Once upon a time, Tracy Whitney was one of the best thieves in the business. Then she settled down and had a child—a beautiful, bright, mischievous boy who was the center of her life. Tracy planned to spend the rest of her days quietly, living anonymously deep in the stunning Colorado mountains, devoted to raising her son. But tragedy forces her to face her greatest nightmare. Now, with nothing left to protect, this superb con artist, jewel thief, computer wizard, and cat burglar returns to the hunt, more dangerous, ruthless, and reckless than ever. The world faces a new terror threat from Group 99, a diverse collection of global hackers intent on the collapse of capitalism and private wealth and the creation of a new world order. When the group turns to violence—kidnapping an American investigative journalist, shooting a British military hostage, and blowing up an international industrialist—the mysterious woman pulling their strings, a wily and wealthy American known only as Althea, becomes the CIA’s most sought criminal. But their only hope of finding her is a woman with a dark and dangerous past of her own. A woman who has also successfully evaded detection by the authorities around the world: Tracy. Convinced that Althea is behind the deadly act that shattered her life, Tracy sets out on a global hunt to flush out her prey. But as she soon discovers, the truth is as elusive as her target. Hampered by corruption, lies, and enemies masked as allies, Tracy will be pushed to the brink, where she must face her darkest demons. All of her experience tells Tracy that the answers are right in front of her—if only she can look at the clues in the right way. Propelled by an unquenchable thirst for revenge, and with the fate of so many resting in her hands, just how reckless will Tracy become when she has nothing left to lose? An addictive tale of espionage, mystery, passion, greed, betrayal, and vengeance that takes you from the beautiful Rocky Mountains to Europe’s oldest and grandest cities, filled with a cast of intriguing characters both new and familiar, Sidney Sheldon’s Reckless is a glamorous thrill ride that will leave you breathless until its shocking end."
ISBN:2147483647
Author:Sidney Sheldon, Tilly Bagshawe
Dismas Okombo –
Munira’s writing in Highland Cactus is emotive, charged, and lyrically gentle. Throughout the nine stories -Highland Cactus is a collection of short stories-, I felt the author was sitting beside me, that she was an understanding old friend; one who’s had the courage to face the hard questions of life, one who’s had the strength to dance in the chaos, and now she was telling me those stories personally.
Where the theme demands gentle handling -themes such as trauma, search for life’s meaning and complicated friendships-, her style of narration is rooted in a kind understanding of the human condition. An understanding of the strength it takes to find love within us, an understanding of our search for direction. Here is an insight she offers in Mother, Wake Up that will eternally stay with me: ‘There are no maps to life, so you will sail and find direction by losing it all the time.’
Where the theme demands stern handling -themes such as rape, corruption, tribalism, oppression-, she has the courage to hit the mark. One of my favourite stories from the collection (and I know it will easily be your favourite too) is Room 15. In the story, you will get to experience Halima’s frustrations and disappointments as she tries to secure a visa. Just because she has a Muslim name. Halima’s mother is forced to travel over 700 km to come and verify Halima’s identity and even that is not enough! This story deeply agitates, I strongly recommend not to read it on an empty stomach. 😅
And to make your reading thoroughly enjoyable, Munira has interspersed the stories with poetry. Highland Cactus is definitely one of Kenyan’s contemporary classic reads.