The best part about this book was the descriptions of PNG, but the fiction fell flat for me. I'd recommend instead reading the authors nonfiction travel writing.

Not an incredibly deep or surprising plot - young female war reporter has trouble with personal relationships and goes to try and find the man who first inspired her to be a reporter and may/may not have faked his suicide, but I found myself entertained nonetheless.

I really liked parts of this book, and really disliked parts of it too. I could have done without some of the longer flashbacks. And I found the boyfriend to be super annoying. But everything that happened in the jungle had me riveted. I think it's pretty good for a first novel. I just picked up one of her non-fiction titles to try.

2013 ABC Reading Group Holiday Gift book, received from Lynn.
Kira Salak is an international journalist who has covered conflicts around the world. This is her first novel.

I loved this book entirely! The fact that it's about a traveler journalist who does for a living what I want to do for a living, makes it much more interesting. It's straight-forward, no sugar-coat for the atrocity around the world. My favorite thing about this book was the sense of honesty and feeling behind it...knowing that the author has seen first-hand all the horror portrayed in the book, makes it so much real and touching. If I ever had a doubt about wanting to be a war journalist, it's gone now.

An evocative, but strange and disturbing tale of loss and redemption, set in Papua New Guinea. There were some interesting echoes of The Heart of Darkness (a quest into a malaria-ridden, forbidding jungle to find a missing person turns into a disturbing discovery of the evils of human nature), but without the qualities of Conrad's psychological depth and lucid prose. A fascinating setting, but the uneven characters never became sympathetic or even interesting enough for me to redeem themselves in the end. Kira Salek is a fascinating, gutsy journalist and explorer, but from now on I'll stick to her non-fiction books and articles.

I certainly had no idea the direction of the plot when I began this book. Marika Vecera, a talented 33-year old journalist who has seen horrible things in all sorts of countries around the world, lives, herself, in despair, never allowing herself any happiness. When she becomes involved in the writing of a biography of Robert Lewis, a journalist she has idolized her whole adult life, she begins a journey through the incredible, dense jungles of Papua New Guinea....a journey that helps her emerge from her despair to begin to understand and appreciate her own life.

I read this book in anticipation for a lecture by the author at National Geographic later this month. I am familiar with Salak's nonfiction work about her own travels and experiences, and her first novel had many of the same elements that draw readers into the story.

Marika Vecera is a well-known war correspondent: she takes the dangerous and scary jobs in war-torn developing countries and has had more than one near-death experience. She starts a serious relationship and soon after learns about the apparent suicide of her journalistic "idol", Robert Lewis, and decides to begin research to write a biography. As she details his life, we see Marika learn more about her own through a series of flashbacks. Her search to learn more about Lewis leads her to the jungles of Papua New Guinea; she leaves her home and her loved one with this obsession to learn more about her subject.

While reading the novel, I could not truly divorce the character of Marika with Kira Salak, the author. Of course, I know that most novels are often autobiographical, but this one seemed particularly close to the source.

Stylistically, I had a few (minor) issues with the book, hence the 3 stars instead of four. The character dialogue seemed contrived, particularly between Marika and her lover, Seb. I kept on thinking "do people really talk like this to each other?" At least no one I know... Aside from that, I did truly enjoy the story. I had a hard time putting the book down, and read it in entirety on one rainy Saturday.

Edited to add: after seeing Salak at NGS, I felt that this book was a retelling of her own solo travels across PNG in her first book Four Corners. Also, seeing her in person made me realize that what draws me to her work is the great storytelling - she is a mediocre writer (with a penchant for hyperbole and drama) but a GREAT storyteller.

If you can get through the rough parts, this is an exceptional read!