STONE OF VENGEANCE. By Victor Thorpe

Author Victor Thorpe's plots (in his novels) are ingenious - and so it is here again in this adventure. Even the titular "stone" is an understatement, as the reference is actually to diamonds – diamonds that made certain unconscionable people rich beyond their dreams; though they would pay a heavy price for this many years later. The stones are "cursed" and later on bring horrific sickness, plagues and lingering death to those involved in the desecration and disappearance of them in the past, from the original sacred owners. And in the case of a particular woman brave enough to wear one of such glittering treasures on her neck, said neck is brutally slit! This adventure involves reporter and investigator, Paul Okoro and his lovely wife (Aimee) again; and there is death, horror, mystery, intrigues again. We are introduced to certain characters whose greed and ruthlessness would result in their downfall - all hinged on the original theft of priceless stones. Ironically the man who actually stole the diamonds at inception is the one who suffers most - and his children later on swear, and do all they can to recover the "stones". All this results in another brilliant story, with Thorpe's usual humour and the zest and never-say-die attitude of Okoro and wife. The police finally round up the miscreants one way or the other, until Mr Okoro triumphs – and is ready to enjoy his reward with his intrepid wife; "but not to buy diamonds (with the reward) for Ikoro's sake!"...

-         O Bolaji

THE MADNESS OF DIDI. By Obi Egbuna

Let me make one thing clear from the beginning: we Africans must never forget, or undermine the "old" books published by our early outstanding writers, and not only Achebe or Soyinka or Amadi. We should learn, investigate, do research on the so-called old classics and seek guidance from those older and more knowledgeable than we are in the process. This book is a good example, and I am very privileged I got to read a copy. The author, Obi Egbuna belonged to the top drawer of early African writers. From an early age he was based in England, Europe, but he never forgot his roots; he kept on paying tribute to his ancestry, race and continent. In this novel, Madness of Didi his depiction of African life in the villages or rural areas is superb. Like Achebe, Nwapa, Munonye, Amadi, Chukwuemeka Ike and others did. I concede that perhaps one should not be too carried away with old African life in villages etc; after all, when we read writers like Thomas Hardy or Meredith, we realise that life even among the whites, pre- industrial, pre-electricity etc in their own rural areas at the time was not so different from life in old African villages, with morality stricter and relative serenity in the mix. In this book, Egbuna however presents elements of mystery which make the protagonist very much a man of mystery; a man who had also spent many years overseas. Looking at the whole thing objectively though, we can see the point of the author - Africa suffered horrendously under the colonialists, with Congo just a small example. Countless Africans were butchered, tortured, killed, over-worked by the Belgians even in the 19th century; and during colonialism, so many Africans' lives were apparently worth nothing. Hence when Didi declares that when he was overseas, he had "only killed a few whites" to make a point, against the background of harsh colonialist history, his act becomes just a token, a miniature gesture of vendetta...

- Henry Ozogula