cover image Her Name Is Knight

Her Name Is Knight

Yasmin Angoe. Thomas & Mercer, $24.95 (428p) ISBN 978-1-5420-2995-7

Aninyeh, the captivating heroine of Angoe’s impressive debut, had an idyllic childhood as a chieftain’s daughter in a Ghanaian village. Then, when she was 14, an enemy of her father, along with a group of barbaric men, ransacked her village, slaughtered her family, and sold her into captivity. Aninyeh eventually escaped and was found by Delphine Knight, who took her to London. There, Anniyeh was adopted by Delphine and her husband, Noble, the leader of the African Tribal Council (aka the Tribe), a business group devoted to uniting the various African countries into a strong economic force. Aninyeh now lives in Miami, Fla., and is part of an assassination team that protects the Tribe’s interests, killing its enemies when necessary. Things go awry on a mission for the Tribe when, instead of assassinating the intended target, a federal attorney with whom she has become close, Aninyeh kills another person. Meanwhile, after learning the same man who led the attack on her village has joined the Tribe, she plots her revenge. Angoe expertly builds tension by shifting between her lead’s past and present lives. Thriller fans will cheer Aninyeh every step of the way. Agent: Melissa Edwards, Stonesong. (Nov.)