In November 2012, Sara Byrne, an ambitious young journalist, is sent to Gaza to cover a war from The Beach. At the four-star hotel, staff work tirelessly to provide safety, comfort and generator-powered internet for the world's media, even as their own homes and families are under threat. Sara is determined to use this war to launch her stalling career and win back her lover. So, when her fixer Nasser refuses to set up the dangerous story she thinks will make her name, she turns instead to Fadi, the youngest member of a powerful militant family. Driven by the demons of a damaging, entitled, childhood, Sara will stop at nothing to prove herself, even if it brings disaster upon those around her.
Darkly comic, searing ... Greenwood’s graphic details are vivid and disturbing ... Greenwood’s stinging, salient novel remains relevant (the more things change, the more they stay the same), excoriating those who make a business of war whether it’s public or personal ... Provocative.
A caustic study ... The title of the book is testament to its wry tone, and ultimately its position ... Occasionally, Greenwood’s creative writing feels less successful than the news writing within it: the protagonist’s filed copy is sometimes clearer than the prose itself. But Vulture remains a remarkably skilful debut. Greenwood’s style is compelling and blackly comic; the story could not be more serious.
[Filled with] mordant humor and breathtaking immediacy ... Greenwood deftly portrays Byrne’s downward spiral, though some of her touches don’t quite work ... A tad heavy-handed ... The devastating consequences of Byrne’s recklessness foreshadow the apocalypse unfolding in contemporary Gaza.
