Synopsis:
Tanzania, 1964. When Katie Barstow, A-list actress, and her new husband, David Hill, decide to bring their Hollywood friends to the Serengeti for their honeymoon, they envision giraffes gently eating leaves from the tall acacia trees, great swarms of wildebeests crossing the Mara River, and herds of zebras storming the sandy plains. Their glamorous guests—including Katie’s best friend, Carmen Tedesco, and Terrance Dutton, the celebrated Black actor who stars alongside Katie in the highly controversial film Tender Madness—will spend their days taking photos, and their evenings drinking chilled gin and tonics back at camp, as the local Tanzanian guides warm water for their baths. The wealthy Americans expect civilized adventure: fresh ice from the kerosene-powered ice maker, dinners of cooked gazelle meat, and plenty of stories to tell over lunch back on Rodeo Drive.
What Katie and her glittering entourage do not expect is this: a kidnapping gone wrong, their guides bleeding out in the dirt, and a team of Russian mercenaries herding their hostages into Land Rovers, guns to their heads. As the powerful sun gives way to night, the gunmen shove them into abandoned huts and Katie Barstow, Hollywood royalty, prays for a simple thing: to see the sun rise one more time. A blistering story of fame, race, love, and death set in a world on the cusp of great change, The Lioness is a vibrant masterpiece from one of our finest storytellers.
My Thoughts
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian was a decent book, but not one that I loved. The story takes place on an African Safari, with all of the tourists on this specific tour being kidnapped and held for ransom. They’re trying to survive (some being held captive and others trying to escape being caught) and you get glimpses of old-time Hollywood celebrities (and their spouses, siblings) dealing with this horrible situation.
The Lioness by Chris Bohjalian was unfortunately a book fell flat for me about the midway mark. I wasn’t really caring about the characters as much as I should have been. The storyline wasn’t moving as fast as I’d had hoped. It just sort of dragged and I got slightly bored.
This historical thriller is said to be adapted for a tv series and I can totally see this being better as a book or series than the actual book was. For me, The Lioness, missed the mark on keeping me entertained throughout the whole book. Give it to Hollywood to add in some extra pizazz and I think this could be a great story for tv or the movies.
Shop The Post
Leave a Reply