Book Review: Under the Cold Sun

Thriller/adventure fiction novel by Tagg West, published 2022

366 pages

Quick, Entertaining & Full of Adventure

What an exciting adventure! Reminiscent of Disney's "Jungle Cruise," but with adult themes, Under the Cold Sun is full of twists and turns around every corner.

Anthropologist Matt Moro is working a boring job at the State Department when he receives an unexpected email for a one-on-one meeting with a higher up. Matt is invited to join a secret mission with the goal of gaining linguistic understanding and cultural insight into the nearly unexplored Gough Island. While aware that there were likely aspects of this mission that he hadn't been told, his dreams of becoming a renowned anthropologist could be fulfilled by being the first to study the Mesdu indigenous peoples- so he accepted the invitation.

As it turned out, Matt was not briefed on much. Here begins the roller coaster that West takes the reader on. Between meeting operatives from other countries that may not be what they seem, to unintentionally becoming heavily involved in the island's surprise civil war (and throw in a dash of love and shots of murder), Matt navigates these challenges in a very believable way. I was rooting for him the entire time, even when I disagreed with his decisions.

Kemma, the native "slave" that becomes Matt's companion, and Jacky, the American operative who had been assigned as his partner, were both portrayed as strong and capable women. I felt that Kemma's ending was pretty predictable, but was still exciting to read and fit her narrative well. Jacky's character arc did have an interesting twist, but I felt that it could have been better developed. Some of her lines were a little unbelievable given the circumstances.

There are a handful of typos throughout the book, but for the most part the writing style was fun and engaging. Some of the dialogue could probably be improved upon, but that didn't take away from my reading of it. In the final chapter, I do wish that West would have ended the story before fast-forwarding 3 months ahead. That final segment was a bit cheesy and unnecessary.

Gurum isima sapac banu uvi gis maiam ama sapac ro liti. Some people must get dirty so others stay clean. —Mesdu proverb

4 out of 5 Stars

Overall though, Under the Cold Sun was an easy read and a page turner. I loved the plot and the research that was put forth to create an entirely fictional indigenous culture. The Mesdu proverbs or stories that started each chapter were a beautiful touch. Even with the issues that I have noted, I would highly recommend this for a quick and entertaining read full of adventure!

*Thanks to Reedsy for the ARC: https://reedsy.com/discovery/book/under-the-cold-sun-tagg-west#review