Fractured

Shortlisted for the Amazon Rising Star Award Longlisted for the Guardian Not the Booker prize 2016 Perfect for fans of Homeland, Wilbur Smith and Lee Child Journalist Peter Maguire has been kidnapped in Somalia's capital, Mogadishu. He does not know where he is or what is going to happen to him. The journalist is filled with fear and, as the days go by, this dread of the unknown is shot through with remorse for the mistakes of his past. Peter's mother Nina comes to Somalia to wait for her son's release. His plight forces her to relive another trauma the fatal shooting in Liberia of Shaun Ridge, a young photographer she once loved, and Peter's real father. Abdi, a Somali teenager working with Peter's captors strikes a tenuous friendship with the prisoner based on a shared feeling of captivity. He decides to help Peter escape. Together and they set off into the barren vastness of a land filled with danger. These three people must journey into one of the world's most dangerous places, the human mind, to answer the question: are we ever truly free? 'Compelling and relentless...page-turner of a novel' Damien Lewis 'On a turbulent journey to the world's most forgotten corners, Fractured sheds an unforgiving light on the complexities of each of her characters. Clar paints a fearless picture of the utter horror and inescapability of Somalia's chaos, and poses difficult questions about the assumed value of western journalists' efforts to tell someone else's story' Celeste Hicks, author and former BBC journalist 'Thrilling, thought-provoking and shot through with grim authenticity. A stunning debut' Nick Brownlee, author and journalist 'This is a layered, textured, wholehearted novel that will stay with me for a long time' Lean Cullinan 'Thoroughly enjoyable story which doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of conflict. With elements of suspense and drama, it is Clar's investment in her characters that fills it with so much heart' Daniel Seery 'Captivating and at times heartbreaking' Justine Kyle McGrath 'I can't think of a work of fiction more gripping and terrifying in its timeliness... We have become all too aware of the shocking events surrounding hostages... Clar provides access to the beating hearts on all sides of terror that even our best journalists can't reach. As haunting as it is gorgeously written... a necessary story of hope and hopelessness from inside the cell' Christopher Bollen 'There are no heroes in a conflict zone, only survivors. Clar has done well to avoid the cliché of telling of Somalia's story to get to some of the reasons why people fight... for love, for someone else's honour, for a place to call their own. It was a real page-turner' Rosie Garthwaite