I am pleased to announce the publication of my newest novel. It is entitled Finding Kony. Obviously, for folks knowledgeable about Africa, it is a story about Joseph Kony, the now long-missing messianic leader of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Under Kony's leadership the LRA arose in the mid-1980s to challenge Museveni's takeover of the Acholi homeland in northern Uganda. Channeling spirits, Kony appealed both to Acholi mysticism as well as their fear of Museveni's army to rally thousands to his cause. Despite initial success, LRA fortunes soon waned. Consequently, it turned to terrorism - violence against civilians, mutilations, pillaging homesteads, and kidnapping of children compelling them to become fighters or sexual slaves. Such actions soiled the LRA in the eyes of the world and it became a pariah. Yet it remained a fearful opponent.
After resolution of the civil war in neighboring Sudan in 2005, the LRA fled west from Uganda into desolate regions of southern Sudan, the Congo and the Central African Republic. A military force from affected states joined by the United States carried the fight to those regions. Over the years under pressure the LRA wasted away and became defunct, but Kony, who had been indicted by the International Criminal Court, was never apprehended. He is still out there.
This is the framework for my novel. My hero, Paul Simmons, a freelance journalist based in Kenya, pursues a quest to find Kony, and to interview him. Along the way he learns much about Kony, about the LRA, its victims, and its adherents. Complementing Paul's efforts is a parallel plot of murders in contemporary Uganda. It all eventually comes together even as Paul heads into the wilds of western Sudan on the trail of the elusive general.
The book is available from Amazon.com in both ebook and paperback. Enjoy
Opportunity: If any readers of this blog volunteer to write and post a review of the book on Amazon or elsewhere, let me know in the comment section below and I'll send you a copy.
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