3.5*

Took me a long time to get through the first part, not so long the second half but still disappointing. Likes his other books much more then this one.

Khadra's novel tells the incredible story of an ordinary, middle-class German man who loses his wife, travels with a wealthy friend to try to get over the tragedy only to be kidnapped by pirates of the coast of Africa. There are so many different strands to this story that it ended up going in a totally different direction than I first expected, and I found the plot twists and turns enjoyable. Unfortunately I really struggled with another crucial component, the narrative voice, which was jarring, detached and ultimately irritating. I'm sure other readers wouldn't find this a problem, but for me it meant that I really didn't enjoy the book as a whole.

I received a free ARC of this book via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Maybe the true essence was lost in translation, as I understand it was not written originally in English, but I found it to be insufferably overwritten.

I'll give credit where credit is due and that is to the story itself. Not the usual kind of story I gravitate toward, and I did not enjoy every bit of it, but it drew me in regardless.

Favourite quote: "In reality, there is no irrefutable truth, there are only beliefs."