Audiobook8 hours
A Dancer in the Dust
Written by Thomas H. Cook
Narrated by Ray Chase
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
()
About this audiobook
Twenty years ago, Ray Campbell, now a cautious risk- management consultant, was a well-intentioned aid worker dedicated to improving conditions in Lubanda, a newly independent African country. He is forced to reconsider that year of living dangerously when a friend from his time in Lubanda is found murdered in a New York alley. Signs suggest that this most recent tragedy is rooted in the far more distant one of Martine Aubert, the only woman Ray ever truly loved and whose fate he'd sealed in a moment of grievous error.Martine Aubert was a white, native Lubandan farmer whose dream for her homeland starkly conflicted with those charged with its so-called development. But it was Ray's failure to understand Martine's commitment to her country that had placed a noose around her neck, one tightened by a circle of vicious men, cruel taunts, and whistling machetes. Ray's return to the passion he'd once felt for Martine makes A Dancer in the Dust the enthralling and moving story of two loves: Ray's love for Martine Aubert, and Martine's for a homeland that did not love her back.
Author
Thomas H. Cook
Thomas H. Cook is the author of twenty-three books, including The Chatham School Affair, which won the Edgar Allan Poe Award for best novel, and, most recently, The Last Talk with Lola Faye.
More audiobooks from Thomas H. Cook
Dangerous Women: Original Stories from Today's Greatest Suspense Writers Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Bibliomysteries Volume 1 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sandrine's Case Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Cloud of Unknowing Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Master of the Delta Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Red Leaves Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Early Graves: A True Story of Murder and Passion Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsInstruments of Night Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Book 'Em: Four Bibliomysteries by Edgar Award-Winning Authors Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5
Related to A Dancer in the Dust
Related audiobooks
A Tale of Two Cities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Generosity: An Enhancement Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Black Gang Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Chosen [Dramatized Adaptation] Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Valley of Fear (Part 2: The Scowrers): A Sherlock Holmes Novel Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Hour of the Gate Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsMaking Money: A Discworld Novel Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Case of the Captain's Hair Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsWhere Old Bones Lie Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Curator Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Traitors' Gate Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Sea and the Jungle Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsSeries of Unfortunate Events #12: The Penultimate Peril Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Nostromo: A Tale of the Seaboard Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Forward the Mage Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsAlbert and the Whale: Albrecht Dürer and How Art Imagines Our World Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Occupied Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Rumpole and the Angel of Death Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Saint Patrick's Battalion: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Dark Fire Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Man Who Would Be King and Other Stories Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsA Better Quality of Murder Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Summer of '69 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Spy Who Haunted Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Stringer: A Reporter's Journey in the Congo Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Timediver's Dawn Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Voyage Out Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Outcasts of Time Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Spies of the Balkans Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Mystery For You
Listen for the Lie: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hit and Run Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder on the Orient Express: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5What Lies in the Woods: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5If She Knew (A Kate Wise Mystery—Book 1) Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Heaven’s Crooked Finger Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Complete Sherlock Holmes Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Fifth Suspect Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5And Then There Were None Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Did I Kill You?: A Thriller Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Finlay Donovan Is Killing It: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Girl, Alone (An Ella Dark FBI Suspense Thriller—Book 1): 01 Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Murder of Roger Ackroyd: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Death on the Nile: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5When No One Is Watching: A Thriller Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Word is Murder: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Good Girl's Guide to Murder: A Debutante Dropout Mystery Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5One for the Money Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mother-Daughter