Book in Review: SATANS & SHAITANS
Author Obinna Udenwe
Publisher AMAB
BOOKS 2016 (First published: JACARANDA BOOKS, 2014.)
No of Pages 292
If a fellowship of
masters of intrigue in Nigerian literature exists, Obinna Udenwe should
definitely be a senior fellow. His dexterity at infusing crime fiction with
this tale of terrorism is truly ingenious.
The book SATANS AND
SHAITANS, is a page turner that kept me on the edge of my seat (or table; as
the case was at some points), and had me holding my breath in anticipation till
the last page.
The story has an
intense plot, with shriek-inducing twists that shocked me no end; I felt myself
guessing the next move unsuccessfully, and being pleasantly surprised— chapter after
chapter.
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| S & S AMAB Cover |
Power, a pernicious
occult movement, and the quest to overthrow the government of the day form a
dangerous triad in this novel. This tripod is the basis upon which killings and
attacks are carried out; all under the guise of forming an Islamic state in a country
as multi cultural and multi religious as Nigeria. In this instance, the author
may have hit too close to home, and may run the risk of inciting further
mistrust from his people, but then, do we not all learn that art mirrors life?
The Sacred Order has
members from all over the world and in Nigeria, their top officials include the
world renowned Evangelist Chris Chuba, the extremely wealthy industrialist Chief
Amaechi and a couple of people in government. The order does not smile at
members who disagree with status quo, so killings are rife. Deadly as they are
though, they are unable to envisage that the jihadist movement which they set
in motion will turn around with an agenda of its own. This author is very adept
at showing that human nature is the most slippery substance. Not to be trusted
and definitely not to be underestimated.
Beneath all the dark
machinations of terrorism is a painfully beautiful love story, between the
young children of two senior members of The Sacred order. Children who have each
endured sheltered lives till their eyes meet and love pushes them to break down
the barricades meant to ensure physical and social order, but which have
nothing on their hearts. But, in the words of the poet Toni Kan, ‘What is
temptation, if you do not fall?’
Their love is so
beautiful— as the young couple falls, you fall along with them and hope their
love never ends. But this is a rather hazy dream because the book starts with a
painful discovery that the girl is missing. Your nerves are not calmed either
when you read that her head is wanted by the order as requirement for her
father’s continued rise. But the order does not have her, so you keep
wondering; who does? And so the suspense continues, you keep hoping Adeline
will appear and continue her love with Donaldo, and then you find out she was
killed – and in unbelievable circumstances too.
Obinna Udenwe sure
knows how to twist a tale!
This is one fast
paced story and even though this novel is quite ambitious, the writer’s ability
to pace the story well and create unforeseeable plot twists adds immensely to
the suspense and joy of reading.
Early in the book, I
recognized one thing; this author has a thing for hair. If this craze did not come to the fore with mostly
male characters, this reviewer would have declared it a ‘fetish’. Well, maybe
it is a fetish afterall.
Of Chief Amaechi, we
read in page 165 ‘… his full hair was well combed’. In page 51, we read ‘A big
man with fine combed, bushy hair and a clean shaven face was standing beside
the sheik’. The instances go on with other characters in the book.
The assassination of
the Minister of Justice left me in doubt though. It came off too easy, with no
resistance from armed security personnel who were not said to be part of the
plan. It is highly implausible that one man could bore a hole big enough to
contain an adult male, into a concrete fence in the quiet of the night without
arousing any interest, or that a handsaw would work its way through a metal
grille without the sounds waking anyone up. But hey, maybe I’ve seen too many
spy movies.
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| S and S Jacaranda cover |
Have I mentioned that
the author is blood happy? So many characters die in the book (and no, I don’t mean
victims of bombings or other acts of terrorism). I suppose in certain ways this
could be a plus. Not many writers have the surgical capacity to kill off a character
when they outlive their usefulness, or to buttress the fact of another
character’s psychological state.
Now that the book
has finally been published in Nigeria and thus made more accessible to the
Nigerian reading public, I hope you all go out there and buy it. It is a must
read!
