a play, Saltwater, that was a not-so-thinly veiled tell-all revealing dark Lingate family secrets. It was shortly after this that she fell to her death. The loss of her mother has come to define Helen’s life, and if she can use the necklace as leverage to escape her family, and maybe learn the truth along the way, she’ll take the risk. Lorna’s motives are both murkier and more straightforward—she’s never had money, and she’s got a chip on her shoulder about it, so splitting 10 million euros with Helen sounds like a way to discard her past and start fresh. These strong, conniving women drive the drama and the narrative, and they are captivating enough that as twist after twist begins to unfurl, the novel still feels character-driven. The end—well, the end shocks. And it’s well earned. By the time the sun sets on the gorgeous excess and rugged coast of Capri, lives will have been destroyed.
A feisty storm of Greek tragedy headlined by three very modern women.Pub Date: March 25, 2025
ISBN: 9780593875551
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
Filled with action, violence, and more twists than a bag of pretzels.
Second of the Walter Nash thrillers—following Nash Falls (2025)—in which the remade hero seeks vengeance.
Due to urgent circumstances, Nash has bulked himself up to become the “muscled and tatted fighting machine” now known as Dillon Hope. His antagonist is Victoria Steers, a global drug dealer who wants him dead. Not realizing his new identity, she enlists Hope to free her mother, Masuyo, from a prison in Myanmar. As an incentive, she shoots one of her associates and threatens to frame Hope for the murder unless he complies. She also wants him to find Nash. He in turn wants to kill Victoria to avenge the death of his innocent daughter, Maggie. “If I go down,” he muses, “I’m taking others with me. Starting with Victoria Steers.” He learns that Victoria had killed all her siblings to eliminate business competition. But as heartless as Victoria is, her mother, Masuyo, is even worse. In league with the Chinese government in a perverse plan to kill as many Americans as possible through fentanyl overdose, she shows contempt for Victoria for her perceived weaknesses. Readers won’t find many happy family relationships here: mother-daughter, father-son, husband-wife—all fraught. Hope’s employer, who accompanies him to Myanmar, is a billionaire chief executive with a dodgy past (i.e., probably killed his father). And there’s a mega-billionaire with an astronomical IQ and ditch-deep morals who, putting it mildly, does not have America’s best interests at heart. As a teenager, he’d defeated two world chess champions; as an adult, he regards his dealings with the world in terms of master chess moves. Only one character seems truly decent and credible—Hiroko, Victoria’s former nanny and lifelong companion, who provides Hope with valuable insights into the Steers’ background, which is partly Chinese. Searing grudges, simple evil, and not-so-simple misunderstandings carry the cast through this complex, action-packed plot. This sequel ties out the loose ends dangling in Nash Falls, which would be helpful to read first. To get to the requisite ending, though, Baldacci takes pains to surprise the reader. It works but often feels forced.
Filled with action, violence, and more twists than a bag of pretzels.Pub Date: April 14, 2026
ISBN: 9781538758021
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Review Posted Online: Feb. 2, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2026
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
