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A Novel
by Chris Bohjalian
Book Reviewed by:A luxurious African safari turns deadly for a Hollywood starlet and her entourage in this riveting historical thriller from the New York Times bestselling author of The Flight Attendant.
Tanzania, 1964. When Katie Barstow, A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they envision giraffes gently eating leaves from the tall acacia trees, great swarms of wildebeests crossing the Mara River, and herds of zebras storming the sandy plains. Their glamorous guests—including Katie's best friend, Carmen Tedesco, and Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film Tender Madness—will spend their days taking photos, and their evenings drinking chilled gin and tonics back at camp, as the local Tanzanian guides warm water for their baths. The wealthy Americans expect civilized adventure: fresh ice from the kerosene-powered ice maker, dinners of cooked gazelle meat, and plenty of stories to tell over lunch back on Rodeo Drive.
What Katie and her glittering entourage do not expect is this: a kidnapping gone wrong, their guides bleeding out in the dirt, and a team of Russian mercenaries herding their hostages into Land Rovers, guns to their heads. As the powerful sun gives way to night, the gunmen shove them into abandoned huts and Katie Barstow, Hollywood royalty, prays for a simple thing: to see the sun rise one more time. A blistering story of fame, race, love, and death set in a world on the cusp of great change, The Lioness is a vibrant masterpiece from one of our finest storytellers.
My biggest concern about this book is that it's such a departure from Bohjalian's earlier works. I'd classify his other novels as literary or historical fiction; this one, however, is sheer over-the-top entertainment. And, although The Lioness is set in a politically volatile time and place, the author mostly glosses over the particulars, something I feel is a departure from his usual style. I suspect many long-time fans will be disappointed with the book's plot, especially if they go in not knowing what to expect, but that it'll likely be a huge commercial success — the season's first "beach read."..continued
Full Review
(677 words)
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(Reviewed by Kim Kovacs).
Chris Bohjalian's novel The Lioness is set in Serengeti National Park, a 5,700 square-mile wildlife refuge on the Serengeti Plain of north-central Tanzania. Established in 1951, it was one of the first areas proposed to be a World Heritage Site, obtaining that status in 1981.
The park is a subset of the larger Serengeti ecosystem, which spans about 12,000 square miles and includes vast swaths of grassland; indeed, the area's name is derived from a Maasai word meaning "endless plain." The preserve is home to an immense number of ungulates (hoofed mammals) — somewhere around 1.3 million wildebeests (or gnus), 150,000 gazelles and 60,000 zebras — as well as many other animals (lions, hyenas, etc.). Elephants are a ...
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Angie Kim, New York Times bestselling author of Miracle Creek
I loved this novel so much that I blew off all my responsibilities, turned off my phone, and got lost in this mesmerizing world created by Chris Bohjalian. A masterful tapestry of heart-pounding suspense and deeply moving drama, The Lioness explores what it takes to survive the siren songs of old Hollywood glitter and the Serengeti's majestic expanse. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.
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