In Holly A. Bell’s Occupied Alaska, Lucy Hall is a University of Alaska Anchorage student whose rejection from nursing school sends her to the North Slope as a security officer on the Great Alaska Gas Line. China is financing the project to rescue an Alaskan economy damaged by declining oil revenue, bringing thousands of Chinese workers into the state. Lucy is partnered with Ricky Hao, a former Hong Kong police officer sent there through a rehabilitation program. Their friendship gives her a place in the camp’s Chinese community. When a worker is found dead, Lucy’s fascination with forensic science opens a career she never expected. As Chinese investment moves beyond the pipeline into Anchorage, her work places her between the people she has sworn to protect and a political power taking a larger role in Alaska’s future. Holly A. Bell’s Occupied Alaska is exceptional speculative fiction, and puts readers into a fully fleshed-out future remade by Chinese investment, through Lucy. The world-building is extensive, and Bell wastes no time in immersing us. I loved Talkeetna as the domed resort city created after Alaska turns toward Chinese development. Moving walkways carry visitors beneath an artificial sky toward an Arctic casino. Lucy is a fantastic main character and, in a testament to Bell’s skill, her forensic instincts remain central. And murder abounds! When two Chinese businessmen are found behind a Palmer restaurant, Lucy establishes that they were strangled before being shot, exposing an elaborate staging. Ricky is wonderful, and my favorite character, even ahead of Lucy. Well written and unique, readers who enjoy speculative mystery and atypical political fiction will adore this.

Holly A. Bell’s Occupied Alaska centers on a terrifyingly plausible scenario where an economic crisis forces a state to surrender its sovereignty through predatory infrastructure loans. Lucy Hall enters this high-stakes environment as an ordinary student in Alaska looking for a paycheck. As such, she ends up taking a remote position on a natural gas pipeline project. Her regular patrol takes a dark turn when she uncovers a brutal crime hidden beneath the icy surface of the northern workforce. Lucy uses her sharp deductive skills to resolve the crisis, inadvertently turning herself into a public face of cooperation between the residents and foreign administrators. As she transitions into higher law enforcement roles, she realizes that the mysterious deaths of several prominent businessmen are tied to high-level espionage and gated corporate enclaves. Will Lucy find a way to navigate this environment of constant surveillance before she loses her freedom and her life? Holly A. Bell’s Occupied Alaska is a geopolitical suspense novel that shines when it comes to believable character arcs and a true-to-life setting. Bell creates a solid journey for Lucy, tracking her growth from a lost young adult into a resilient lead detective who must constantly adapt to survive. We see this survival strategy a lot during her conversations with her older partner, whose timeless ideas about bending with the wind instead of breaking directly mirror how ordinary people behave in the region’s underground circles. I was particularly fascinated by the hidden drinking clubs. They deliver a genuine look at how regular folks hold on to their sanity and culture when foreign interests are strategically dominating their home. It’s a brilliant contrast to the main threat, as the story stays away from one-dimensional bad guys, choosing instead to focus on suited bosses and diplomats who covertly buy up assets through cash leverage and legal loopholes—not through violence alone. For readers tired of predictable suspense novels, this book offers a stunning reminder that the most devastating conquests can happen silently behind closed office doors long before the public ever notices. Captivating from beginning to end.

In Occupied Alaska by Holly A. Bell, Alaska is struggling economically, but it does have an abundance of one great needed resource – natural gas. When the State and Federal government decide they cannot afford the necessary infrastructure to develop and ship this resource to the world, the People’s Republic of China steps up to provide the necessary finance and manpower. This results in a mass influx of Chinese nationals into Alaska to work on the pipeline. Lucy Hall is a college student unsure of her final direction in life and, when she takes on a summer job as a security officer in the North Face pipeline camp, she quickly discovers not only an affinity for this type of work, but she is also able to relate to and empathize with the Chinese immigrants, many of whom were sent to Alaska as punishment for speaking out against their own government. As her newfound skills and abilities translate into future work opportunities, Lucy finds herself at the forefront of not just criminal investigations but shadowy political and business cabals, as well as Chinese nationals who are determined to escape the overarching watchdog that is the Chinese Communist Party. Occupied Alaska is a fascinating read partly because it is a scenario that is quite possible to see arising in the future. This particular type of financing is common practice in countries where China seeks to exert influence, and it is easy to consider it possibly happening in a U.S. state. What starts as economic investment can quickly morph into something much more sinister. Holly A. Bell has tapped into a thread that is currently running through the American psyche – what does it mean to be American? I enjoyed Lucy and her dogged determination to do a great job but also to understand and connect with the immigrant Chinese community. The added dimension of the LGBTQ+ perspective offered a creative difference to the standard suspense novel, giving it considerably more depth. With a twisting, turning plot where the question of who is watching whom becomes paramount, readers will be constantly turning pages to see where the clues will lead Lucy next. I appreciated the warm and caring relationships Lucy developed with her Chinese partners and the general Chinese population who all treated her like the hero she actually was. This is a thought-provoking and well-constructed novel that delves a little deeper than just an ordinary adventure thriller. I thoroughly enjoyed and highly recommend it.