Thursday, August 10, 2006

Blog Out! - Non-Fiction

While I have a healthy books-to-read list (I'm currently on RIGHT AS RAIN by G. Pelecanos) I'm always on the lookout to add to the list. Thanks to a recent "Fresh Air "on NPR I came across The Wonga Coup by Adam Roberts. Here's a Seattle Times review of the book.

If you enjoy political and military thrillers, how about a non-fiction account of the attempted coup of the small African nation Equatorial Guinea ... by a group of about 100 Mercenaries employed by a group of well-to-do British/South African citizens. Yeah, when this story first broke in 2004 I had to do a double take on the Yahoo! News headline. From the few news articles I've read and the wonderful interview with author Adam Roberts on "Fresh Air" I've come to understand that the planners of the attempted coup basically considered it a get-even-richer scheme. The basic idea was to plant a native figurehead and stealthily steal the small nation's rich oil profits. The details and results of this ignominious exercise in arrogance and narcissism are interesting, laughable, and entertaining all at the same time. I hope I snag this book sooner than later ... it is going to make for one hell-of-a read.

2 comments:

yll said...

Did you read the other Derek Strange books by George P.? I recently bought the series for my boyfriend. I just finished a Sidney Sheldon book, if you liked George P, you'll like Sheldon.

I'd love to hear more about the coup after you finish this book.

v said...

This is my second Derek Strange series book. I read HELL TO PAY a couple books before starting RIGHT AS RAIN. I'll keep an eye out for books by Sheldon; thanks for the tip.