The Shot by Sarah Sultoon

Passing over the baton to Mandie who also has her thoughts on The Shot by Sarah Sultoon. With thanks to the publisher Orenda Books for the advance copy for review, and to Anne Cater of Random Things Tours for the invite. Here’s what it’s all about:

About the Book

An aspiring TV journalist faces a shattering moral dilemma and the prospect of losing her career and her life, when she joins an impetuous photographer in the Middle East. A shocking, searingly authentic thriller by award-winning ex-CNN news executive Sarah Sultoon.

Samira is an up-and-coming TV journalist, working the nightshift at a major news channel and yearning for greater things. So when she’s offered a trip to the Middle East, with Kris, the station’s brilliant but impetuous star photographer, she leaps at the chance

In the field together, Sami and Kris feel invincible, shining a light into the darkest of corners  … except the newsroom, and the rest of the world, doesn’t seem to care as much as they do. Until Kris takes the photograph. 

With a single image of young Sudanese mother, injured in a raid on her camp, Sami and the genocide in Darfur are catapulted into the limelight. But everything is not as it seems, and the shots taken by Kris reveal something deeper and much darker … something that puts not only their careers but their lives in mortal danger.

Sarah Sultoon brings all her experience as a CNN news executive to bear on this shocking, searingly authentic thriller, which asks immense questions about the world we live in. You’ll never look at a news report in the same way again…  

Mandie’s Thoughts

Sami is just starting out in journalism and currently works the nightshift with her friend. What she really wants to do is be in the thick of the action reporting on the atrocities that are taking place. Kris is an experienced cameraman who returns to London to recuperate after he is injured whilst working abroad. When the opportunity arises, Sami manages to find herself accompanying Kris to report on a story she jumps at the chance determined to make a name for herself. Taking risks and putting more than just herself in danger Sami sends home a report that garners her praise and the chance to do further stories. As Kris and Sami work together, it soon becomes evident that both are carrying round emotional scars that are having a huge impact on the actions they take and the implications of this will cause huge ripples in the lives of those they live and work with. 

Sami appears to be quite an idealistic character at the start. She believes her heritage will give her an edge in the middle east and that she will be able to present stories of the innocent that will impact all that see them. Her blinkered determination causes friction with colleagues and at times puts her and Kris in unnecessary danger and at times I was not sure that I could bond with her character but ultimately you know whatever she does it stems from the right place. Kris was damaged in ways you can only imagine, not just from the bullet he had taken to his head but from all the pain and suffering he had witnessed in the quest to get the perfect shot for the network. You could tell that there was more going on with him that appeared on the surface, and you had to wonder why he felt the need to be in the thick of it rather than in safety with his family but even I was not quite prepared for what was revealed towards the end of the book. 

Sarah Sultoon uses her experiences to perfection. Her descriptions of situations and places gives the reader a real sense of what journalists encounter in the name of doing their job, something we don’t always consider as we sit in the comfort of our homes. With everything going on currently this is a book that really hits home the pain and suffering of those caught in the middle of wars they do not want to be a part ofand the emotional toll of those whose job it is to report on it all.

About the Author

Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs. As passionate about fiction as nonfiction, she recently completed a Masters of Studies in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge, adding to an undergraduate language degree in French and Spanish, and Masters of Philosophy in History, Film and Television. When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if …

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