Desert Fire by Shannon Van Roekel

Synopsis:~

On assignment in Darfur, Sudan, journalist Julia Keegan hopes to open the eyes of average Americans to the atrocities taking place there-and to distance herself from the shadow cast by her father. Even as she steels herself to face the horrors of genocide, Julia isn't prepared to face her own past. In the United States, Fred Keegan, a convicted murderer dying of cancer, asks young lawyer Joel Maartens to deliver a letter to his estranged daughter, Julia. When Joel and Julia meet in Sudan, they find their lives suddenly redefined by the injustice and violence around them, and both are forced to face truths they would rather leave concealed.

My take:~

The cover of Desert Fire caught my eye immediately and the prologue reinforced my view that this book would be a challenging yet rewarding read and I was not disappointed.

Desert Fire exposes the horror that many Sudanese are living today at the hands of their oppressors, through the eyes of American journalist, Julia Keegan. Desperate to escape her own inner turmoil when lawyer Joel Maartens brings her news of the father she has been trying to forget, Julia determines to bring awareness to the genocide the world wants to ignore.

Shannon Van Roekel confronts issues of suffering and evil, sacrifice and unbearable injustice with sensitivity and complexity. She shows a willingness to ask hard questions without resorting to pat answers. Readers who seek more than an entertaining escape will find this book thought provoking and challenging on matters of faith and forgiveness and convicting as the tragedy that is Darfur continues unabated.

With thanks to Kregel for my review copy

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