Never going on an African safari...
Historical thriller, quite predictable, and very violent with a large cast of characters.
Hollywood actress Katie Barstow, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to take some family and close friends to the Serengeti at the end of their honeymoon. What is meant to be an adventurous camp-out that involves watching animals and taking photographs turns deadly when the entourage is kidnapped by Russians.
I've read all of this author's books and, upon analysis, I see they have been hit and miss with me. I found this to be terribly bloody, lots of senseless killing, and a plot that really did not grip me with an ending, meant to be a twist, that was totally foreseen early in the story. Told in multiple voices, the narrators give their take on what is happening during their ordeal, and reveal a bit about themselves and their lives interspersed with blurbs from supposed tabloid reports from Hollywood. All of the jumping around made the novel less suspenseful as mostly I just wanted a fluid tale without all the background that foreshadowed how this would all end. I never felt that I identified with the many characters and thus did not regret any one death more than another though it all just seemed so pointless and sad. As usual, the author includes political and social commentary relevant to the place (Africa) and the time period (1960s) and, given the current global tendency to despise the mercenary Russians, they don't get any love either. I think my overwhelming response to this work is that I was disappointed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Doubleday for this e-book ARC to read and review.
This is a standalone and is not part of any series.
Genre - historical fiction
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