Persona

January 12, 2015
Blending celebrity and international diplomacy in a near-future Paris, Valentine (The Girls at the Kingfisher Club) crafts an intimate thriller that unmasks the players in the game. Suyana Sapacki, the United Amazonian Rainforest Confederation (UARC) representative to the International Assembly (IA), survives an assassination attempt with the aid of nascent paparazzi Daniel Park. Suyana goes underground with her allies in an eco-terrorist cell, Daniel in tow, while trying to discover the identity of her attackers—maybe UARC friend, maybe IA foe. Daniel is caught between loyalty to Suyana and the need to sell his photos to establish a news career. Through flashbacks, Valentine brings a measure of depth to her protagonists as well as their assorted colleagues and companions, all of whom are portrayed with a humorous, satiric edge (“Yes, nothing raises your social stock like being ignored by your betters”). Suyana and Daniel’s growth and increasing resilience gradually undermine the suspense, even as they earn the reader’s respect.

February 15, 2015

Life as a "Face" chosen to represent a country in the International Assembly is largely superficial public relations and posing for photographs. One photographer is staking out Suyana Sapaki, Face for the United Amazonian Rainforest Confederation, when he inadvertently films an assassination attempt on the young woman. Helping her escape her would-be killers, ambitious "snap" Daniel gets pulled into the shadowy world of diplomacy. VERDICT Suyana is a great character--chosen as a puppet, but smarter and more determined than many of those who would pull her strings. Only barely sf, Valentine's (Mechanique; The Girls of the Kingfisher Club) latest keeps the pages turning fast enough that you won't particularly mind that the plot just skims the top of its themes of superficial fame, ecoterrorism, and journalistic ethics.

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