Product Description

Armstrong McKay is an ordinary Essex school teacher whose life would have remained contentedly mundane had he not fallen for Rebecca, a lovely, moral girl determined to make her contribution by taking a teaching contract in a small, central African country. Armstrong's life spirals out of control when she is killed in a road accident and, flying out to bring her body home, he discovers that Rebecca was butchered by a renegade gang rampaging across a countryside mangled by two civil wars. With the rule of law hardly extending beyond the main cities, Armstrong is faced with a stark choice: run home with his tail tucked between his legs, or mete out justice himself. Guided by Temba Mbanga, whose wife died with Rebecca, and goaded by the cry of Kisasi the Justice Bird, he sets about hunting the killers across a land slithering uncontrollably into the anarchy of yet another civil war. Armstrong's resilience, his humour, and his eye for a pretty girl carry him through as the two men wade deeper and deeper into a dark chaos of horror and destruction.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #543638 in Books
• Published on: 2007-07-10
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From the Publisher
This is a thrilling first novel from an author who has won
acclaim as a short-story teller, having won both the Bridport International
Short Story Competition and the Royal Society of Literature's VS Pritchett
Prize, and it shows in the pace, the tight plot and the sheer exuberance of
his writing. Jon knows his subject, Africa at it most beautiful and most
carnally violent, and he describes a galaxy of vivid characters with
insight and compassion. I hope you'll find much to savour in his book but
be warned: this is no mindless romp. The author spares nothing in
describing the excesses of a truly African civil war yet I bet you'll find
much to make you laugh.
If Wilbur Smith is the proud old lion of African thriller-writing, perhaps
he needs to watch this new challenge.

From the Back Cover
Boromundi, a small African state, ravaged by civil war...
Rebecca Wise and Annabel Mbanga, two young women on an outing, are dragged
from their minibus into the roadside mud, raped, and horribly mutilated.
Devastated by the death of the girl he loves but unaware of the crime
behind it, Armstrong McKay flies out to bring Rebecca's body home. Amid the
dancing, drink and catharsis of Rebecca's wake, he meets Temba Mbanga,
Annabel's husband, who reveals the brutal truth.
Faced with a weak government and the severed stump of the Boromundian legal
system, the two men wrestle with a stark choice: turn aside as the
authorities wash their hands of murder, or mete out justice themselves.
In the darkness of the early morning rain, surrounded by the grating cry of
Kisasi the Justice Bird, they make their decision: to track down the
murderers one by one - and execute them.
Only then will the Justice Bird be silent...

About the Author
Born and reared in east Africa, educated in England, Jon
returned to teach and travel in Africa and the Caribbean, their vivid
landscapes and warm peoples providing the inspiration for his writing. His
successes have included winning two major international short story
competitions, the Bridport Prize and the Royal Society of Literature's VS
Pritchett Prize.
After thirty challenging years teaching in secondary schools, he still
loves his dark continent but, when he changed career, felt it wiser to
watch developments from the safety of a post office on a remote peninsula
in the Scottish Highlands.

Customer Reviews

Cry of the Justice Bird
I have not read this author in print before, but if this is a typical example of his writing I can't wait to find more of his work.
This is a fast moving story set in Africa, which involves the reader from the very first page. It is eminently readable and one is loathe to put it down once one has started to read. The tale is on the lines of a Wilbur Smith book and, like so many of his, reflects a sound knowledge of the African environment.
Whilst a great deal of the narration is harsh and brutal, there is much to help the reader to understand the terrible situation in which the hero finds himself and the way in which he becomes embroiled in the politics and conflict of an emerging African stste, while he seeks to revenge the killing of his girlfriend. For those who have clear memories of films made some twenty or so years ago, the overall impression they might be left with is that of a Michael Caine type voice-over as the hero narrates the tale in the first person. For all the hideous and graphically described actions which Armstrong McKay has to undertake in his search for justice, we are forced to understand his motives and to come to a full understanding of his motives, a total sympathy with his position, and an appreciation of the finer parts of his character.
It should also be mentioned that one of the greatest strengths of the author is his ability to portray graphically the various African landscapes and the moods and threats of the geography of the regions through which the action travels.
A first-rate read, which I can recommend to others!

Cry of the Justice Bird
Cry of the Justice Bird is a very exciting, evocative and accessible adventure. The author not only brings the setting to life but manages to maintain a sense of realism in the characters, especially the protagonist Armstrong, with which the reader can identify. At no point was I able to predict what was going to happen next. Highly recommended and not for the faint-hearted!

Book review
Wow - this explains what was going on in Africa at the time. The west should understand the politics, practicalities and tribal influences involved.