The Shot by Sarah Sultoon BLOG TOUR #TheShot @SarahSultoon @OrendaBooks #BookReview

 

Samira is an up-and-coming TV journalist, working the nightshift at a major news channel and yearning for greater things. So when she’s offered a trip to the Middle East, with Kris, the station’s brilliant but impetuous star photographer, she leaps at the chance

 In the field together, Sami and Kris feel invincible, shining a light into the darkest of corners  … except the newsroom, and the rest of the world, doesn’t seem to care as much as they do. Until Kris takes the photograph. 

 With a single image of young Sudanese mother, injured in a raid on her camp, Sami and the genocide in Darfur are catapulted into the limelight. But everything is not as it seems, and the shots taken by Kris reveal something deeper and much darker … something that puts not only their careers but their lives in mortal danger.

 Sarah Sultoon brings all her experience as a CNN news executive to bear on this shocking, searingly authentic thriller, which asks immense questions about the world we live in. You'll never look at a news report in the same way again...  

The Shot by Sarah Sultoon is published in paperback by Orenda Books on 28 April 2022, the ebook was published on 2 April. My thanks to the publisher who sent my copy for review as part of this Blog Tour.

The Shot is Sarah Sultoon's second novel. I read and really enjoyed her first book; The Source, and have been looking forward to seeing what she comes up with next. 

Sultoon is an incredibly talented author, she creates stories that propel the reader into the thick of the action from the very first pages. This is, at times, a harrowing and difficult book to read. Sultoon has drawn on her own extensive experiences of working in international newsrooms and everything is laid bare.

The Shot is so very relevant at this time. Many times as I was reading the book, I looked up to see news reports from Ukraine on my TV screen. I have always had such respect for the men and women who go out into the field so that the rest of the world can see what is happening. There is no doubt that images captured from war correspondent photographers will always become iconic.

Sami is a young reporter, just starting out in a career in the news. She currently works the night shift, producing graphics for stories that other people will tell. She's passionate about her work, about current affairs, and especially about the atrocities of war. She's desperate to get out, to see more and to bring back her own stories. 

Kris is a well respected war photographer. His photos have become famous world wide. He's blunt, direct, almost battle weary at times. Returning home after sustaining an injury whilst on a shoot is not what he wants. Family life is difficult for him. His wife is tired of their life, his children hardly know him. The only affection he really gets is from the dog. 

When Sami is offered the once in a lifetime chance to accompany Kris on a report overseas, she is overjoyed. However, nothing is quite as she expected, and even the most brutal and graphic photographs and film have not prepared her for the reality of war and the after math.  Sami is determined though, and it becomes clear that she has a talent. She can find a story and she can relate that story. 

It is a photograph taken on a trip to Dafur with Kris that will change everything, for Sami and for Kris. 

This is a novel about people. It is an incredibly well written and perceptive study of people who spend their time witnessing the most terrible atrocities that man can produce. It's a story that shows the real impact of war, on those people who do not actively fight in it, but are central to it. It's distressing, painful and quite agonisingly brutal in parts. It is also astute and penetrating, evoking feelings that are long lasting and hard to shake off. 

A provocative mix of actual events and fictional characters. Sarah Sultoon is a new and welcome voice in what can be a very crowded genre. The Shot is riveting and relentless. Highly recommended.

Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. 

She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs. 

As passionate about fiction as nonfiction, she recently completed a Masters of Studies in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge, adding to an undergraduate language degree in French and Spanish, and Masters of Philosophy in History, Film and Television. 

When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if... 

Her debut thriller The Source is currently in production with Lime Pictures, and was a Capital Crime Book Club pick and a number one bestseller on Kindle.

Twitter @SultoonSarah