The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris is a fast-paced mystery thriller and a good one at that! I’ll tell you my heart was pounding more than a few times from fear of what was going to happen. There were times I was reading that I could feel the fear emanating from the pages. It started slowly for me in the beginning but soon enough I was completely sucked into the story.
The story is about Danny, a journalist who is sent on the job of a lifetime to war-torn Sierra Leone as a war correspondent. The novel goes back and forth between the year 2000 when he was sent there and then the year 2004 when he goes back. What I think made this even more real for me is the fact that the author, Paul Harris, had actually covered the conflict in Sierra Leone. Who better to describe the horrors of what had happened there than someone who had experienced it firsthand.
Starting in 2004, Danny is now living life back in London with his girlfriend Rachel but things aren’t going well. Danny just can’t seem to get his life back on track. He isn’t getting along with his father and his relationship with Rachel seems to be going downhill fast. Then he’s hit with a bombshell. He receives a letter from Maria, a woman from Sierra Leone that he had fallen in love with when he was there and hasn’t been able to forget. She’s in trouble and asks for his help. In trying to contact her, he finds that she is already dead, killed in a roadside robbery apparantely.
Danny is extremely troubled and heartbroken by Maria’s death. He is also very curious. Something had to have been going on for her to have contacted him for help. They hadn’t been in contact since he left in 2000 after the war was over. He feels compelled to go back to Sierra Leone and investigate further, he feels he owes it to Maria.
Maria ran an orphanage for child soldiers. She believed that they could be rehabilitated with help. One of Danny’s observations is haunting…
- ‘Kids lay listlessly everywhere, lying on the beds, huddled in corners. They did not speak and did not play. Suddenly Danny realized why this place could never be mistaken for a normal school. There was no noise here. The usual sounds of children, of laughter, of shouting, of play, were absent. There were just empty eyes, blinking back like creatures in a zoo.’ (pg 231)
Then a conversation between Danny and Maria…
- ‘”Are they all RUF?” he asked. “Not all of them. There’ve been child soldiers on all sides,” Maria replied. “But you don’t really mean that, do you? What you mean is, are they all killers? I don’t have the answer to that , Danny. Possibly, maybe, even probably. But there’s one thing they all have in common.” “What’s that?” She laughed. “They’re still just children, Danny. All of them. That’s always the first thing people forget.” Danny looked at the kids again. Suddenly the small figures seemed less threatening, less malevolent. Just damaged, and not beyond repair. (pg 231/232)
I think this is one of the biggest impacts of this story on me. The story of the children forced into a life of war, of killing. Their innocence stripped from them at an early age, never to be gotten back again. This novel left me wondering about them, wondering if they ever do get their lives back. Are they ever able to live normally again after all the horrors they commit and those that they live through? It’s also interesting to note that a war leads people to do things they may never have done in their normal lives, things that would and do horrify them. Does it make them a bad person-did it make Danny a bad person? These are the things that this fast-paced thriller reveals to us along with a surprise ending that wasn’t expected.
I liked this book. I liked learning more about Sierra Leone during the war. Most of the time I avoid the news as I find most of it depressing so to be honest I didn’t know a whole lot about the political crisis there at all. While it was horrifying at times to read about what went on, it was also an eye-opener for me. I feel very lucky to live in my country. I’ve always been in awe of journalists who go to war-torn countries and I still am. I couldn’t imagine going into the heart of a war and being drawn to the excitement of it, all for a story but I sure do admire those who do. As a note, there is some bad language in the book but I think it is probably very true to what actually occurs there. For me, bad language doesn’t really bother me, for the most part I skim it. It in no way forms the basis of this novel though but I thought I’d put it out there.
I read The Secret Keeper for Paul’s tour with TLC Book Tours. Thanks so much Lisa for the chance to participate in this tour and read this book. You can buy The Secret Keeper here in the US and here in Canada. Make sure to stop by all the other tour stops and see what everyone else has to say about The Secret Keeper. You can find those tour stops listed here.
Excellent review, Dar. Sounds like my favorite kind of “on the edge of your seat” reading in that genre.
The Old Silly from Free Spirit Blog
Just saw this on Natasha’s site. It sounds like it has a little bit for everyone, and the author is quite the compelling personality! Great review Dar!
I love it when a book has you sitting on the edge of your seat. That’s my kind of reading!
I read a little bit about Sierra Leone when I read A Long Way Gone which is a memoir of sorts. It didn’t do it for me and I felt it was historically inaccurate at times but I was shocked to learn of these boy soldiers.
Fab review. The kind of book that makes you sit down and think. Children as killers – you know it goes on, but it doesn’t bare thinking about.
This book sounds fascinating! Great job on the review…You have me wanting to read it ~ and it is not normally the kind of book I would pick up!
Hmm … I seem to remember a teaser from this book a few weeks ago (Wendi, maybe?) and thought this one sounded like an excellent read. Your review confirms my earlier thoughts, thanks Dar!
Excellent review Dar.
We need more books that shed light on the issues in the world, things people tend to forget about.
Thanks so much for the time you put into reading and reviewing this book, Dar! Excellent review!
This does sound absolutely horrifying 🙁 But also very important. Thank you, Dar.
This sounds right up my alley – a “heart pounder” set in another culture. Thanks for the great review.
Dar,
This book sounds amazing. I’m glad that you got the chance to read and review this one. I will have to pick up a copy. Great review.
I’m adding this book to my TBR list. I like reading books that make you stop and think, and this sounds like one of those type of books. Great review!
I used to know someone who was in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone when the war broke out. He had to be evacuated by military helicopter. Very scary!
Great review! Sounds like a page turner that makes you think- great combination.
Amazing review Dar and you are right those passages are haunting.. so very harsh this reality of a child soldier. Way to expand your horizons. I get out of the loop from avoiding the news for the past many years. I know I need to know.. but it is hard to face.
Great review Dar, i’m reading this one too.
http://thebookworm07.blogspot.com/
Dar,
You’re review was flawless and so powerful. I actually enjoy these types of books and think that not only are they entertaining but they’re also enlightening…children soldiers exist as I’m typing this they’re being forced to commit some type of atrocity. A must read for me for sure!!
Wow–this one sounds really great! I don’t know very much about Sierra Leone either, but last year I read A Long Way Gone about a soldier boy (it is a memoir). Language doesn’t always bother me either, but I agree that it depends on the context. Sounds like this is a really timely novel.
Great review, Dar! I've heard such good things about this book, and now I definitely want to read it.
–Anna
Diary of an Eccentric