Mission Song

Geschreven bij Mission Song, The / Druk 1

As a long-time JLC fan who has read his books more than once and reviewed many, I was delighted to discover this title, which I missed upon publication. Its action is compressed into a few days after the 7 July 2005 London bombings. Its theme is typical for JLC’s post Cold War writings, often involving dark schemes with at least connivance from Whitehall with global companies and their doings. Here, the subject is the Scramble for Kivu in eastern Congo with lots of international parties striving for control of its mineral deposits and possible oil reserves. What unfurls is a British plot to pre-empt other powers from seizing control, albeit on a shoestring budget and with special reference to total deniability. Its purported ringleader is a New Labour peer.
JLC’s main protagonist is Salvo, a child of mixed parentage, illegitimate son of an Ulster Catholic missionary and anonymous Congolese mother, called a ghost child in Congo and a ‘zebra’ later in the UK by a Congolese character. The novel finds him aged 28 in London married to a tabloid’s star reporter, himself a highly-qualified translator/interpreter of English, French and Swahili plus a string of Central African languages and dialects he picked up in the servants quarters of Catholic mission stations. Many pages record his performance during a key impromptu island conference in Scotland between a nameless Syndicate, a charismatic Congolese politician with two advisors, and a trio of powerful men in Kivu, two warlords, the third able to become one too.
There is also a sudden love affair that changes Salvo’s worldview just before assuming his tasks during the meeting. Background about Congo and UK is impeccable and convincing. The prose is a mix of Charles Dickens, P.G. Wodehouse and JLC’s own unique way to ridicule upper class Brits’ ways. Many cross references and flashbacks. The many bit players are quickly and convincingly given characters, a rare gift among writers. I have disclosed perhaps 20% of a rich, extremely well-worded novel. Will Salvo survive the contradiction between his desire to conform in Britain and the memories of his beloved, native Kivu where millions have died in recent years?