Black Star Nairobi by Mukoma Wa Ngugi

Black Star Nairobi

Mukoma Wa Ngugi

A body found in the Ngong forest launches Ishmael and O, two private detectives, on a bloody search for the murderers across two continents. But this is more than just a murder story. It is about how high politics and the desire for change can be warped and perverted into a maelstrom of chaos, bloodshed and general mayhem in which a whole country (Kenya) can be sacrificed for someone's idea of the greater good.

Extract
We followed him as he led a long procession of drunken men and women, with guitarists dispersed among us playing different tunes and people singing different songs - chaos. We went through the slum picking up more and more people, until at the bottom of the hill we came to an oasis - a massive new school. I hadn't seen grass or trees as we walked down, yet here pavements cut across green lawns leading to four new stone buildings with red-tiled roofs.
The whole procession walked around the school, meandering in and out of the new classrooms, the teachers' lounge, the lab, the students' dining room and the newly built pit latrines.
Parallels
  • Young Blood by Sifiso Mzobe
  • The Hairdresser of Harare by Tendai Huchu
  • Country of My Skull by Antjie Krog