Page 92 - Heat - UK (February 2020)

The Unmissables

Exciting New Reads
14 Youwait for one great book to come along and then....

THE
SMART
ONE
American Dirt
HEAT’S ‘READ OF THE WEEK’ JEANINE CUMMINS

(TINDER PRESS, £14.99)

Occasionally a book is so
breathtakingly good, you
cannot wait to race through
it, while also not wanting it
to end. This is such a book.
When Acapulco’s top drug
cartel kills Lydia ’s entire
family, she and son Luca are
walking targets and must flee
Mexico. Taking “la bestia” – a
cargo train that immigrants
THE
EPIC risk life and limb trying
ONE to board to reach the
US border – is their only
chance of survival. But will
the horrors endured on the
physically and emotionally g
gruelling journey be worth it? ROBINMORGAN-BENTLEY
And can they ever escape their (TRAPEZE,£12.99)
past? As heartbreaking as it is Imaginetakingyourusualroute,doing
thrilling, Cummins expertly the same thing every day, until one time,
explores the themes of love, you kill someone in a car accident. Ben is a
teacher who freaks out after the crash and
grief and human endurance.
tries to clear his conscience. He befriends
She also humanises the
Alice, the widow of the deceased, to make
legions of people who make amends, but do they both go too far?
this treacherous trip every Fast paced and told by two narrators,
year. An unforgettable must- we wanted to carry on reading instead of
read. ★★★★★ Kay Ribeiro going to work. ★★★★ Deborah Hughes

innPatrolOn aturdays
ePurpleLine Noon

PA ANAPPARA
NGUIN, £14.99) HEL MARKS (PENGUIN, £7.99)
year-old Jai lives in a slumin nger-management class
a and is obsessed with reality not seem like a great starting
shows. So, when his classmate t for a story, but it’s the perfect
s missing, he and his friends e for chalk-and-cheese
detective to find him. Their ngers Emily and Jake to meet
n Patrol takes them on a tour th adamant they don’t belong
e local bazaar, tip and the e. Emily had a lousy childhood,
station at the end of the ks too much and makes
ple line, but very soon, what ble choices. Jake’s emotionally
ed as a fun game turns into ched wife wants him to attend
htmare that will haunt and lass as he struggles with
fine their lives forever. A young son Alfie’s challenging
nted storyteller, journalist aviour. Jake and Emily can’t
ppara effortlessly transports d each other, but with
to an alien land, shining a light taking a shine to her, and
THE he daily threats and injustices THE struggling with their issues,
MOVING d by the poor. Vivid and vital, HOPEFUL mately, they need one another.
DEBUT debut packs a huge emotional ONE weet tale about second
punch. ★★★★ Kay Ribeiro chances. ★★★★ Daisy Jackson

www.heatworld.com1-7February2020