“This sharp, evocative novel tackles morally thorny questions about ends justifying means, religious and political corruption, luxury beliefs, and the pressure on those living abroad to deliver for family and community back home…” – The Guardian.
Available to buy below. Thanks much and deeply appreciated :-):
https://www.quercusbooks.co.uk/titles/foday-mannah/the-search-for-othella-savage/9781529437065/
The Guardian.
Never Flinch by Stephen King (Hodder & Stoughton, £25)
King’s latest brings back private detective Holly Gibney, who is consulted when the Ohio police department receives an anonymous letter stating that the writer is proposing to kill “13 innocents and 1 guilty” as an act of atonement for the death of an innocent. It soon becomes clear that the death is that of Alan Duffrey who, wrongly convicted of possessing child pornography, was murdered in prison. Slips of paper with names in the corpses’ hands suggest that each one represents a member of the jury responsible for Duffrey’s incarceration. Meanwhile, women’s rights campaigner Kate McKay finds herself targeted by religious extremists while on a speaking tour, and calls on Holly’s services as a bodyguard. Intelligent, courageous and modest to a fault, Holly is one of the most appealing investigators in contemporary crime fiction. Despite some longueurs, Never Flinch contains plenty of King’s trademark chilling moments, with the two storylines expertly entwined.
The Search for Othella Savage by Foday Mannah (Quercus, £16.99)
Present-day Edinburgh and Sierra Leone are the settings for Mannah’s debut novel, which won the 2022 Mo Siewcharran Prize. Hawa Barrie lives on the fringes of a Sierra Leonean expat community that revolves around the Lion Mountain Church, headed by a charismatic pastor. Ronald Ranka presents himself as “a true man of divine discernment who goes above and beyond to help Africans in this White people’s country”, but he also surrounds himself with attractive young women whose role as church “ambassadors” involves them in morally dubious ways of raising funds. When one of them is found barely alive, having been locked in a car boot for five days, and her old friend Othella disappears shortly thereafter, Hawa becomes suspicious. This sharp, evocative novel tackles morally thorny questions about ends justifying means, religious and political corruption, luxury beliefs, and the pressure on those living abroad to deliver for family and community back home.
Publicity images graciously suggested and produced by Graeme O’Hara of Bob’s Trainset Productions. https://www.bobstrainset.co.uk/
Foday Mannah 