Everand Logo

Welcome to Everand!

  • Discover millions of ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more with a free trial

    Only $11.99/month after trial. Cancel anytime.

    A Dancer in the Dust: A Novel
    A Dancer in the Dust: A Novel
    A Dancer in the Dust: A Novel
    Ebook331 pages5 hours

    A Dancer in the Dust: A Novel

    By Thomas H. Cook

    3.5/5

    ()

    Read preview

    About this ebook

    This “beautifully written and elegantly plotted” thriller from the Edgar Award–winning author of The Chatham School Affair is “one of his best ever” (The Globe and Mail, Toronto).
     
    Twenty years ago, Ray Campbell was a well-intentioned aid worker dedicated to improving conditions in Lubanda, a newly independent African country. Now a cautious risk-management consultant, he is forced to reconsider that year of living dangerously when an old friend is found murdered in a New York alley. Signs suggest that this recent tragedy is rooted in a more distant one—that of Martine Aubert, the only woman Ray ever loved, whose fate he’d sealed with a grievous mistake: “In Rupala, twenty years before, I had rolled the dice for a woman who was not even present at the table, and how on the outcome of that toss, a braver and more knowing heart than mine had been forfeited.”
     
    Martine Aubert was a white, native Lubandan farmer whose dream for her homeland put her in conflict with fearsome men intent on its so-called development. As Ray returns to Lubanda to investigate the cause of his friend’s murder, he also revisits the passion he’d once felt for Martine and vows, in her memory, to rectify his wrongs.
     
    A Dancer in the Dust is a gripping story of ill-fated love: one man’s love for an extraordinary woman, and one woman’s love for her troubled country.
     
    “Not since John Le Carré’s The Mission Song have I seen such a loving and sorrowful portrait of modern Africa.” —The News & Observer (Raleigh)
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateSep 2, 2014
    ISBN9780802192684
    A Dancer in the Dust: A Novel
    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.

    Read more from Thomas H. Cook

    Related to A Dancer in the Dust

    Related ebooks

    Suspense For You

    View More
    View More

    Related podcast episodes

    Related articles

    • Article

      Too Much, Magic Bus

      Dec 9, 2019

      Too Much, Magic Bus
      8 min read

    • Article

      Chris Erskine: We Love Gold, Worry About Orange

      Nov 20, 2018

      The sun comes up big and orange, like a harvest moon. The angry grit from the recent fires sends bloody beams of sunlight through the oaks and the chaparral. I can hardly sleep lately, for a variety of reasons, but if I could sleep, this alone would

      3 min read

    • Article

      Ghost Girl, Banana

      Aug 21, 2023

      By the time I was 25, there were only two things I remembered about Mumma. The first was that she smelled of watermelons, the second was that we were happy. We’d taken our father’s name of course, but a name is only half a story. The other half exist

      6 min read

    • Article

      A Year in Reading: Iľja Rákoš

      Dec 12, 2021

      As long as there are authors, translators, publishers large or small committed to the deliberate word deliberately committed to the page, and so many who still need those words on pages, legal or illegal, right, left, or center, we’ll find our feet a

      8 min read

    • Article

      Life In The past Lane

      Aug 27, 2021

      Life In The past Lane
      5 min read

    • Article

      Second Language

      Aug 14, 2017

      Second Language
      9 min read

    • Article

      Commonplace Book

      Sep 1, 2021

      If any question why we died, Tell them, because our fathers lied. —Rudyard Kipling, “Epitaphs of the War,” The Years Between, 1919 She consulted me, a glance, and said: “I think not anything off the wagon. It arrives too quickly. Let’s have somethi

      4 min read

    • Article

      A Brief Ghostly Encounter…

      Nov 30, 2020

      A Brief Ghostly Encounter…
      7 min read

    • Article

      Hook, Line And Sinker

      Oct 18, 2018

      Hook, Line And Sinker
      4 min read

    • Article

      The Island

      Jun 4, 2018

      The Island
      8 min read

    • Article

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS

      May 18, 2023

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS
      7 min read

    • Article

      The Noisy Nuthatch And Other Stories

      May 6, 2020

      OH, for the silence of a city street in lockdown, where the jangle of the ice-cream van is stilled, the cars are tidily parked and the officious sign saying No Ball Games is obeyed at last. The snoopers soundlessly twitch their curtains. There are no

      2 min read

    • Article

      Clocking Into Clocolan

      Feb 25, 2022

      Clocking Into Clocolan
      7 min read

    • Article

      Love Comes In The Morning

      May 13, 2019

      Love Comes In The Morning
      6 min read

    • Article

      Commonplace Book

      Jun 4, 2018

      I like long walks, especially when they are taken by people who annoy me. —Fred Allen I have always wondered, in reading travels, at the childish joy travellers felt at meeting people they knew, and their sense of loneliness when they did not, in

