Reviews & Praise
“Bala delves into the messy workings of international philanthropy in her thoughtful follow-up to The Boat People. When Children of the World, a struggling nonprofit founded by an aging rock star, hires seasoned PR professional Clare Talbot to revive its fortunes, she invites Hollywood actor Dallas Hayden to visit their clinic in the Latin American country of Santa Rosa. Dallas’s immediate bond with Maria, an ill child from a near-destitute family, prompts her to aggressively pursue adoption—never mind Maria’s loving family—and pledge a hefty donation to Children of the World. Moral queasiness aside, Clare accepts the apparent victory. Then the story gets picked up by tenacious freelance journalist Emmanuelle Clemmons, who digs into both the details of Maria’s adoption and the operations of Children of the World, unearthing a string of unsavory practices that force Clare to reckon with her dreams of “doing good.” Bala’s blackly comic tale rotates through a kaleidoscopic cast of narrators, each of whom believes themselves to be the hero in their own story. With a satirical eye that never tips into cynicism, Bala delivers a quietly profound, thriller-adjacent dissection of global inequality that bruises even as it entertains.”
“This morally charged drama takes a clear-eyed look at power, money, and the uneasy line between helping and harming. Veteran publicist Claire Talbot has spent her career polishing the images of people she no longer believes in, so taking a job at an underfunded children’s aid organization feels like a chance at redemption. She sets up an attention-grabbing visit to one of the charity’s sites by the hot young actress Dallas Hayden, designed to attract cameras and donors. But the great publicity takes an unexpected turn when Dallas’ impulsive philanthropic gesture uncovers uncomfortable truths about the program, forcing Claire and her colleagues to confront whether they’re genuinely doing the right thing. Author Sharon Bala writes about flawed people with real empathy—but without letting them off the hook. Good Guys reads like a thriller with real philosophical tension, showing how good intentions can curdle once money and personal ambition enter the picture.”
""In Good Guys, Sharon Bala takes on the world of charity with kaleidoscopic elegance, turning the crystalline glass of her prose again and again to show us a system both gorgeous and fractured. Bala writes heartbreakingly about those seeking help however they can and the shifting motivations of those attempting to provide it. If you care about others, you will love these pages and what they ask of you: to think about what goodness is, what shape it takes, how it aligns with power, and to whom it belongs. This book is relentlessly original, and also an old-fashioned page turner that will have your heart in your throat."
- V.V. Ganeshananthan, author of Brotherless Night
"Good Guys is astounding. The satire is so nuanced and artfully done that one can’t help but feel empathy in spite of oneself. I was riveted by the story, by the characters, even as I despised some of them. This thoughtful, emotionally compelling novel is necessary in a world of binary thinking and performative gestures.”
-Jenny Heijun Wills, author of Older Sister. Not Necessarily Related
“I couldn’t put this novel down. I ended up bingeing it in two days. You know that kind of book? It’s full of office politics that have terrible consequences. Many of the characters are flawed in the most delicious ways. It’s a satire, a send up, about a charity falling from grace—what happens when good intentions go bad. The main character is named Claire and I didn’t take this personally. This novel is timely, too. Good Guys asks important questions about autonomy, colonial legacies, and self-determination.”
-Claire Cameron, author of How to Survive a Bear Attack