03/13/2023
In this uneven but eminently readable crime thriller from Powers (The Yellow Birds ), Norfolk, Va., detective Catherine Wheel is called in to investigate after Iraq war interpreter-turned-janitor Arman Bajalan discovers a dead body during an early-morning ocean swim. Catherine and her partner soon learn that Arman knew the victim during his time in Iraq, and is in the U.S. to seek refuge from a group that has already killed the rest of his family. As more bodies pile up and the investigation leads Wheel to a local journalist, the detective makes it her mission to protect Arman, who it appears might be the ultimate target. Powers generates a satisfying sense of suspense, and his strength lies in drawing fully realized characters, from the protagonists down to the support players. The prose, though, varies, ranging from refined to purple and unnatural (“Salus populi suprema lex esto,” proclaims one character, conveniently recalling a slice of high school Latin). Still, this is an enjoyable outing that will have readers hoping for future Wheel adventures. Agent: Peter Straus, RCW Literary. (May)
Sure to rank among the year's best thrillers, A Line in the Sand is a tense, twisting, and thoughtful story of the intersection between grief and greed— and the human lives crushed in the middle. Kevin Powers writes with uncommon grace, delivering the rare novel that is both propulsive and contemplative, calling to mind writers as varied as Tim O'Brien and Michael Connelly.”—Michael Koryta, author of Never Far Away A Line in the Sand pits two small town cops—and a mysterious Iraqi interpreter whose secrets have already gotten a lot of people killed—against corruption and violence at the highest levels of government. A spellbinding and totally original thriller; Kevin Powers has reinvented himself as novelist yet again.”—Philipp Meyer, author of The Son Praise for The Yellow Birds —The Yellow Birds is brilliantly observed and deeply affecting…a harrowing story about the friendship of two young men trying to stay alive on the battlefield in Iraq, and a philosophical parable about the loss of innocence and the uses of memory…Extraordinary.”—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times Chris Cleave Ann Patchett Anthony Swofford
★ 2023-02-24
Powers returns to the subject of war and its collateral damage that he first studied in The Yellow Birds (2012), an acclaimed debut published after his own Army service in Iraq. A Shout in the Ruins (2018) followed fallout from the Civil War and slavery. In the new book, the pivotal character is Arman Bajalan, a refugee from Iraq living in the U.S., who worked as an interpreter for the American military in Mosul in 2004. He finds a dead man in a suit lying on a Norfolk, Virginia, beach. He carries no ID, and the labels are missing from his clothes. The police team is led by the oddly named Det. Catherine Wheel. A second narrative line concerns journalist Sally Ewell, whose brother was killed in Iraq and whose current reporting centers on Decision Tree, a private military contractor on the verge of a $2 billion government deal if it can get past a congressional investigation of its roles in Iraq and Afghanistan. The two narratives intersect through Bajalan, who filmed a massacre of unarmed Iraqi university students by Decision Tree operatives. A week later an assassination attempt killed Bajalan’s wife and child and had him seeking a U.S. immigrant visa. It soon becomes clear that he’s still a target. Powers has a strong female character in Det. Wheel—a cool professional mercifully free of the dire flaws with which thriller writers tend to baste their lead cops. A couple of older civilians familiar with guns come in handy when the mercenaries visit. Powers has a clearly negative message about military contractors and the business of war, starting with the epigraph (“War is a racket...”), but there’s a moral ambivalence to the novel’s resolution that should spark debate.
Masterful in its structure and pacing; a great read.
Powers has created a powerful work of art that captures the complexity and life altering realities of combat service…it way up on that high rare shelf alongside Ernest Hemingway and Tim O'Brien.
That the same man can give us The Yellow Birds , A Shout in the Ruins , and now A Line in the Sand is proof that Kevin Powers has got some serious range. This time, he’s written a thriller, with a crime so big and characters so flawed, you’ll be holding your breath the whole time….The book’s got all the stuff you’ve always loved about Powers’ writing: a deep and abiding understanding of what soldiers sacrifice, a thoughtful examination of the place he grew up, and prose so beautiful it’ll make you weep.
author of Florence Adler Swims Forever Rachel Beanland
A riveting powerhouse of a book, A Line in the Sand pits two small town cops—and a mysterious Iraqi interpreter whose secrets have already gotten a lot of people killed—against corruption and violence at the highest levels of government. A spellbinding and totally original thriller; Kevin Powers has reinvented himself as novelist yet again.
author of The Son Philipp Meyer
Sure to rank among the year's best thrillers, A Line in the Sand is a tense, twisting, and thoughtful story of the intersection between grief and greed— and the human lives crushed in the middle. Kevin Powers writes with uncommon grace, delivering the rare novel that is both propulsive and contemplative, calling to mind writers as varied as Tim O'Brien and Michael Connelly.
author of Never Far Away Michael Koryta
Harrowing, inexplicably beautiful, and utterly, urgently necessary.
Kevin Powers walks-the-walk and talks-the-talk in this compelling, frighteningly knowledgeable thriller. Like a pebble in a pond, the murder of a man sets the characters in a full-tilt, nonstop fight for their lives in a rippling story that could only have been written by Powers—and write it he does.
author of the Longmire Series Craig Johnson
A superb literary achievement.
The Yellow Birds is brilliantly observed and deeply affecting…a harrowing story about the friendship of two young men trying to stay alive on the battlefield in Iraq, and a philosophical parable about the loss of innocence and the uses of memory…Extraordinary.
The New York Times Michiko Kakutani
Combining murder and international intrigue, this audiobook grabs the listener and never lets go. Narrator Christine Lakin's performance is masterful because of her ability to create nuanced voices and accents that add to this thriller's memorable moments and characters. Arman Bajalan, a former Iraqi interpreter, is in hiding in Norfolk, Virginia, after an assassination attempt that killed his wife and child. Now a dead body has floated to shore at his favorite beach, and he believes it's a message for him. He convinces Detective Catherine Wheel that he's in danger, and the search for the killer that develops is riveting. Lakin handles the dialogue with finesse, smoothly transitioning among the characters and defining Bajalan and Wheel in ways that enhance their personas. D.J.S. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
