Lauren Wilkinson

Firm 3 stars. Marie seemed so sterile and emotionally distant. She was smart but in her head a lot. Always overthinking and trying to be one step ahead of someone. AND FAILING!

I also wanted deeper introspection on how Marie seemed to be aware of her blackness and being Black in America but didn't seem to struggle with how government agencies seek to dismantle and sabotage Black civil rights movements. What made the difference for her? She didn't seem to hold a sense of guilt or struggle with these things in her upbringing, but she was (seemingly) immediately drawn to Sankara's ideals.

Marie's jealousy and love for her sister were the most compelling part to me; Helene had her own issues. The theme of darkness and negativity within both of the girls and how it manifested had my interest but didn't get as much focus.

But the whole draw to Thomas Sankara never hit. I can buy a honeypot gone wrong, but she was so beyond obvious from day one. No sense of finesse or sensuality. I wanted to feel Marie fall for him and his ideals, but it was only told to me. I don't believe a lady this about her business is falling that quickly and easily.

I think this story excelled with the spy bits and the behind-the-scenes espionage and political sabotage, but it was weaker on the emotionally charged bits.… (mere)

The protagonist in this espionage novel is a black American female intelligence officer, Marie Mitchell. The story takes place during the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush late Cold War/early Mid-East terrorism years as they were playing out in Africa. As a disenchanted FBI agent, she is rather easily recruited/manipulated by a CIA operative to take part in what she is led to believe is plan to discredit the revolutionary, Communist president of Burkina Faso. But as in most spy novels, very little is as it seems. At times the narrative became bogged down by detailed political context -- although necessary because of the relative dearth of stories about the political upheavals in Africa as the West and Russia and the Middle East fought to control the governments there over the last four decades. The novel is framed as a journal for the benefit of Marie's young twin sons, and goes back and forth in time, from her own childhood in Queens to the time she is writing the journal in Martinique at her mother's farm and all of the event in between. The plot is rich and complicated, the moral and political issues are meaty, and the writing fresh and well-crafted. A solid effort for this debut novelist. I would give it 4-1/2 stars.… (mere)