 |
Harry Johnson is a regular guy just scratching out a living as a cabbie when a young woman hops into his taxi and changes his life forever. The customer is being chased by thugs sent from Uganda. They are trying to kill her because, while in the USA in exile, she helps supply arms to Tunisian rebels fighting against Idi Amin.
Not only do readers get history lessons about Uganda in the 70s and disco life in the USA during the same time period, but the author also slips in information about Vietnam as Johnson describes his past to his passenger, Ekiwa Fahim. “The Viet Cong and the North Vietnamese army staged a surprise attack against villages, towns, and cities on the Vietnamese New Year," he explains.
Fahim yearns to return to Uganda, and Johnson can relate. He describes how leaving home was not a problem for him emotionally, but leaving the USA was what made him intensely lonesome. "I didn't get homesick until I went to Vietnam. It was a whole other world over there. Man, I missed America." Nationalism is a strong pull on the heartstrings in the novel.
Buchanan’s book is primarily a fast-paced, action-packed, and suspenseful historical novel, but it’s also a page-turner. The symbolism in the book might not be noticed at first, but it is subtly impressive. The characters are also well-drawn, and the tension resulting from issues such as personal priorities is expertly described. For example, Fahim angrily calls Johnson out for being selfish. She needs help, yet he thinks only of himself and his business. Not only is the writing superb, but also the history is presented in a fascinating way. This book could become a great movie someday. Readers won't put this one down until they are sublimely satisfied on the very last page.