Soleil Tangiere

A formidable young heroine leads this addictive fusion of noir fiction and suspense thriller.

Amid the political turmoil of the 1980s—Reagan’s in office, the USSR is collapsing—Soleil Tangiere, the 19-year-old daughter of a Quebecois miner, follows her beloved father to Montana when he lands a job working for a mining company specializing in platinum. The owner of the company, however, is hopelessly entangled in the conspiracies of a ruthless businessman/crime boss from England known only as Smythe. When Soleil’s father becomes a target of Smythe’s paranoia and is killed in an “accidental” mining explosion, Soleil—a rugged Canadian beauty who knows how to take care of herself—vows to track down and kill all of those involved in her father’s murder. After catching up with the crooked sheriff and exacting her revenge, she goes on the run and unknowingly begins a brutal yet beautiful journey of self-discovery that takes her to New York City and Europe. Soleil, the powerful fuel that powers this novel, is simultaneously identifiable as a relatively naïve, vulnerable Everywoman and as a larger-than-life heroine. And while at points the suspension of disbelief is stretched, it doesn’t go too far, leaving readers with a breakneck-paced story filled with political intrigue, nonstop action and even a little romance. With intriguing, well-developed characters, a few bombshell plot twists and a highly satisfying ending, this novel will have fans of mainstream thrillers standing up and applauding. Lee Child’s Jack Reacher has got nothing on Soleil; hopefully readers haven’t seen the last of her.

Brilliant characterizations—particularly the courageous, charming heroine—help make this a finish-in-one-night kind of read.