The Shot by Sarah Sultoon
Samira is an up-and-coming TV journalist, working the nightshift at a major news channel and yearning for greater things. So when she’s offered a trip to the Middle East, with Kris, the station’s brilliant but impetuous star photographer, she leaps at the chance
In the field together, Sami and Kris feel invincible, shining a light into the darkest of corners ... except the newsroom, and the rest of the world, doesn’t seem to care as much as they do. Until Kris takes the photograph. With a single image of young Sudanese mother, injured in a raid on her camp, Sami and the genocide in Darfur are catapulted into the limelight. But everything is not as it seems, and the shots taken by Kris reveal something deeper and much darker ... something that puts not only their careers but their lives in mortal danger.
Sarah Sultoon brings all her experience as a CNN news executive to bear on this shocking, searingly authentic thriller, which asks immense questions about the world we live in. You'll never look at a news report in the same way again...
About the author
Sarah Sultoon is a journalist and writer, whose work as an international news executive at CNN has taken her all over the world, from the seats of power in both Westminster and Washington to the frontlines of Iraq and Afghanistan. She has extensive experience in conflict zones, winning three Peabody awards for her work on the war in Syria, an Emmy for her contribution to the coverage of Europe’s migrant crisis in 2015, and a number of Royal Television Society gongs. As passionate about fiction as nonfiction, she recently completed a Masters of Studies in Creative Writing at the University of Cambridge, adding to an undergraduate language degree in French and Spanish, and Masters of Philosophy in History, Film and Television. When not reading or writing she can usually be found somewhere outside, either running, swimming or throwing a ball for her three children and dog while she imagines what might happen if...
Her debut thriller The Source is currently in production with Lime Pictures, and was a Capital Crime Book Club pick and a number one bestseller on Kindle.
Review
‘The Shot’ is a deftly crafted tale that makes you question your humanity, your view of the world but does so in a beautifully written and complex novel. This is such a powerful account of the depravity that humanity can inflict on others that it simply takes the breath away. For the majority of the book when the action shifted to the war fronts I found myself crying as it was real, visceral, authentic and truly unbelievable but unfortunately wholly correct.
As someone who wishes that they had the health to be able to work in overseas aid, as I wished from childhood, this book floored me. It makes me want to scream at the world as I cannot understand how humans can treat each other like this. I studied modern European politics and history at University with an emphasis on Russia and the USSR as a stepping stone to move into this world. As a child, I was exposed to a liberal viewpoint and got to experience many cultures at an early age. When I was 9 I travelled with my mum to Afghanistan, India and Nepal and seeing these beautiful and multi-faceted countries truly framed my viewpoint today as being a committed pacifist. Basically, this is a long-winded way to say I have so much respect for people like Sarah who work to document what most people don't even contemplate. It's only when journalists manage to grab our attention with pictures like that of of Alan Kurdi, the young boy who drowned off the coast of Bodrum or the unnamed mother who died after the maternity hospital was hit in Mariupol that the majority notice. But then they turn off their television and carry on with their lives. How I wish this wasn't the case, how I wish that more people would get angry and become more active in wanting to find out more etc. If I had the room in my house I would be currently housing a Ukrainian refugee, I talk to people both in Russia and Ukraine on Reddit etc to see how people can help and just to even let them know that one person is thinking of them. Let’s not forget about the people in Russia who are now in jail for protesting against the war. Conflict has a rippling effect - it's how it effects those who document it, those who help support the journalists etc. You only need to read this book but also Sarah’s acknowledgment section to see this.
Sarah has managed to weave this narrative flawlessly into a book that captivates and thrills the reader and when this tale pivots in Sudan I truly was not expecting it at all! Then this book becomes a whole different beast… one that I am not going to spoil for anyone! This is not an easy book to read, it's very raw from the first page to the last sentence and it packs a punch indeed. But it's powerful with its truth. If one person becomes interested in helping out, or it changes one person's mindset then it has done its job. I can honestly say this is one of the best books that I have read this year, it may even join the top spot with Douglas Stuart’s ‘Young Mungo’. If a book manages to provoke and affect a reader in the way it has me then it deserves every success. Kudos to Karen at Orenda for publishing but thank you Sarah for your work and your writing. I respect the hell out of you!
