Her Own Devices

by Geoffrey Dutton

Overview

After witnessing a kidnapping in gritty Piraeus, Greece, a Swiss ex-pat and ex-activist with an energetic five-year-old son vows to put the culprit, his swaggering partner, and the cop protecting them, out of business, relying on home-brew surveillance devices and a loose coalition of allies. All the while, an ethereal narrator — the spirit of the boy's late father, denied entry to Paradise — worriedly surveils them. He seeks to unite them with his long-lost brother, but lacks agency. Barely surviving her flash mob’s climactic confrontation with the bad guys, our heroine learns that you never know who your friends are until you need them, and even then you still might not know… but that’s okay.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781771838986
Publisher:	Guernica Editions, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/01/2024
Pages:	300
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

GEOFFREY DUTTON writes compelling fiction about contemporary issues. Her Own Devices movingly recapitulates and resolves his award-winning conspiracy thriller, Turkey Shoot. Geoff exited a tech career to write articles, essays, and books. He lives west of Boston, where he forages for edible mushrooms and serves them to his trusting family.

Editorial Reviews

A masterful tale that transcends genres, seamlessly blending mystery, thriller, and family drama into a gripping narrative that will leave readers enthralled. It's more than just a story; it's a journey into the depths of the human soul, where light and shadow converge to show readers that nothing is ever quite so simple as good and evil. Fans of any genre will not regret picking up this book.

BookTrib

An absorbing, well-crafted tale of a courageous woman dedicated to making the gritty streets of Athens safer for vulnerable children, backed by a colorful cast of characters. Dutton’s deft storytelling will renew your belief in the power of community spirit to prevail over evil.

Nadine Bjusten

2024-05-06
A single mother can’t leave her social conscience behind in Dutton’s suspenseful drama.

In this loose sequel to the author’sTurkey Shoot(2018), Anna Burmeister is in transition, raising her 5-year-old son, Ramadi, in Piraeus, Greece, while still mourning his father, Mahmoud, who was killed in the earlier book. Mahmoud isn’t as far away as she thinks, as he’s been denied entry to Paradise (“Where I find myself now is very strange and lonely, a plane I have all to myself. Perhaps this is perdition and I am doomed to isolation for eternity”). One day, Anna witnesses a young boy, Sami, being abducted. The kidnapper is freed in court by a judge, to the disgust of Anna, who has already organized the Children’s Protective League of Greater Athens in an effort to shine a spotlight on child trafficking. She recruits her hacker friend, Ottovio, to surveil the trafficker who got off, as well as his associates. Anna also assembles a motley crew of allies from media, social services, law enforcement, and her friend group to be ready to pounce on the traffickers when they make their next move. When Ramadi spies two men grabbing Naila, a young refugee girl, Anna rallies all her forces, marching on the traffickers’ hideout. Dutton has hit upon a novel method to construct a character: Anna is presented as a real person whose story has been lightly fictionalized by the author of the two books that feature her (by the time readers reach the end, they will likely have forgotten about this somewhat confusing conceit). Dutton introduces a ton of characters to keep track of, who tend to appear briefly and then vanish for dozens of pages. Waiting for an actual abduction seems to take forever, and it’s apparent to everyone but Anna which side a cop whom she believes to be corrupt is really on. The preceding novel was Mahmoud’s story—this book is Anna’s tale, and the anarchist is appropriately making up her life as she goes along, leading with her heart.

An urgent crusade to keep children safe drives this colorful, fictional biography.

Kirkus Reviews