A Commonwealth Award-winning writer threatens to make readers of this breakneck thriller as out-of-breath as its long-distance-running hero. African-Canadian novelist Hill (Someone Knows My Name, 2007, etc.) ramps up thematic urgency in this white-knuckler set three years in the future in two mythical countries, Zantoroland, a dystopian black nation (suggesting, but never specifying, an African locale), and Freedom State, which could stand for any relatively prosperous multicultural democracy seeking a clamp-down on its surge of illegal immigrants. Among the latter is Keita Ali, a gifted marathoner literally running for his life to the Freedom State from his native Zantorolandwhere his father, a dissident journalist, was savagely murdered. Though he is, so to speak, freer to run road races in his new homeland, Keita doesn't find much safety there as he competes under an assumed name (that of famed British miler Roger Bannister) and is exploited by a slimy track-and-field agent who, it turns out, is just one of many corrupt individuals of every color and social strata treating even legally documented immigrants with malign intent. Kidnapping, blackmail, murder, and looming scandal further complicate and eventually endanger Keita's life; the only people he can trust include a comely policewoman he meets during a race, a plucky ninth-grade documentarian, an ambitious wheelchair-bound lesbian journalist, and a kindly old woman with keen survival instincts. Even with their respective quirks, these and other characters seem like stock types straight out of a made-for-TV thriller, as does the often chaotic plot. Yet Hill skillfully injects details throughout of the vicissitudes and travails faced by any person, no matter what color or ethnicity, struggling to escape from strife-ridden, life-threatening conditions in their own countries. Even the simple act of using a library computer carries ominous ramifications for any "illegal." The settings may be imaginary, but the perils rendered here are as real as the front-page stories in this morning's newspaper about refugees desperate for safety in Western countries reluctant to welcome them. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

This taut political thriller from Hill (The Book of Negroes) focuses on undocumented immigrants, and how they struggle to survive in hostile nations. Keita Ali lives in the fictional island continent of Zantorland, located between Africa and Australia and best known for producing world-class marathon runners. His older sister, Charity, and well-respected journalist father, Yoyo, encourage Keita's training as a gifted marathoner, but then Yoyo is arrested for his supposedly incendiary writings. Charity later escapes to study at Harvard, and Keita excels at racing. After the government thugs kill the dissident Yoyo, Keita flees to Clarkson, the capital of the nearby (and also fictional) island continent called Freedom State. He befriends Viola Hill, a paraplegic reporter covering the civil unrest in AfricTown, a chaotic ghetto where the glut of unwanted refugees like Keita stay. He continues running to win the prize money in marathon competitions, especially after Charity is lured back to Zantorland, kidnapped, and held for ransom. The descriptive passages of Keita's runs offer ample excitement, while the colorful minor characters such as Lula DiStefano, "the unofficial queen of AfricTown," and Ivernia Beech, Keita's elderly but feisty landlady, add refreshing story elements. Hill's intricate, propulsive plot includes corruption, murder, and mayhem, and readers will be rushing to its fulfilling resolution. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

In this story of a refugee from a fictionalized land, Canadian novelist Hill imagines the current global refugee crisis through the lens of a single man's flight to a xenophobic (and eerily familiar) Freedom State. (LJ 12/15) © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Hill, author of the critically acclaimed Someone Knows My Name (2007), here turns to the plight of illegal immigrants in a deeply satisfying story shot through with humor and humanity. Keita Ali, a gifted runner, is forced to leave his home country when his father, a famed journalist, is killed by their repressive government. Keita knows that his life is also in danger and signs up with a ruthless sports agent, who sends him to the neighboring, wealthy Freedom State to compete in marathons. But then Keita learns that his sister has been arrested and will only be released for $15,000, and he knows what he must do: earn as much prize money as he can to save his sister's life. Hill threads his story with compelling details on the athleticism of elite runners while also laying out the desperation of illegal immigrants, who are constantly scrounging for food and money while living in fear of being deported. Secondary characters, including a feisty, disabled reporter; an accomplished black policewoman; and a white philanthropist, round out the cast in a timely and affecting story.--Wilkinson, Joanne Copyright 2015 Booklist