A rare novel that’s as riveting as it is historically astute.
An Egyptian man is forced to travel to Palestine as a spy for the Roman Empire amid rumors that a prophecy of a Messiah has been fulfilled in Smith’s debut historical novel.
Khefren is a scribe in Alexandria, and according to his own typically self-effacing description, he’s “very, very ordinary.” He lives a reasonably comfortable life with his wife and two daughters, but his life really isn’t his own, as he’s little more than a servant to Roman Gaius Duccius Aquila, a tribune who hails from one of the most powerful families in Rome. Aquila notices an Ethiopian in town and, suspicious of his motives, compels Khefren to spy on him; the man turns out to be Shabako of Meroe, the court astrologer for the king of Kush, who’s on his way to see Persian friends in Palestine. Aquila takes this for evidence of a conspiratorial collaboration between Jews and Parthians against Rome and orders Khefren to accompany Shabako to gather more information. In a spirit of humble resignation, astutely and often comically captured by author Smith throughout the novel, Khefren complies: “I’d been sent on this journey with the understanding that I would betray the confidence of anyone who gave it.” Khefren’s journey is a perilous one—his life is threatened first by pirates, then by assassins—but the greatest danger he encounters comes from the Romans he serves. The author skillfully combines historical rigor and dramatic suspense with a light, humorous touch. He also broadens the story beyond mere political intrigue; while in Palestine, for example, Khefren learns more about the Judaic monotheism he finds perplexing and ends up searching for the new king that people say has come to deliver them from their earthly bondage.
A rare novel that’s as riveting as it is historically astute.Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2022
ISBN: 9798357952516
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Sharply drawn characters, a “locked-room” location, and a tension-filled WWII setting illuminate this wartime thriller.
During World War II, a female police officer investigates a spate of murders on a tiny island off the coast of Massachusetts.
Oren’s novel opens arrestingly with a local police captain discovering a fisherman’s unexpected catch of a human body. Then, an initial assessment of death by drowning goes distinctly south when it turns out that the man was strangled. Things only get trickier from there since it’s wartime, 1944, and the corpse is that of a prisoner of war: The island, along with its docks, trawlers, and cranberry bogs, includes a prison camp of Italian POWs and a U.S. military emplacement headed by a lieutenant who’d prefer to be on the front lines (his wealthy family ensures that he’s not). To complicate matters further—especially when another murder victim emerges—the police captain is Mary Beth Swann, who took over her husband’s law enforcement role when he shipped out to the South Pacific. Being a female police officer was already challenging enough; Mary Beth, originally from Boston, also has to tolerate the disrespect of the island’s inhabitants. What elevates this intriguing story—comparisons with television’s always engaging Foyle’s War are inevitable—are the wonderfully delineated specifics of the location and characters. This island may be fictional, but it’s drawn directly from the author’s experiences on Nantucket, and each of the characters sparkles with their own vitality, including the town’s brothel madam, the Acadian short-order cook missing two fingers, a visiting gangster, and the nearly 90 Italians waiting out the war in a remote corner of a foreign land.
Sharply drawn characters, a “locked-room” location, and a tension-filled WWII setting illuminate this wartime thriller.Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-950539-60-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Dzanc
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2022
Admirable in its aims but needed more finesse.
In 1944, the lives of a newspaper reporter, a newly ordained minister, Japanese internees, and a Japanese scientist intertwine around a mysterious illness.
“There’s a long history of violence against Asians in America. If you’re unaware of this, it’s not surprising: it doesn’t make the history books, it’s not taught in classrooms,” the author writes in an afterword. Her novel combines historical events, such as Roosevelt’s executive order forcing Japanese Americans into internment camps, with supernatural elements from Japanese folklore. Chapters alternate among the perspectives of minister Archie Mitchell, reporter Fran Gurstwold, Camp Minidoka internees Meiko Briggs and her daughter Aiko, and scientist Wasaburo Oishi’s journal entries. What unites these disparate characters becomes clear as more is revealed about the illness spreading through the internment camp and the dangerous balloons or parachutes that have begun appearing in several states. While at first the plot moves at a dizzying pace, especially in Archie’s first chapters, a balance of incisive detail and steady progression is struck toward the middle of the book. What appears to be a story of supernatural suspense mixed with historical fiction transforms into an important reminder of the United States’ short memory of its own atrocities and its long history of anti-Asian sentiment, violence, and racism. Didactic writing is both a strength and a weakness here. At first, important parallels are created; for instance, “America was not Nazi Germany. Rounding up citizens in camps in order to kill them: it was impossible. It went against everything America stood for—everything Americans said they stood for. Yet here she was, dying in an internment camp.” Unfortunately, by the end, these notes become too frequent and heavy-handed. Even so, it's enjoyable to experience the ambitious, weblike weaving of the book's many elements.
Admirable in its aims but needed more finesse.Pub Date: April 26, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-32833-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
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