Local author Ken Miller has penned an enthralling tale of intrigue set among arms dealers and pirates. A community activist who serves on Tacoma Housing Authority, Miller reveals a great talent for writing in his new novel.
U.S. Representative Adam Smith, another Tacoma resident, wrote the forward. Smith has long warned of the impact that failed states have on American interests, as nations such as Afghanistan and Somalia tend to become safe havens for terrorists.
He does so again here. Pirates did not disappear after the Barbary Coast incidents during the age of Thomas Jefferson; Smith points out the recent problems off the coast of Somalia, including the capture of an American cargo ship that resulted in the crew being rescued by U.S. Navy SEALS.
“Langata Rules” begins with pirates capturing a ship and bringing it to their base in Denakbe, a port city in an unnamed Africa nation.
The plot soon thickens. The cargo is military vehicles from Russia, something along the line of the Strykers used by the U.S. Army.
Their buyer is Dwe, leader of a rebel faction seeking to overthrow an African government. His broker is Ian Kell, a shady arms dealer based in Nairobi, Kenya.
Tembley Marine Services, a private firm with ties to the British government, arranged the shipment. They send Drew, a Jack Bauer-type character, to Africa to sort out the mess.
Other entities follow the saga; the U.S. State Department, the U.S. Navy, an oil company and various spies and arms traffickers.
Different characters have various interests at stake, including keeping oil flowing, choosing sides between Dwe and the government he battles and maintaining safe shipping lines for private industry.
Miller develops several of the characters enough to give some insight into the seemingly endless rebellions that envelop Africa. Dwe was a simple farmer in his youth. Two of his sons died as infants, then his wife and another baby died during childbirth. The grinding poverty and what he perceives as greed and corruption in his government turn him into a rebel. Dwe is a brute, but we at least understand why.
Koram is one of his soldiers. He was a young boy herding goats one day when military men came to his village. After they killed his mother and raped his sister, Koram took up arms.
“Langata Rules” is a thrilling tale of piracy and espionage, but more importantly, it describes the real chaos that has made much of Africa unstable.