Murder Night: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Tell No One Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Murder Your Employer: The McMasters Guide to Homicide Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The River We Remember: A Novel Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hallowe'en Party: A Hercule Poirot Mystery: The Official Authorized Edition Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ordinary Grace Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The 7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Altered Carbon Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Crooked House Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Strange Case of the Alchemist's Daughter Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Unexpected Guest Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Reviews for A Dancer in the Dust
Rating: 3.583333291666667 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
12 ratings2 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Dancer In The Dust – An Ode To AfricaA Dancer In The Dark is the latest novel from Thomas H. Cook which is more a literary novel with a message that just happens to have two murders that run through the course of the book. The book is more an ode to continental Africa, no country in particular, and a lesson to ask ourselves in that does foreign aid actually help or hinder a country. This book is so intelligently written the prose crisp and clear that clearly shows an insight and knowledge of people and aid. That it is classed as a crime book is a mistake by those that like to classify what we read.A Dancer in the Dust should not be marganalised as a thriller as those who love thrillers would dismiss this as not enough blood and guts no clear good and bad guys. This novel is a multifaceted book in that it looks at people, western attitudes, African attitudes, racism and customs amongst many. One of the biggest theme is the unfailing love for a woman and a country.Ray Campbell is a New York risk assessor helping his clients make money and giving them insightful advice, but twenty years prior he had been a young and enthusiastic volunteer aid worker in the newly independent African country, Lubanda. While there he falls in love with a white Lubandan farmer, Martine Aubert and with the changing winds he makes a fatal error which ultimately costs Martine her life.A friend and leader of the Mansfield Trust comes to visit Ray to ask him if he can help investigate a murder of their former friend and colleague from Lubanda who was found murdered in a back ally in New York City. Seso had been looking for Bill Hammond as he had some information for him that he need to give him from the murder of Martine Aubert some twenty years prior. This murder takes eventually takes Ray Campbell back to Lubanda in his search for the truth for both murders. For Ray it is also a visit back to those happier times in Lubanda before the revolution with Martine and Fareem, Seso assisting him and Bill who he reported to. We see these trips down memory lane and how what happened then will affect what may happen in the present. He eventually returns to Lubanda as an envoy of The Mansfield Trust and the question is what sort of aid will he confer on the country he loves or will he listen to the only women he has ever loved Martine.This is an elegant novel, who once again shows that he is a master of the totally unexpected ending who seemlessly manages to mix love and death together and turning it in to a beautiful story. This book is a beautiful ode to the whole continent of Africa and an instructive and interesting read, that you will not regret.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I had to write a review of A Dancer in the Dust by Thomas H. Cook with a limit of 200 words. Impossible. So, here’s a little fuller review.Let me start by saying I am an avid Thomas H. Cook fan, beginning with The Chatham School Affair (which I’m planning to read again, one of these days), which is my favorite still. His writing is lyrical and descriptive. His plots are unusual. His characters run the range of likeable to untrustworthy. A Dancer in the Dust is a departure from his norm, if you can actually say he has a norm.As an idealistic college graduate, Ray Chambers decides to spend a year in the African nation of Lubanda through an organization called Hope for Lubanda. His boss was Bill Hammond. His native assistant is Seso Alaya. On his first day there, in the market, he meets Martine Aubert, a white Lubandan farmer whose father had emigrated to Lubanda many decades ago. Aubert had very distinct opinions as to what these ‘do-good’ organizations were really doing and whether they actually made Lubandan life better–no they didn’t. This was contrary to Chambers’ opinion and those of the nation’s dictator. She was a thorn in the government’s side. But of course, Chambers fell in love with her.Twenty years later, Alaya’s tortured body is found in an alleyway near a sleazy Manhattan hotel. He had called Hammond a week prior saying he had important information but they never met and that information was never passed. Hammond asks Chambers to investigate the murder and retrieve the information.The scene is set. Alaya’s murder is merely the ploy for the rest of the book. The book flips back and forth between the current day and Chambers’ reminiscences about his time spent in Lubanda, especially his relationship with Martine, as well as the political climate of the country. It is also a means for Cook’s diatribe against the Westernization of underdeveloped countries.A Dancer in the Dust kept my interest but it was certainly not up to the standards of his most recent book Sandrine’s Case or his Edgar Award winning Chatham School Affair. If you’re a Cook fan or you like more political oriented intrigue, then I’d give A Dancer in the Dust a try, but I’m certainly not going to say it’s a ‘must read’ like most of Cook’s other books.