From Publishers Weekly
Dold ( Rude Boys ) captures the mingled allure and misery of Africa in this gripping, ninth Mitch Roberts mystery. Roberts, an American PI and weapons expert living temporarily in London, is approached by an insurance underwriter at Lloyd's named Slade. Lloyd's carries the insurance for a copper-mining business based in Zaire; a doctor in its employ has been kidnapped and Slade hires Roberts to find and recover her. The journey to Africa introduces Roberts to oppressive heat, lawlessness and the everpresent danger of tropical illness. Luckily, his African contact is Adam Mbenga, who provides stalwart assistance and unswerving friendship. Dold hits a few off-notes, notably with the lack of immediacy regarding the kidnapping itself and an afterthought-like nod to Africa's AIDS crisis. But in prose that exhibits great descriptive force, the novel raises difficult moral questions of life-and-death significance, dramatically framed by the novel's harsh and unforgiving background.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Mitch Roberts, an American adventurer living in London, is hired by Lloyds to go to Zaire and pay a ransom. The kidnapping victim is Elyse Revelle, a doctor working for the EuroCopper mining company, who has devoted much of her time and resources to helping Africans in need of medical care. Roberts finds himself overwhelmed by Africa's beauty, poverty, and cruelty. In Zaire, he is met by Adam Mbenga, an African who works with Revelle and serves as Mitch's guide. Roberts finds danger at every turn and learns that no one and nothing are as they seem. This novel by the author of Rude Boys (St. Martin's, 1992) examines relationships between people and the emotions that motivate them to risk their lives for one another. Although the mystery of Revelle's kidnapping is important, it is the psychological journey taken by Roberts that is most engrossing. Recommended for public libraries.
- Roberta Pessah, St. John's Univ., New YorkCopyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.