A Collection of short stories about terrorism in Nigeria

Michael Owoyemi is about to close a multi-million dollar business deal on behalf of his demanding employer. On the Monday morning scheduled for the closure of the deal, Biola Owoyemi, his usually reserved wife, physically restrains him from leaving their Ibadan home, insisting that he must stay at home to protect her and their first and only child, their two-month old son, from unnamed forces keen on snatching their child away from them.

In this fabulous follow-up to the internationally acclaimed The Lazarus Effect, newspaper reporter Vee Johnson reprieves her role as Cape Town’s most feisty female investigator. Vee and her ever-faithful sidekick, Chlöe Bishop, have been banished from City Chronicle’s newsroom to review a tourist lodge in sleepy Oudtshoorn. But Vee and Chlöe are barely checked in to their rooms when the first body is discovered… hanging from a tree, with Vee’s purple silk scarf used as a noose. But is it suicide or strangulation? As Vee investigates the death, she is pulled into a bewildering world of conferences and corruption, dog-walking and drug addiction, break-ins and black    economic empowerment.

On her deathbed, Leona seeks forgiveness by confessional. Dastardly as the sin is, it is an act of love, loyalty, disobedience, and perceived fairness. How did she get here, where she, an internationally renowned model, is forced to kill her father-in-law to avenge her mother’s death?

The years between 1984 and 1993 were momentous for Nigeria. Military rule crafted the conditions and character of today’s society, forcing cataclysmic changes on the political, economic and religious landscape that nearly tore the country apart on several occasions.

Soldiers of Fortune is a fast-paced, thrilling yet objective analysis of the major events of the Buhari and Babangida eras. It reveals the true story behind past controversies such as the annulment of the June 12 election, the execution of Mamman Vatsa, the foiled kidnapping of Umaru Dikko, the Orkar coups and the assassination of Dele Giwa.

Imprisoned for ten years for his rage against society, activist and retired academic Prof resolves to live a life of darkness after his release from prison. He holes up in his apartment, pushing away friends and family, and embraces his status as an urban legend in the neighbourhood until a knock at the door shakes his new existence.

His new visitor is Desire, an orphan and final year student, who has grown up idolising Prof, following a fateful encounter in her hometown of Maroko as a child. Tentatively, the two begin to form a bond, as she returns every night at 9pm to see him. However, the darkness of the room becomes a steady torment, that threatens to drive Desire away for good.

Religious fervour culminates in an exorcism for one unfortunate maid. A harrowing encounter on a train haunts Añuli. A mother abandons her child in search of personal freedom. A wife joins her husband, only to be met with news that threatens their relationship.