Following his Arthur Ellis Award– winning debut, Dark Places
, Evans forays into corporate malfeasance versus organized protest, but disappoints. A former Infosys project manager living in Bangalore, India, Danielle Leaf agrees to deliver a package for Keiran Kell, a London-based hacker. En route, Danielle is seized by thugs apparently in the employ of Kishkinda, a megacorporation that has been blamed by activists for industrial pollution that has plagued the Bangalore area. While held captive, Danielle meets an attractive activist, also captive, Frenchman Laurent. As the two conspire to escape, Laurent tells Danielle that the package's intended recipient, Jaylitha, who had been doing research to build a case against Kishkinda, has been gruesomely murdered. After Laurent's martial arts skills free them, the pair undertake a series of dangerous escapades, with Danielle suspecting her ally may not be fully trustworthy. Danielle is less than plausible as an action hero, and Evans's take on globalization and its discontents is less than convincing. (June)
