The Eyes of Lira Kazan

Joly, a French magistrate and politician, and Perrignon (Les Chagrins) deliver an intelligent page-turner with a solid moral heart. Nwankwo Ganbo, head of Nigeria%E2%80%99s antifraud squad, flees to London, where he lands a teaching job, after powerful people in his oil-rich but impoverished country start killing his employees %E2%80%9Cone by one,%E2%80%9D including his right-hand man, and finally have him sacked. Ganbo, who has a reputation as a dogged opponent of graft, finds an ally in Lira Kazan, a journalist for the Russian magazine Mir who%E2%80%99s been looking into the growing empire of Russian oligarch Sergei Louchsky. Kazan becomes the victim of a vicious acid attack that results in severe burns to her eyes. Corruption knows no national boundaries, the authors suggest, providing a clear-eyed look at the complex choices and personal sacrifices facing reformers. (Oct.)