The Lioness - Chris Bohjalian

The Lioness

By Chris Bohjalian

  • Release Date: 2022-05-10
  • Genre: Action & Adventure
Score: 4
4
From 407 Ratings

Description

NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER • A Washington Post Best Book of the Year • 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.

"The best possible combination of Hemingway and Agatha Christie — a gorgeously written story about the landscape and risks of Africa, whose edge-of-your-seat plot makes it impossible to put down.”
—Jodi Picoult, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Wish You Were Here


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.

Reviews

  • The Lioness

    5
    By kathyj100
    I don’t know how he does it, but he did it again. Great storyline, great character development plus he fills in the historical background. Suspenseful! Great read!
  • Starts slow but stay with it

    3
    By Ist22214
    The book starts a bit slow and seems simplistic but slyly expands its scope to Cold War politics, trauma, and the exploitation of Africa.
  • One dimensional and boring

    1
    By I love you too kid city name
    Read a lot longer than I wanted to because of favorable reviews. One dimensional characters and very boring.
  • The Lioness

    5
    By GWYNEDD READER
    Amazing book! Couldn’t put it down.
  • Expect The Unexpected

    5
    By IB3296
    Chris Bohjalian had me at the beginning of his prologue, “I can’t speak for the dead. And I won’t speak for the missing.” An après-wedding safari on the Serengeti with friends…what’s not to like? Plenty. This tautly written, suspenseful thriller will leave the reader on edge right to the last page.