The Illegal

A Novel

11 July 2017

Territory Rights — Worldwide excluding Canada and the British Commonwealth.

Description

“A gripping political thriller readers may find hard to put down.”—Dallas Morning News

Keita Ali is an elite runner living in Zantoroland, a poor, fictional island that is erupting in political violence. When his father, a journalist, is murdered, Keita escapes to the wealthy nation of Freedom State—an imagined country much like our own. A stateless refugee without documentation, Keita must hide from the authorities even as he races marathons to support himself and ransom his sister who has been kidnapped. This tension-filled novel by the best-selling author of Someone Knows My Name is an astute exploration of dislocation, starting all over again, and the desperate need for home and community.

Reviews

"Hill eerily captures a tale that could be ripped from the headlines. The engrossing narrative focuses on the journey of Keita Ali . . . we feel his pain and walk in his shoes." — Patrik Henry Bass, Essence

"A twisting, intricately woven yarn that spins itself out at an incredible pace. . . . Hill takes on the snarled, pressing issues of our moment in time. . . . His larger moral questions linger, provocatively." — Carrie Snyder, Globe and Mail

"[A] remarkably prescient . . . gripping political thriller. . . . The reader will be left with lingering—and troubling—questions about how wealth and privilege is built by those are excluded from its fruits." — Elizabeth Hoover, Dallas Morning News

"A sharp-edged, fresh and relevant take on immigration politics." — Kerri Miller, MPR News

"Lawrence Hill manages that rare feat—a political thriller that never loses its heart. Keita’s story will entrance you, enrage you, and finally make you want to reach right through the page and hug him. With skill and grace, Hill reminds us of our interconnectedness with displaced people around the world. This is a book about the liberating power of compassion. Don’t miss it." — Dolen Perkins-Valdez, best-selling author of Wench and Balm

"[A] taut political thriller. . . . Hill’s intricate, propulsive plot includes corruption, murder, and mayhem, and readers will be rushing to its fulfilling resolution." — Publishers Weekly

"[Hill] has outdone himself. . . . His characters are authentic, and each is indispensable. . . . [The Illegal has] a captivating structure that allows the story to converge flawlessly and a rich, imaginative history." — Library Journal

Awards

Nominated — NAACP Image Award, 2017

Also By: Lawrence Hill

Someone Knows My Name: A Novel
Lawrence Hill
Paperback, 2008
Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. "Wonderfully written...populated by vivid characters and rendered in fascinating detail." —Nancy Kline, New York Times Book Review
Someone Knows My Name: A Novel
Lawrence Hill
E Book, 2008
Winner of the Commonwealth Writers' Prize. "Wonderfully written...populated by vivid characters and rendered in fascinating detail." —Nancy Kline, New York Times Book Review
Someone Knows My Name: A Novel
Lawrence Hill
Hardback, 2007
"You feel you are turning the pages of history, the pages of truth."—Austin Clarke, author of The Polished Hoe