"Into the lakeside town of Tahoe suddenly descends a world of brutality and violence that the Formans believe they've left behind in Africa. Steve is shot and critically wounded, little Adam is snatched from the motel room where he is waiting for his parents, and Gila is abducted by savage thugs who want something she cannot give them. But Gila is no pushover, as the reader discovers early on in the book she's been an unarmed combat instructor and she's one of the most compelling characters in Jaffa's brilliant first novel. Gila fights back, and in doing so she kills one of her abductors."
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"It's not that easy to categorise The Jackal's Head, one of the reasons I suspect why it gripped my attention and why I found it so fascinating. On one level it is a thriller, and one of the best types that keep pulling you along making you want to start just one more chapter before putting out the light."
"On the other level, it is very astute commentary on contemporary history and the tragedy that is unfolding in Zimbabwe surrounding the grabbing of farms from white farmers by self-styled veterans of the liberation struggle and the corruption that has weasled its way into almost every area of public life."
The Jackal's Head will easily take its place among some of the more popular thriller writers and the new breed of authors who are writing about Africa at the moment. I'm sure there will be some people in power in Zimbabwe who will not enjoy it, but the clarity and truth of what Jaffa puts himself on the line to write makes this an excellent and worthwhile read. A fine first novel."
by
Jennifer Crocker,
The Cape Times. |
