- Paperback: 320 pages
- Publisher: HarperCollins; (Reissue) edition (4 Oct 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0006513883
- ISBN-13: 978-0006513889
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 13 x 2.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 1,076,831 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
Instruments of Darkness
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Product Description
Review
‘Unmissable… Unflinchingly imagined and executed. No hint of competition’
Literary Review
‘A class act’
Sunday Times
‘An atmospheric and absorbing debut, Instruments of Darkness vividly paints a credible picture of a world I know almost nothing about. Now I feel I’ve been there’
Val McDermid
Product Description
‘First in a field of one’ (Literary Review) Robert Wilson’s first novel, a tense and powerful thriller set in the sultry heat of West Africa.
Benin, West Africa. Englishman Bruce Medway operates as a ‘fixer’ for traders along the part of the coast they used to call the White Man’s Grave. It’s a tough existence, but Medway can handle it… until he crosses the formidable Madame Severnou. Warned off by his client, Jack Obuasi, his energies are redirected into the search for missing expat Steven Kershaw. Kershaw, though, is a man of mystery: trader, artist, womanizer… and sado-masochist.
Against background rumblings of political disturbance, in the face of official corruption, egged on by an enigmatic policeman, Medway pursues his elusive quarry across West Africa. Is Kershaw tied to Obuasi’s and Madame Severnou’s shady dealings? Is he a vicious murderer? Is he, indeed, alive or dead?
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First Sentence
There were a few worse places to be in the world than outside warehouse 2 in Cotonou Port, but I couldn't think of them. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
There were a few worse places to be in the world than outside warehouse 2 in Cotonou Port, but I couldn't think of them. Read the first page
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
25 of 25 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Robert Wilson's Bruce Medway series begins with this book. Medway is a freelance go-between who is hired while delivering the payment on previous deal to find a missing Englishman in West AFrica. Wilson maintains suspense on several levels as the action methodically unfolds. The slow development of relationships among the main characters successfully creates an atmosphere of edgy foreshadowing, enahanced by the gradual unravelling of the political situation. Medway carefully navigates through the political and social realities of modern day Africa, all the while operating on the edges of safety. This book is an outstanding read in the Raymond Chandler genre.
I came to this book straight from reading Wilson's later thriller, A Small Death in Lisbon. I was expecting to be slightly disappointed because I am not at all interested in Africa, however this book captured my interest from the first paragraph and never let up on the excitement.
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book works on three levels. First, it is a good thriller with an unexpected set of plot twists. Second, it is a very god book about West Africa and sounds a lot like the places I have visited. Third, it is a good novel: the reader begins to understand the characters and to see why they do what they do. It is also very well written (if you like short, brusing sentences and odd descriptions). For me, the violence was a bit too graphic but then I'm squeamish. Otherwise, it was thoroughly enjoyable.
16 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Most readers will be familiar with Robert Wilson from his newer works including, “A Small Death in Lisbon”, “The Company of Strangers” and, “The Blind Man of Seville”. Happily his publishers are releasing this series of four early works that begin with, “Instruments of Darkness”. The adjective of darkness is appropriate for this quartet of books. I have read all four and there are many manners that may be used to describe the works however dark is easily the most fitting. These books are very violent, liberal with gore and extremely graphic, so for readers who prefer that more detail is left to their imaginations this book and its counterparts may not be for you.
This series is set in West Africa on the Gulf Of Guinea and in countries stretching from Ivory Coast to New Guinea. Mr. Wilson writes both with authority and with great authenticity as he has traveled and worked in this region just as he has in the countries that populate his newer works. Here there are common characters and while it is not critical I would recommend reading the works in the order they were issued. They all can stand alone but benefit from being read as a cycle.
It took some time for me to get comfortable with the prose and cadence of these books as they are written in a very different style from the others I have read. They may remind you too of those movies where a woman wanders in to the office of a private eye and tells her sad tale while a voice narrates the story you are watching. The prose is saturated with elaborate and lush metaphor that initially seems a bit strident but eventually becomes comfortable to read once a bit of time has been invested.
These are very different from Mr. Wilson’s other novels but if you are interested in the early work of this very talented author, I recommend these books without reservation with the exceptions I noted at the beginning of these comments.
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