Indie October Review: Nightfall in Mogadishu by Veronica Li

Title: Nightfall in Mogadishu
Author: Veronica Li
Publisher: Authorhouse
Publish Date: 2000
Source: I received a copy from the author. This did not affect my review.

 

Why You're Reading This Book:

• You want a thriller.
• You want a book to get sucked into.

What's the Story?:

From Amazon.com: "Nightfall in Mogadishu is a spy thriller and historical novel set in Somalia. It weaves the country’s history, politics and culture into a tale of international intrigue. Susan Chen, a CIA agent is sent to Mogadishu to thwart a plot to overthrow the government. She finds a nation that has lost its soul and is whirling into a vortex of violence and terror."

My Two Cents:

This book is vastly different than Journey Across Four Seas but still sucks you right in. I was born in the mid-eighties so I really don't know much about the issues in Somalia during the early 1990s (except for Black Hawk Down; I know about that) so it was really interesting to get a little perspective on how truly crazy things were in that country at that point in time. I love books that truly give you a sense of place of where the characters are and what they are seeing and what they are doin...moreThis book is vastly different than Journey Across Four Seas but still sucks you right in. I was born in the mid-eighties so I really don't know much about the issues in Somalia during the early 1990s (except for Black Hawk Down; I know about that) so it was really interesting to get a little perspective on how truly crazy things were in that country at that point in time. I love books that truly give you a sense of place of where the characters are and what they are seeing and what they are doing. I think that creating a true sense of place can be really difficult a lot of times (it can be hard to make a place truly engage a reader if they don't really understand the context of the place)but Li does a really wonderful job.

I also really liked the character of Susan. She's smart. She's strong. And she knows how to kick some you-know-what. It's everything that I like in a hero. Thrillers are not my usual book fare but between the interesting location, the strong characters, and the great story, I found myself flying through the book in no time. I find a lot of times that thrillers are heavy on action but not heavy enough for me in substance. I most definitely did not find that in this book. It was fast-paced but still had a really good foundation.

Bottom line: Thrill seekers and non-thriller lovers alike will both like this fast paced story.