The Illegal
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4.2 • 177 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Keita Ali is on the run.
Like every boy on the mountainous island of Zantoroland, running is all Keita’s ever wanted to do. In one of the poorest nations in the world, running means respect. Running means riches—until Keita is targeted for his father’s outspoken political views and discovers he must run for his family’s survival.
He signs on with notorious marathon agent Anton Hamm, but when Keita fails to place among the top finishers in his first race, he escapes into Freedom State—a wealthy island nation that has elected a government bent on deporting the refugees living within its borders in the community of AfricTown. Keita can stay safe only if he keeps moving and eludes Hamm and the officials who would deport him to his own country, where he would face almost certain death.
This is the new underground: a place where tens of thousands of people deemed to be “illegal” live below the radar of the police and government officials. As Keita surfaces from time to time to earn cash prizes by running local road races, he has to assess whether the people he meets are friends or enemies: John Falconer, a gifted student struggling to escape the limits of his AfricTown upbringing; Ivernia Beech, a spirited old woman at risk of being forced into an assisted living facility; Rocco Calder, a recreational marathoner and the immigration minister; Lula DiStefano, self-declared queen of AfricTown and madam of the community’s infamous brothel; and Viola Hill, a reporter who is investigating the lengths to which her government will go to stop illegal immigration.
Keita’s very existence in Freedom State is illegal. As he trains in secret, eluding capture, the stakes keep getting higher. Soon, he is running not only for his life, but for his sister’s life, too.
Fast moving and compelling, The Illegal casts a satirical eye on people who have turned their backs on undocumented refugees struggling to survive in a nation that does not want them. Hill’s depiction of life on the borderlands of society urges us to consider the plight of the unseen and the forgotten who live among us.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Lawrence Hill, the acclaimed author of The Book of Negroes, has written a pointedly timely story about statelessness. Keita Ali is a young man in exile from his fictional home of Zantoroland. Ali is a refugee, but he’s also a champion marathoner whose running isn’t a hobby—it’s his salvation. Populated by a vivid cast of characters, The Illegal is trenchant and absolutely gripping, a timeless portrait of resilience, pride and, ultimately, hope.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
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.
Customer Reviews
Tense and gripping
This is a captivating story that grips you from the start. The story moves along at a brisk pace, although many of the characters are more caricatures and lack depth. I loved the descriptions of the runs. The ending though was a bit disappointing and seemed almost as if it was written by someone else!
Worthy of Reading
A gripping tale of one young man’s multiple challenging circumstances renders messages and lessons from, and for, the modern world.
Superbly crafted and told, the story line and the writing draw you in, beckon you to keep reading well past when you intended to get on to other things... an excellent read!
The Illegal
Good book