Publisher's Weekly Review
Yapa's chilling debut is set amid the real-life protests that disrupted the 1999 World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Seattle, which resulted in hundreds of arrests, police resignations, and an increased media spotlight on the WTO. The novel follows a fictional group of police officers, dissidents, and a diplomat as they struggle through the summit's first chaotic day, full of tear gas, epiphany, and violence. On one side are the activists and their hangers-on: Victor, a nomadic 19-year-old trying to sell weed to protesters; King and John Henry, veteran nonviolent advocates who arrive at the protests to act as medics; and Charles, a political representative from Sri Lanka who quickly finds himself a target of both protesters and police. Representing the law are Chief Bill Bishop, Victor's estranged stepfather, bent on protecting his city; and officers Tim and Julia, whose past run-ins with terrorism and riots influence their fierce approach to peace. Yapa shows great skill in juggling these seven narratives as he builds a combustible environment, offering brief glimpses of the past to round out each character-and in the case of King, to reveal a deadly secret. As the peaceful protests turn brutal, however, the author's firm grasp of his story loosens a bit. But by the novel's end, Yapa regains his stride, resulting in a memorable, pulse-pounding literary experience. Agent: P.J. Mark, Janklow & Nesbit Associates. (Jan.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Library Journal Review
This debut novel set during the 1999 World Trade Organization (WTO) riots in Seattle is a punch in the gut. In the years after Kent State and Rodney King but before the Black Lives Matter movement, the Battle of Seattle stands out as an example of poorly planned police response to public protest, and Yapa shines a blinding Maglite on the scene. He starts with Victor, the estranged adopted son of the police chief. All Victor wants is to unload a large quantity of marijuana so he can "break free from the gravity of home's heavy hold." Instead, he gets mixed up with John Henry, a middle-aged idealistic revolutionary and King, his badass former lover who ministers to the teargassed crowd with Maaloxr-infused water. In addition to Chief Bishop, who's acutely aware that his long-lost son has reappeared under an I-5 underpass, there are two cops: Julia, and her partner Park, severely disfigured and completely insane. Rounding out the cast is Dr. Charles Wickramsinghe, a delegate from Sri Lanka, whose life's work has been negotiating for his country's acceptance into the WTO. VERDICT Yapa's writing is visceral and unsparing. Noteworthy, capital-I Important and a ripping read, his novel will be on many "best" lists in 2016. [See Prepub Alert, 8/1/15; "Editors' Fall Picks," LJ 9/1/15.]-Christine Perkins, Whatcom Cty. Lib. Syst., Bellingham, WA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.