TOP 4 NOTABLE NEW RELEASES OF AFRICAN BOOKS FOR 2014

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 4 FOREIGN GODS

Foreign Gods, Inc., tells the story of Ike, a New York-based Nigerian cab driver who sets out to steal the statue of an ancient war deity from his home village and sell it to a New York gallery.
Ike’s plan is fueled by desperation. Despite a degree in economics from a major American college, his strong accent has barred him from the corporate world. Forced to eke out a living as a cab driver, he is unable to manage the emotional and material needs of a temperamental African American bride and a widowed mother demanding financial support. When he turns to gambling, his mounting losses compound his woes.
And so he travels back to Nigeria to steal the statue, where he has to deal with old friends, family, and a mounting conflict between those in the village who worship the deity, and those who practice Christianity.
A meditation on the dreams, promises and frustrations of the immigrant life in America; the nature and impact of religious conflicts; an examination of the ways in which modern culture creates or heightens infatuation with the “exotic,” including the desire to own strange objects and hanker after ineffable illusions; and an exploration of the shifting nature of memory, Foreign Gods is a brilliant work of fiction that illuminates our globally interconnected world like no other.









 3  STRAW DOGS

Shola Dina, son of a wealthy Nigerian socialite, is forced to flee from Nigeria to New York after the Abacha regime assassinates his father and threatens his life. As an émigré in New York, he gets entangled in a plot to assassinate President Bill Clinton – a plot organised by a secretive right-wing Chinese organisation.

2  Operation A-Men

An intricate plot by a religious fanatic to guarantee a major Middle East investment in Nigeria. This leads into the development of a secret committee of stakeholders willing to do anything to get the deal.
They call themselves the A-MEN committee.
Their task is to increase the country’s Muslim follower-ship thereby convincing the would-be investors to deal.
They employ the services of two professional Assassins to undertake a nationwide massacre of prominent religious leaders.
Their philosophy.
Kill the shepherd and the sheep automatically scatters.






 1 THE SECRET HISTORY OF LAS VEGAS


Before he can retire, Las Vegas detective Salazar is determined to solve a recent spate of murders. When he encounters a pair of conjoined twins with a container of blood near their car, he’s sure he has apprehended the killers, and enlists the help of Dr. Sunil Singh, a South African transplant who specializes in the study of psychopaths. As Sunil tries to crack the twins, the implications of his research grow darker. Haunted by his betrayal of loved ones back home during apartheid, he seeks solace in the love of Asia, a prostitute with hopes of escaping that life. But Sunil’s own troubled past is fast on his heels in the form of a would-be assassin. Suspenseful through the last page, The Secret History of Las Vegas is Chris Abani’s most accomplished work to date, with his trademark visionary prose and a striking compassion for the inner lives of outsiders.