      4 min read

    • Article

      3 Line In The Sand

      Sep 11, 2019

      3 Line In The Sand
      9 min read

    • Article

      In Search of Lost Travels

      Jun 4, 2018

      In Search of Lost Travels
      9 min read

    • Article

      Roger’s PROFANISAURUS

      Aug 5, 2021

      profanisaurus@viz.co.uk aroma diffuser 1. n. A scientific device that breaks “essential oils” down into smaller molecules, dispersing them into the air for a pleasant or calming effect on the gullible. 2. n. The arsehole. Barbie’s minge sim. Somethin

      8 min read

    • Article

      From Our Archives: A 1981 Interview With Toni Morrison

      Aug 7, 2019

      The award-winning author Toni Morrison died Aug. 5, 2019. We're reposting this 1981 interview conducted shortly after her fourth novel, "Tar Baby," was published.

      11 min read

    Related categories

    Reviews for A Dancer in the Dust

    3.5/5

    12 ratings2 reviews

    What did you think?

    Tap to rate

    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      I 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.
    • 4/5
      A 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.

    Book preview

    A Dancer in the Dust - Thomas H. Cook

    7dbook_preview_excerpt.html}ےF,ted%%JօZ~"3.L=G~~|ɞs@VQmۦu1џ_|>NC_<+z×/^|]xE_߼})ݏR=6K|˷w~(Kb&Tn>|WCy|qB'_hb|&C}:47C#_7q<̞ 1 1bP|]O_C}pau|x0B[)O)5ų!Ó':ljk0[~lBǢ 0c}`3}cU$oMpZ=.M).Ă8߇ ~wS] oxP?f4wqטw1<_&KgFR3]ljˡ[ap⃏~!/l 婮>G<}HC|ZdZPz_榆HŦ+*N?x^_]r $B7c<ϔ;hXl6W}O C{+O\/cuk2}5A)~/?6[ o5V?4пo7?G3o_aW}؇/tu&Tp~_8qqHXrpk]CԄnKv+[|e/bp(|>NEy7C~?ha.U>z;@Fܻ6Ww @S ,:ܳR5(tXػxR5y0j""N\XJic~U6sEͩ;pGy r3 u|OFIQ<}z ~RvE|_~Ҥ .>@kX8J$\?{ @oR'gY_Uc\ +|z q.OZ4u=% >zDF~ C 3_ռbUMJE&(0oObi7!ΦڊKЌPyBzMCٕ }?Dl4@NI(c ߩ$OQ9.E +eNOu L+FH`~oHg8}D*ː5;S2jߡZBGe! e")LW9IwƉ3; 1bsLCE{ f"W=$: kTW-SśyEF̣dt' 8Sfiƒ"qaW%,h)~= ɿᶽʻԃ6,Hߥ4b_/cg6qxWsӑc}#gۇ^΅jaԾKD'Ga i޵,; p VV,B03/]Q:>`b%Rcl1!LrFSe-vnaMXE2, 1Y^ÑpECU3Lw9nO5K_y&)RN !PI! @ݺ#l @g1v_,(&,&.⪸`Hb$ Ϊ8(;褛H$S#՜{NV0@v`:Sn[Aw F,A\g4]:yjmu<:2J&3$}rO^ؤ"1JĀUp;ă {0WlQr;L-}99˞( ;qa;t3z[FW44iЋW7ayi3Ijlo6sOhж7s*3=yJ@ÄC|IM*'ΠN\1%VG6__ 0j*2",po+A[\l?"