Instruments of Darkness
By (Author) Robert Wilson
HarperCollins Publishers
HarperCollins
27th November 2002
United Kingdom
General
Fiction
Crime and mystery fiction
823.914
Paperback
320
Width 111mm, Height 178mm, Spine 25mm
210g
'First in a field of one' (Literary Review) Robert Wilson's first novel, a tense and powerful thriller set in the sultry heat of West Africa Benin, West Africa. Englishman Bruce Medway operates as a 'fixer' for traders along the part of the coast they used to call the White Man's Grave. It's a tough existence, but Medway can handle it...until he crosses the formidable Madame Severnou. Warned off by his client, Jack Obuasi, his energies are redirected into the search for missing expat Steven Kershaw. Kershaw, though, is a man of mystery: trader, artist, womanizer...and sado-masochist. Against background rumblings of political disturbance, in the face of official corruption, egged on by an enigmatic policeman, Medway pursues his elusive quarry across West Africa. Is Kershaw tied to Obuasi's and Madame Severnou's shady dealings Is he a vicious murderer Is he, indeed, alive or dead
'Unmissable Unflinchingly imagined and executed. No hint of competition' Literary Review 'A class act' Sunday Times 'An atmospheric and absorbing debut, Instruments of Darkness vividly paints a credible picture of a world I know almost nothing about. Now I feel I've been there' Val McDermid
Robert Wilson spent several years in West Africa and draws on this experience in his novels. He and his wife now live in Portugal.