Extreme Vetting

A Thriller

By: Roxana Arama

Narrated by: Haley Young, Maxwell McAtee

An immigration lawyer fights to keep her client from being deported and losing his family. But those who want him gone will stop at nothing—including murder.

Seattle, Washington, 2019. Attorney and single mom Laura Holban is an immigrant herself, guiding clients through a Kafkaesque system of ever-changing rules, where overworked judges make life-shattering decisions in minutes. Laura’s newest client is Emilio Ramirez, who was arrested in front of his sons at their high school and thrown in detention.

When Laura files for Emilio’s asylum, the world turns upside down. False criminal charges prevent his release, someone is following his family, and an ICE prosecutor threatens to revoke Laura’s US citizenship. None of it makes sense—until she uncovers a deadly conspiracy involving ICE, stolen data, and human trafficking.

Now, the man at the center of it all is coming after Laura and Emilio, who must find a way to survive—and keep their families safe.

©2023 Roxana Arama (P)2023 Roxana Arama

Engrossing thriller with well developed characters

Extreme Vetting shocked me in the best way. First, as an audiobook, the narration had a unique blend of two narrators, who alternated between the characters’ perspectives. This made for an interesting combination of voices, as some characters narrated by one narrator would also be narrated by the other in their chapter. This was not distracting, just interesting to hear the different takes on the characters' voices.

Though I don’t usually seek out thrillers, except the occasional Tana French murder mystery, I really liked how Extreme Vetting set the story in the present day around a true horror story—deportation. Arama described the stress of a parent being taken away from the perspective of the children, parents and lawyers. I felt I was hearing what that reality feels like. The corruption and mysterious reason for Emilio’s arrest created even more intensity and intrigue.

Extreme Vetting works as a thriller, but it also works as a lesson on tolerance and identity. The main character Laura is concerned over her accent and feels pressure from her position to sound a certain way. The novel allows readers to step into Laura’s shoes to feel this constant judgment. I really appreciated the use of this theme, as it reminded me of my friend who often feels this pressure.

The best part of Arama’s novel are the characters. She has created believable, lovable (and hateable) characters. She doesn’t fulfill stereotypes; on the contrary, she tries to break them down. Certain of her villains (unnamed to prevent spoilers) are complex, with backstories and sympathetic moments that show complexity. Her main characters, too, have flaws. Little details like Laura’s relationship with her mother and David’s concern over his dad’s car add up to make very complete feeling characters.

Overall, I would definitely recommend this novel to anyone looking for an engrossing, real feeling legal thriller.