INTO THE UNKNOWN

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.