An intelligent account of the political chaos in Mali that wallows in a tone of amoral coldness.
In Thorpe’s thriller, an American academic in search of a rare manuscript in Mali is suddenly entangled in a civil war.
In 2012,an unnamed college professor from the University of California, Berkeley, travels to Mali, partly as a matter of scholarly interest and partly to partake of the services of local sex workers. Also, he works for a manuscript collector named Foraes-Muriat, and he hopes to make enough money from their collaboration to help his soon-to-be ex-wife start anew in Tucson, Arizona, and pay his daughter’s college tuition. However, Mali becomes increasingly dangerous as war erupts; Tuareg and Arab Muslim jihadis declare their independence from the government in the quest to establish their own theocracy. As the violence escalates, particularly in the northern part of the country, the French military moves in. Despite the gathering volatility, Foraes-Muriat convinces the professor to travel north to procure an authentic copy of the Tarikh al fattash, a manuscript that promises to be of revolutionary significance. Lured by money, the professor accepts despite the danger he’ll surely face, and he comes to have doubts about Foraes-Muriat’s true intentions—a predicament that forces him to confront the thorny question of whether he’s a scholar working to preserve a culture or a colonialist thief. Over the course of the novel, Thorpe astutely depicts the complex political and cultural contours of Mali. Also, with unflinching bluntness, he describes the dissolution of the professor, who sets his sights on a new life with Molly, one of his students who’s more than 30 years his junior. However, the overall bleakness of the novel, which presents an unremitting portrayal of a dark nihilism, finally becomes exhausting, and the conclusion is less a denouement than a simple terminus. In the end, many readers may not feel that the novel’s artistic and intellectual offerings compensate for its moral austerity.
An intelligent account of the political chaos in Mali that wallows in a tone of amoral coldness.Pub Date: Jan. 19, 2022
ISBN: 979-8405046662
Page Count: 298
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: May 27, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.
A woman accused of shooting her husband six times in the face refuses to speak.
"Alicia Berenson was thirty-three years old when she killed her husband. They had been married for seven years. They were both artists—Alicia was a painter, and Gabriel was a well-known fashion photographer." Michaelides' debut is narrated in the voice of psychotherapist Theo Faber, who applies for a job at the institution where Alicia is incarcerated because he's fascinated with her case and believes he will be able to get her to talk. The narration of the increasingly unrealistic events that follow is interwoven with excerpts from Alicia's diary. Ah, yes, the old interwoven diary trick. When you read Alicia's diary you'll conclude the woman could well have been a novelist instead of a painter because it contains page after page of detailed dialogue, scenes, and conversations quite unlike those in any journal you've ever seen. " 'What's the matter?' 'I can't talk about it on the phone, I need to see you.' 'It's just—I'm not sure I can make it up to Cambridge at the minute.' 'I'll come to you. This afternoon. Okay?' Something in Paul's voice made me agree without thinking about it. He sounded desperate. 'Okay. Are you sure you can't tell me about it now?' 'I'll see you later.' Paul hung up." Wouldn't all this appear in a diary as "Paul wouldn't tell me what was wrong"? An even more improbable entry is the one that pins the tail on the killer. While much of the book is clumsy, contrived, and silly, it is while reading passages of the diary that one may actually find oneself laughing out loud.
Amateurish, with a twist savvy readers will see coming from a mile away.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-250-30169-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Celadon Books
Review Posted Online: Nov. 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.
After the events of Book of Night (2022), Charlie Hall is forced to hunt down the perpetrator of a terrible massacre.
Charlie Hall is the Hierophant: It’s her job to be tethered to a powerful, independent shadow—a “Blight”— and hunt down other Blights for the Cabals, the heads of their respective shadow-magic specialties. The Cabals use the difficult job of Hierophant as a punishment, but Charlie agreed to take it on so she could be the person tethered to Vince, aka Red, the Blight who posed as a human and ended up dating and falling in love with Charlie. The Cabal leaders used magic to steal the part of Red’s memory that contained his relationship with Charlie, and so Charlie is determined to steal Red’s memories back. And she needs to move fast, because if Red doesn’t remember loving her, he just might be OK with Charlie being killed if it means his own freedom. Meanwhile, Mr. Punch, a terrifying Cabal leader who specializes in using shadow magic to possess other people’s bodies, has a job for Charlie: He wants her to find the culprit behind a terrible massacre that was attributed to a cult. He suspects that the people were actually killed by a Blight, and he doesn’t want the Cabals to face the blowback if the truth becomes public. Mr. Punch could do terrible things to Charlie if she fails, but if she succeeds, he’ll help Charlie and Red be free of the Cabals for good. The sophomore novel in a series is always tough, but this sequel proves that the second book can be even better than the first. Black turns the screws on the magical world she set up in Book 1, creating complicated political motives between Charlie and the Cabal leaders and making the question of what it means for a shadow, like Red, to have their own consciousness more interesting. Veteran con artist Charlie makes some truly brilliant moves, especially toward the end, where the last few chapters have one terrific surprise after the other.
A smart and highly original work of modern fantasy.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781250812223
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Tor
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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