Immediately I read the first two pages of Lawrence Amaeshi’s Sweet Crude Odyssey, I knew I wanted to make it a book of the month. And guess what? I devoured the fast-paced, gripping novel within a few hours, and I had a lot to think about. Interestingly, other literary bloggers are partnering with us on the book of the month project. They have read the book and absolutely love it.
Okadabooks.com will be sending out a review of the book and Olivia Ndubisi of @openbooknigeria will be chatting with him on a tweet-meet. Zahrah Nesbitt-Ahmed of Bookshybooks.com will be hosting the author alongside Lola Opatayo. Award-winning author, Obinna Udenwe has already conducted an indepth interview with the author. You”ll get a link to the interview when it goes live.
The book has been tagged the next biggest Niger Delta oil war novel, but I’ll tell you it’s even better. Join us on the upcoming tweet meet and online book chat. He’ll be available to take your questions.
At the end of the month, we’ll hold a giveaway. But you don’t have to wait until then. Copies are available on Barnes&Noble, Amazon, Okadabooks and Lanterna Bookstore, Lagos.
Book Description:
15 September 2004. Bonny Island, Nigeria
“Been watching you.” He let the smoke out of his mouth as he spoke.
“Judging from the way you guzzled those bottles, I can tell you need a life coach. “I can make you rich. Richer than you’ve ever imagined.”
In the international market, they call it sweet crude – crude oil with low sulfur content. It flows in the oil rich Niger Delta region and is targeted by oil thieves, who siphon it from the pipelines and sell to the highest bidder.
Crude oil black market is staked with blood and immense wealth, encircling rich barons in international cities and savage militants down at the Niger Delta creeks. This is the world Bruce Telema is lured into. Spurred by desperation and pulled by the allure of immense riches, Bruce plunges into this dark abyss of betrayal and destruction, striking illicit million dollar deals and battling security forces and rival militants. But steadily, even as he outruns poverty and gains a fearsome reputation in the oil cabal, death, karma and the law stay close on his heels.
About The Author:
Lawrence Amaeshi writes prose fiction and non-fiction. His first novel, Sweet Crude Odyssey, was published under the Prestige label of Kachifo Ltd. His book has been featured on Vanguard, Kirkus, Clarion, Creative Writing News, Reader’s View amongst other renowned literary review critics. He is rounding off a long-distance learning novel-writing course in Stanford University. He lives in Lagos with his wife and kids. He is working on his second novel.
The amazing Sweet Crude Odyssey by Lawrence Amaeshi is now available on Barnes&Noble, Amazon and Okadabooks.
A review of the novel was recently published in the Arts and Culture section of BellaNaija Review and the Vanguard Newspaper