A tale of survivors and suspense

Little Bee

By Chris Cleave

Simon and Schuster, 271 pages, $24

Remember Chris Cleave’s notorious novel, “Incendiary,” written in the form of an open letter to Osama bin Laden and published the day of the London terrorist bombings? Cleave is back, with a similarly electric novel. At its heart is a young woman escaping a UK immigration detention center in Essex who connects with a British woman she met years before in Nigeria. Please don’t fear a dull, worthy novel with a message — this is a suspenseful tale of two women survivors.