The Illegal by Lawrence Hill

Publisher: W. W. Norton & company
Publish Date: January 25, 2016
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 400
ISBN: 9780393070590

All Keita has ever wanted to do is to run. Running means respect and wealth at home. His native Zantoroland, a fictionalized country whose tyrants are eerily familiar, turns out the fastest marathoners on earth. But after his journalist father is killed for his outspoken political views, Keita must flee to the wealthy nation of Freedom State—a country engaged in a crackdown on all undocumented people.

There, Keita becomes a part of the new underground. He learns what it means to live as an illegal: surfacing to earn cash prizes by running local races and assessing whether the people he meets will be kind or turn him in. As the authorities seek to arrest Keita, he strives to elude capture and ransom his sister, who has been kidnapped.

My Thoughts

While this was an interesting concept, and I found the story engaging, this just didn’t live up to the hype for me.  This is the first novel I have read by Hill and had high expectation being his previous novel, The Book of Negroes, has such a following.  I found some of the dialogue to be artificial and dragged on in parts. Whereas parts I thought needed more focus seemed to be brushed aside.  I also had a hard time with the country and character names, I felt like he was trying to make this into a dystopian novel but it didn’t quite work as one for me.

As a whole, I can’t decide why it didn’t quite work for me.  Maybe the imagined countries just seemed too fake for my liking?  I’m not entirely sure.  I found the characters to be likable, and was eager to see how everything played out for them. But I have to agree with other reviewers, in that the ending was too neat and tidy for me.  Not saying happy ending aren’t worth reading – but it just seemed a little too unrealistic.

This novel was picked as my March book club, and had it not been picked I don’t know if I would have picked up this novel and read it willingly.  But in the end I’m glad I did read it as it casts light on many issues in today’s society.

My Rating: «««

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The reviews made here are my personal opinion. I’m not being paid to review any of these books. I am by no means a professional book reviewer or editor.  I do this for the love of books.