A Crime In The Land of 7,000 Islands by Zephaniah Sole @ZephaniahSole @BlackSpringUK

Book Description:

Brought to you by a serving FBI agent! A Crime In The Land of 7,000 Islands is a powerhouse crime book like The Silence of the Lambs fused with anime and Grimm’s fairy tales. This incendiary novel, beautifully-written and at times horrifying, tells of FBI Special Agent Ikigai Johnson, who pledges to bring justice to children abused by a monstrous American in the Philippines. Amidst a police procedural of expert accuracy, she recounts her tale to her Eleven-year-old daughter through fantastical allegory. Her story exposes the damage of generational trauma and the exploitation that arises from inequality. It explores the nuances of criminal justice and reminds us of the battles between our courage and our willingness to let fear take hold. It is a call to act against evil.

My Thoughts:

I have to admit that this isn’t the usual type of book that I would normally pick up. Whilst I do love crime, I tend to shy away from fantasy so wasn’t sure what to make of this one when reading the description but it sounded appealing so thought I would give it a try.

Ikigai is a FBI special agent of which the story is mainly chapters with her fulfilling her promise to her daughter, Ikigai Junior, of telling her why she had to go to the Philippines and what it was she was doing there. As her daughter is only a child herself in the past, Ikigai tries to soften the barbaric actions of a man she is determined to see behind bars for the numerous abuse he has carried out on children.

Whilst the nature of the story to do with abuse is quite a sombre one, it is so much more than that. There are also chapters with Junior who has to deal with not having her mum around of which her mum is very different in her beliefs to her dad and is not afraid to stand up for what is right. I had a lot of admiration for Ikigai. It is never an easy job to be away from your child for months but Evan Campbell is a character who you hope will never see the light of day again for his heinous crimes.

A Crime in the Land of 7,000 Islands was a book I went into with an open mind. It is far from your stereo typical crime thrillers yet I enjoyed the gentleness in how it is told. I wasn’t sure if the mythical side of things would work for me but it did. It reminded me of all the tales I would read as a child and you can’t help but get swept away with Ikigai and her colleagues being made into warriors, of which technically they are as they are fighting for the greater good. An absorbing story that you can’t help but lose yourself into.

My thanks to Black Spring Press for a readers copy of this book. All opinions are my own and not biased in anyway.