The Secret Keeper

The Secret Keeper
by Paul Harris
321 Pages
Fiction/Mystery Thriller
Dutton Books
April 2009

To Danny Sierra Leone used to be a distant land, one filled with unknown plights and faceless bodies, but after his first trip there those bodies have faces, and the plights have a scene. He is a journalist and is sent on assignment to the war zone of Sierra Leone to be the eyes and ears of his newspaper for the world. While there Danny is captivated by an American woman, Maria. She lives in Sierra Leone working with the child soldiers from the RUF giving them what no one else dares, a second chance.

He fell hard  for Maria while he was there, but that was four years ago. Life has taken him back to his homeland now, London. There he has a wonderful girlfriend, Rachel, he has a job, and while he has every intention of getting on with life and forgetting all the events of Sierra Leone. This resolve crumbles when he gets a distressed letter from Maria telling him that she needs him. What does it take to leave life behind in order to sort out ones past? A letter, a feeling, a desire?

Sierra Leone is far from being at peace. Upon his arrival Danny sees through the intentions of painted facades and slightly spruced up neighborhoods to the core of reality. While he searches for answers to his own questions, he uncovers dirt that was meant to hide. The Secret Keeper by Paul Harris is a mystery, a thriller, a murder mystery, but more than that it is about a nation of people who are learning to live together again and about one man who’s heart is stretched between two nations.

I completely enjoyed my time with The Secret Keeper. The mystery and thrill took me along for the ride easily and the descriptions and perspectives made the conflict in the book come alive completely to me. I have high expectations of international fiction since is that is what I read most often, and The Secret Keeper did not disappoint! Paul Harris captivated my heart and my mind in this great read, I enjoyed it all out. I found myself biting my nails and forgetting to stop to eat!

Dreadlock Girl rating: 89/100

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Make sure you check back tomorrow! I will have a guest post by the author of The Secret Keeper, Paul Harris. He was a correspondent for four years in Africa where he covered the conflict of Sierra Leone. Paul is currently the US corespondent for The Observer and lives in New York City. He will be writing about child soldiers,worldwide. I can’t wait, but I will and I’ll post the guest post tomorrow.

For more information on this book, and the Paul Harris: The Secret Keeper