Rothman (The Solomon Scandals) does a brutally effective job of displaying the appalling conditions in this broken society, seen through the eyes of a man reflecting on his boyhood: for example, soldiers give a 13-year-old-boy a rifle and force him to kill—or face death himself. The warfare becomes almost surreal, as when Lemba must help hijack a freighter. The Purifiers negotiate a fee for the return of the ship while feasting on lamb chops and leaving armed children in charge of the prisoners. Some readers may find the level of brutality off-putting, and some plot turns strain credulity, but scenes of good people trying to survive in a sick society are deeply engaging.
Also memorable are some of the principal characters. Purifier general "Demon Killer" is an astonishingly effective portrait of a sociopath—a vicious man who has created a bizarre worship ceremony surrounding guns. We see through Lemba's eyes his fellow child soldier Mpasi, a dark reflection of what Lemba might have become: “You can be a victim and still be a bad person," he notes. And Lemba himself, whose chillingly emotionless recollections of his violent childhood highlight the extent of his damaged personality. Thanks to his ability to remember, we get a disturbing ringside view of the worst horrors of modern Africa.
Takeaway: A gripping, brutal account of a near-future African war, narrated by a young soldier.
Great for fans of: Ishmael Beah’s A Long Way Gone, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Half of a Yellow Sun, Patricia McCormick’s Sold.
Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: B+
"The writing is well-edited, smooth and impactful. Mixing invented tribes with well-vetted facts about the Congo, the author creates a tense narrative in which scenes of degradation and violence are effective without being overly graphic. For example, early on a boy is commanded to shoot his parents, 'who crumpled to the ground, their polka dot clothes stained with blood'... "
"In this gripping story, Rothman delivers an immensely appealing young protagonist whose brisk, first-person narration teems with colorful details. Lemba describes a video game joystick as 'a distant cousin of my third-hand rifle' and rubs shoulders with a street hustler that has 'a built-in GPS for sleaze.'”
