Djibouti

In a major departure from his crime novels set in Detroit, Miami, and Los Angeles, octogenarian Grand Master Leonard (www.elmoreleonard.com) here tackles East Africa. Documentary filmmaker Dara Barr travels to Djibouti to make a film about modern-day pirates operating out of Somalia. Cognizant of the dangers involved, she nonetheless stumbles into a deadly plot. As always with Leonard, there are colorful characters—e.g., an elderly New Orleans seaman, a Texas billionaire, and an American al Qaeda terrorist—though Barr herself remains rather vague. More adept at style and mood than plot, Leonard takes too long to get things going. The slack pace, however, is energized by the narration of Tim Cain (I, Alex Cross), who employs a plethora of authentic-sounding multicultural accents. Recommended for Leonard aficionados and those looking for unusual treatments of terrorism. [Leonard "really cooks with gas here," read the review of the New York Times best-selling Morrow hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 9/16/10.—Ed.]—Michael Adams, CUNY Graduate Ctr. Lib.