Natalie Conyer’s book is a gripping, compelling page turner with several unexpected twists. Of medium size and thickness it is divided into five parts,has sixty four chapters, is arranged monthly and there is a glossary at the back.
Purportedly hidden but rather easily accessible to those in the know, human trafficking for sexual exploitation purposes aka sex trafficking, is a global evil. It has been suggested that roughly five million victims are involved.
This is the unsettling scene for SHADOW CITY. Jackie and Schalk must not fail as not only their careers and lives would be affected but those of hundreds of vulnerable victims. Together the pair must deal with dishonesty and underhand control by a nemesis more nefarious and corrupt than they dream of.
More complicated twists arise regarding the Feds as the officer heading the case – James Bush alleges there is a mole within the cases .Unearthing the mole is greatly important .More twists and turns with a Roxana Flint who wants to employ Detective Lourens in a vague and uncertain role, ‘Sunshine’scholarships and a treacherous and villainous character who calls herself ‘Mrs Sunshine’, and you have a most unsettling story that will leave you wanting more.
The book begins in Sydney, when the body of a young woman, an international student, is found in Chinatown. She’s been beaten, tortured – and tattooed with the odd image of a sun. Called to the scene, Sergeant Jackie Rose asks herself whether this was a drug murder, or something else. However, before her investigation can proceed, higher ups order her to hand the case over to the Australian Federal Police.
We then meet Detective Schalk Lourens from the Cape Town South Africa Police , Conyer’s second book about him. While here in Sydney ends up working with Jackie Rose. Schalk is here in Sydney after talking to his boss as there is much hooha over an important trial case he is involved in. Because of matters relating to the days of Apartheid, it is rather murky with lots of media attention .His reputation is being smeared by an old nemesis and is stood down while his colleagues try to clear his name.
Much hangs on what Schalk knows. In order to get some distance he decides to visit his daughter in Sydney with the possibility of emigrating,- will he join them for good ?- but before he goes, he is asked to try and track down a girl who has gone missing while in Australia on a scholarship.
Conyer has a great ear for dialogues and there is a mix of both Aussie and South African slang. It is also about identity and a place to call home .
Their paths intersect and soon their two teams are collaborating to solve the two rather mysterious cases. Conyer details emphatically both her Sydney and Cape Town locations, with readers discovering various iconic landmarks and the shady sides of both cities and sinister, current issues in a terrific police procedural that leaves us anxiously waiting for the next book in the series .
https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Natalie-Conyer-Shadow-City-9781760688851
