You can tell this was Keefe's first novel, and that's not an insult, but after reading Say Nothing and Empire of Pain, you can tell that he has become a refined non-fiction author, has honed his skill and adapted his reporting skills to larger pieces. The Snakehead isn't a bad book, it follows Keefe's famous structure of picking one key figure and building outwards and it works, but Snakehead misses the grittiness of Keefe's other work. The one thing it doesn't miss though, and is truly what makes this one a harrowing and difficult read, is the commentary surrounding illegal immigration. First published in 2009, the points Keefe hits on, especially in the epilogue, could be published today in regards to the asylum crisis of 2023. It lays bare the difficult discussion of why people leave their homes, why they take such trechourous journeys in the hopes of somewhere might just be a little bit better than home, and the difficulties they face once they land on solid ground once more. It's uncomfortable to read, 14 years later, and unfortunately accept that we've done nothing, that governments still demonise asylum seekers and regard them as aliens. Like always, Keefe makes you think.