Book Details:

Author: Michael Fertik
Release Date: 19th September 2019
Series:
Genre: Noir Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
Format: E-book 
Pages: 200 pages
Publisher: Skiddaw Books
Blurb:
Oscar Orleans is a Congolese refugee in Israel. He’s also the only Hebrew-speaking liaison to the African refugee community living in Tel Aviv’s worst slums. When his old friend Inspector Kobi Sambinsky of the Asylum Unit calls him early on Shabbat morning, he knows something is wrong. A young South Sudanese immigrant has been found murdered in the city’s most iconic waterfront building and no-one can quite place his origins.

The only clue is his unusual name, Kinga, which he shared with another refugee from eight years earlier, and a controversial political figure in South Sudan’s most dangerous warring faction. Kobi and Oscar must venture into the heart of Tel Aviv’s Sudanese underground, Israel’s hyper-violent Russian mafia, and a mystery that has been dormant for years near the shores of the Dead Sea.

Review

Hip Set by Michael Fertik, the New York Times best-selling author, is a smashing new noir thriller that would take you on a rollercoaster ride of suspense and fast-paced action through the rich settings of Tel Aviv and would leave you wanting more.

I loved this book because the writing flowed so well and had such an amazing literary quality that it did not feel like the author’s first noir thriller but more like a nuanced piece of work by an expert. The characterisation was rich, relatable and realistic – the three Rs that made this book a complete package for me.

Other things that I appreciated in this book are the vivid settings of Tel Aviv that transported me right in the middle of a place I’ve never been to (and would most definitely like to visit someday, especially after having read this book), the African refugee situation that the author has explored in this book and thus provided a very different side of Israel to the readers and, last but not least, the amazing concept of the book (which was totally mind-blowing!)

I would strongly recommend this book to all thriller and mystery readers and to those readers who like reading about different cultures, places and settings. This book delivers on so many fronts that I am sure it will have something or the other to offer to all its readers.

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