BOOK TOUR STOP x RANDOM THINGS TOURS: Dirt by Sarah Sultoon

 

1996. Northern Israel. Lola leaves an unhappy home life in England for the fabled utopian life of a kibbutz, but this heavily guarded farming community on the Arab-Israeli border isn’t the idyll it seems, and tensions are festering.

Hundreds of miles away, in the Jerusalem offices of the International Tribune newspaper, all eyes are on Israel’s response to a spate of rocket attacks from Lebanon, until cub reporter Jonny Murphy gets a tip from a mysterious source that sends him straight into the danger zone.

When the body of an Arab worker is discovered in the dirt of the kibbutz chicken house, it triggers a series of events that puts Lola and the whole community in jeopardy, and Jonny begins to uncover a series of secrets that put everything at risk, as he starts to realise just how far some people will go to belong... 

This is no Utopia... 

Sarah Sultoon is undeniably the Queen of suspense, and every time I read one of her books I'm proven right. From the very first few lines, I'm deeply uncomfortable and terrified about what is to come. You could argue that Sultoon writes horrors, and you'd be right - but she writes about the kinds of horrors you find in the real world. In war and conflict, in politics and violence - in places that are more frightening than the scariest monster because they do exist. She has this ability to blend the same nervous aura and cinematic energy of a thriller with the gritty, biting authenticity that only a person who has seen the darkest situations first hand could. 

Dirt jumps right in and doesn't let up - it's high-octane and buzzing with electricity, with short chapters and a highly readable tone that feels personal making it a really quick and easy read despite the subject matter. The settings were masterfully made to be vivid and evocative, transporting the reader to places in astounding clarity, each little detail that on the surface seems insignificant just adding to the already intense immersion. 

Lola and Johnny act as our main guides through this journey - both of them with very different reasons to be in Israel, and very different things they're trying to leave in the past, but they both have an important part to play in a bigger story they don't even know yet. They were complex, with intricate back stories and motivations, their personalities were distinct and detailed - full of their own traumas, flaws, fears just waiting to come to the surface. 

A story about conflict - the kind that shatters the world and the internal kind that shatters hearts, all told by a passionate and well-researched voice. Exciting, electric and evocative - Sarah Sultoon is a blinding example of fiction that never fails to bring a statement, and never fails to impress. 

About The Author

Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. Of Jewish and Indian descent, she has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs. When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if... Her debut thriller The Source is currently in production with Lime Pictures, was shortlisted for the CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger, won the Crime Fiction Lover Debut Thriller Award, was a Capital Crime Book Club pick and a number-one bestseller on Kindle.

Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours and Karen at Orenda Books for inviting me to take part in this tour. I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy in return for an honest review.