The Soft Underbelly: Add this Caribbean based crime-thriller to your TBR pile
The Soft Underbelly is a high-energy novel for fans of crime fiction and spy thrillers set in the… View Post The post The Soft Underbelly: Add this Caribbean based crime-thriller to your TBR pile first appeared on Melan Magazine.
Black News 
The Soft Underbelly is a high-energy novel for fans of crime fiction and spy thrillers set in the Caribbean with authentic Caribbean main protagonists.
The Soft Underbelly is the thrilling new debut novel from former Foreign Service diplomat, Carlisle Richardson. Typically, the narrative of mainstream international crime stories tends to lean towards the perspective of an American or European male solving a crime on foreign soil. The location and locals, particularly if they were in the global South, became supporting characters or remain in the backdrop of the story.
In The Soft Underbelly, Carlisle centres the Caribbean main leads in his novel and this may satisfy an unconscious desire for many readers.
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The Soft Underbelly is a crime thriller set in a fictitious Caribbean country, involving murder, political instability, corruption, and the threat of war. The story follows two investigators, local police officer Gerald Brookes, and M16 agent Fiona Sawyer, who are trying to find the links between the murder of a young customs agent accused of stealing imported goods, an attempt to overthrow the sitting prime minister, an international weapons trafficking ring one step ahead of authorities, and a mysterious expat living on the island.
As their investigations lead them closer to the truth, they uncover a plot to assassinate a British Member of Parliament, which would potentially reignite hostilities between the United Kingdom and Argentina over the Falkland Islands. In what used to be a tropical paradise, police officer Gerald Brookes and Ml6 agent Fiona Sawyer race against time to save the day.
Much of what I read about the Caribbean paints such a negative picture, and being from there, I know that is not the full story
A genuine action thriller, the novel explores some of the issues impacting the region today, such as political corruption, gangs and crime, and the Caribbean’s place in the world.
When we asked Carlisle what inspired him to write The Soft Underbelly, he said: “I wanted to not just focus on negative elements, but highlight positive figures and occurrences in the region, as well. Much of what I read about the Caribbean paints such a negative picture, and being from there, I know that is not the full story. In writing this novel, I wanted to offer a more accurate representation in an engaging, suspense-filled way.”
The Soft Underbelly is a welcome addition to the crime fiction landscape. Read it if you want to be entertained within this genre with the added benefit and familiarity of the plot taking place in the Caribbean.
The Soft Underbelly will be published on June 1 by Hansib Publication.
Buy it here
The post The Soft Underbelly: Add this Caribbean based crime-thriller to your TBR pile first appeared on Melan Magazine.
