Lightseekers

In Lightseekers, a psychologically-intriguing whydunit – the who is known, the why is the mystery – Femi Kayode skilfully traverses the insider / outsider shifts in perspectives of Philip Taiwo, recently returned to Nigeria from the USA. He manages simultaneously to locate the tension against a seething backdrop of the chaos, religious conflict, simmering violence and corruption often assumed endemic to Africa, while pointing to both their colonial roots and their contemporary parallels in the US. The themes of police complicity, gun-toting civilians, social media as a mechanism for divisiveness and the ripples of trauma are given both local specificity and global recognition. The combination of vivid context, relatable characters and disturbing plot make for compelling, albeit dark, reading.