Hawkers -Pokers by Kinyanjui Kombani is a fictional novel. With the title shadowing the noun ‘hocus-pocus’ which means words of deception, trickery or miss-presentation, so are these aspects evident in the novel.
Its setting revolves around Nairobi majorly
the Central Business District and Ngara. It is safe to call it a contemporary
text since it wades in the waters of current happenings. It’s a curiosity
magnet, through its captivity. It opens up with a rescue ordeal where the
location of a kidnapped billionaire’s son had been found and thus surrounded by
all walks of security authorities. The entire mission is being broadcasted on
national televisions. This mission acts as the first piece in a jigsaw puzzle
as it leads to a forging of friendship through which we get to explore; a
manager in a financial firm who falls for “money multiplication miracle”, a
woman secretly giving up her child so the child is brought up in a better world
and the climax of it is when the cat is finally let out of the bag leaving
everyone, including you the reader, dumbfounded.
Other than the
liveliness of the setting, this book is rich in characterization and the plot.
In regards to the former, characters have been distinctively and gradually
built throughout the book. They are perfectly mirroring the society; it’s being
and it’s partaking. The plot is cleverly unravelling the narration in a
riveting way. With its foreshadow-current-flashback interchange It low-key
reminds me of the classic God Father Trilogy.
The cover page is
nothing short of being on point. The graphics designer understood the
assignment. The font type and size make it easy and motivating to the reader to
immerse him or herself in the book. The pages are well set and chapters clearly
articulated.
Here are some of
my favorite quotes from the book;
“ In this big city, (Nairobi) there is always
someone with a need, and to succeed here you need to know where the solutions
lie.”
“ In the streets, knowledge of football and
football trends is very important. Developments in the English Premier League
are particularly critical for survival.”
"If
there is anything in the world more dangerous than a beautiful girl, it is a
beautiful girl who knows she is beautiful "
“You don't miss what you've never had...... You
only start to realize you are poor when you find out other people have what you
don't”
“ Life has taught me that there is someone
somewhere who needs something and someone somewhere who wants to dispose of the
same thing.”
“ Never argue with robbers, don't resist them,
don't be a hero.”
On the flipside,
the book has some grammatical errors. Mostly errors of omission. This compelled
me to check the name of the editor(s) but I found none. I however could not
fail to see that it was published by Longhorn publishers. To them I dare point
a finger of blame.
Do I recommend
this book? …oh yeah! 99.99999%. I could not place the book down, not even to
let it rest on my laps, right from the moment I opened the first page. I
enjoyed every bit of the reading. I giggled, smiled, laughed and frowned too. I
learnt and unlearnt. If you are into fiction, if you are into contemporary
writing, if you want to see the picture of Nairobi and that of life in words,
if you are just after entertaining yourself, then this is the book to indulge
yourself in.
A copy goes at 500
Kenyan shillings. I don’t know how much it cost at your local bookstore but
even if it is more than the 500/=, trust me, the book is still worth more than
that.
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