This book is a good reminder that it sometimes pays to take a chance on an author you don't know. I was completely absorbed, from start to finish, in this tale of the Central African Republic.

Floundering after a relationship breakdown, British clinical psychologist Elodie Harptree applies for a 6-month posting with Care Circle, to work with former child-soldiers in the CAR. She hasn't worked in the aid sector before, and has never previously been to Africa, but she feels that her varied experience in the UK will be useful if not directly translatable. Hmmm. Elodie arrives in the capital, Bangui, to a baptism of fire.

Meanwhile, the life of teenage CAR villager, Aristide, has been turned upside down when the rebels attacked his peaceful village. With all of his family gone, Aristide hides in the forest with only a stray dog for company. It's not long before he is found by a group of boys, just like him. Only they aren't just like him.

In many ways Elodie and Aristide couldn't be less alike, but what they do have in common is that they are both the proverbial fish out of water in their respective new circumstances. When their paths cross, it seems like they could either save or destroy each other.

Of course, there's a lot more going on in this story around the edges, and it all comes together in a very tense climax. Along the way, the author casts a cynical eye over the aid sector and (some of) the people who are drawn to it; either to work in it or to profit from it. Her background as a journalist provides credibility here, and she really made me stop and reflect.

Overall it was a great story and I learned a few things about a country that was previously a mystery to me.

The only issues I had with it were to do with the formatting. I didn't like the way italics were used at the end of every chapter to denote a change of perspective. Sometimes it was just a few paragraphs, but often it went on for pages. I think there are many, better ways of dealing with this, as italics are difficult to read.