/tg$ Cq$讗d=iNK/ o'p?x7d9r_I*!:/nC|te I(^|G#uz(" Õ(֐9c1^"i70|Ѓ/ ` z6Bh (X0/6,fs-|n ,ߓl)YPQސ!w-W.t@N~1,c"D"t ?BbudV5198=vu\u`{._lM=zakޡ 9q"pZM:2-e?͕ɻu< !=3ې2J0g1[6Ym+%KuǍPNXf(0> ;7JTĮN^RƳ)ڗTlLc6t//-c(0>1p擨[(46X?niҼ_|Ln>B/VRgw_3U걑z3ELsP $~4KoyX/DJ6S6Ee$#E-{0q'ALof`XmJF31!P!ΰE4OJ-<2J?P(jqmXKF'%.xܱ)bAZ\3 ib@jm:%Z WsJG(i~<uOL W[b}NF56n_4Ԓp*buh2 B%f 65fQoBJ{=jHT]%\pg~N1sn3D 1p08)qD5Khn0z|}MA 5s 'kp!WaJLU ̔ABo qX[7Ej^f\46s0R*0MCy`ݵ3O*xw|\hߒ\{VANJg`}DC۞6o"BMm8^Q\k .rlv>7 pSIvg绰la҇*[f !{at]g>z2`u l\QƂ0+=YY<ƊWq*>Tx`HG25^~jٳiy{f|LzV/ToVd$U'jiV]* Z=rT7*3\ |zo`-5,Y{LT&csO]5"ebP(%Ԑ%ј;0fjo++~Hk,*2S\a3-Yg@cFIjNn)/MBAN`%ZH>ĊQjU!6".&!뒅8ݜ,꾪zdSD~"Jp!5"_ ;D tY@P?>sT-^!$:@BMyH`P-o$P`=GDȂsvS 꽛Ru8ѡulH摝k ԅjrk3̙*0]bDʦ M?սW7 ,a'jM9 ǐ\eTW$-nw&[2 $~x KjB`k>Hp݂*6BcY@XΛ5U#F tކbb?(]5o cظ T! ):ʗ9aRG},e솺xO f@6B.My墖΃`"J1Qr<9c"_[niRHj*T1;.:9Z"ڽ}gR(7Z?|d|9+<-h"@=wч6ۣ܇TPρ42n*]y؟\r$7E#hm[3-JECjy~ӐE+3gb~9&ⵀ*d0ЁrRߴ,f-'+ aOVP2@ UqSwbZsR%4̀͊mXTSDp-Wj΃:Ca32F`ѐ4 *㼳*2!l$]$XjB< ҕMt1/ 쳆wLbF$8HA#˭/~kSG%)ċ=]Z* S2(R;kCrx$JF,+H2Wi}y6DZއ-{O<^AE$?ZX}"~Sܐ-LĦUXԀHf8Ґʆ3Q-m?]VJ/3,?Sm|9Q>*21oIIjFlSɧ5^bEu1ɇw#2-WRMjkщ33 pAsc] KxSd?y;`ZFHZxYOUlfʦad@P1f*ZB+E}7d=*mtk|W6md+H@2 ;_օox=c?ͤ ͟ A~n3=l NܩP_`CUՏTkxJeϮ Q+G'Ώk!w::!'z@cHp`,C(Zh6c'z'_"ue]f"@tU{J9\ss,ٍbM)Ѻ6\Y⦸ ms4O0A`vv沜6OȿbdLO,IסM5 i6lǤˇņN?mg>[PuZNo#6rZr`c4o.C.c b٥z\CǦ$T 3M Z@$XIt4K"Z :dz5{Nmh`ifbu9z*z2V@\G[)E)u=VnT2AXT%1,OXߦ_p i{LE:D#\Wa^έff$" `Uĕ&|deǬ.L,'TyWF1K'->R%sb5/d.9-4iiR$rM?DnGO˟Q6_V[d,\GN[VSǨb\KS :mviTo4]WFJ_Ai(\=X+}I\N}QdQabPNc$]^,6KZ.*9ZE PVu{H <֒-VL86tmq,yXAR=7DVt)2`&(T[?Zw~/3KԕtctGLȉO1/+8qN(&D~B;k[:siu5ܘA͇:5+fpm 4>=ȝrkX/#%:>J D[N0'mfVrKcU|;coM٠O]GbLNQtKjkLv \=ֆϜ6v_A;g6O{4ٰ=*7Ex&@ܰRpn B Ԥ #JUo{py6b{]l0}":ߙ#mfl5) >'80kq+ 1-}45#P}ٳSQ6ۍ6¨Guy極<1TȐq PWC /K5 6/Swµ˱0NHILz{rfs`;vܘ,WF}`'EN au"fkFx7 i4^!vR rH}Drr.yD?ds"IPw7;;N֎`O5 ]OW~오G>k_Kn?ͻ*\%D/ g@zTKkO~5Dkѯ-灭ybH]!#kU/}̔\,aG;{]%m$v5&_[|^id8qc-2SR~S䠪pZZ7K|{匊Didᵒaս!T{>jgشޯf,ku׽r"U*#R '`xǛײ>i"I.8oc^h-fii6[xQsx0ʕy*-Ktrw|_ыx}B1buyC;U)cv.\JFGjwP ~IBjAw2A6蒺U"k.G؀u9t|aY<]F%4AS78)"|+On7P%D\HSyRVS_bou$mkgMu Kdr'&;xsyGn-oΨ*s^A<,.fVt {k}/ \k+TWtU3wQnJđz[P\Yh/%SM̘;K^cEMDhe*?x޲m!{dMbWK-8\ѥ[%GPccX1ڐOk ͥkf̡6]&P`SC6~Ekyn zMnTE[ᾝY3=aIeVnX6)x?wLQ󷓜j"4M9 V7O4LpBV|IƣZ['V6F1:bƥ]swvt^ !S'Yl`Z)UaF**{CaQ6Derܘ f =`+O7c [SL~]7Rv&*,kx,J7(h
    Enjoying the preview?
    Page 1 of 1