Lords of Corruption, by Kyle Mills

Review by W. J. Rayment / ConservativeBookstore -- Is the aid industry destroying Africa? You bet. Intellectually, it is easy to see how this could happen. Aid organizations ship food and money to some poor African country. The powerful elite takes control of it and uses it as a political tool to manipulate its own population. It stifles industry and work, and diverts human resources to perpetuating poverty rather than working toward a better economy because the dictator maintains more immediate power when his people are poor.

Not too many Americans want go over to Africa to investigate this first hand. But there is a better, more clear way to come to an understanding of it. Read a novel. That's right; reading "The Lords of Corruption" by Kyle Mills is like being in the very center of impoverished Africa while the altruistic aid organizations struggle to save lives. They are not completely blind to the fact that all their efforts only add to the poverty, but know an end to aid means the end of their jobs. Meanwhile the way is open for a truly corrupt aid organization the existence of which is solely to collect donations and split the booty with an African dictator.

That is the premise of the plot of "Lords of Corruption", and what a fast-paced thriller it is. The major character, Josh Hagarty is recruited to work for "New Africa". His job is to work to improve a devastated site long enough to get a few photos for a brochure and an ad campaign. Only the corruption and in-fighting in Africa won't allow him to get even this done. He is faced with a vicious dictator, a deeply corrupt and callous assistant who would murder him without blinking an eye, and a culture that resents his presence even as the people try to suck everything they can out of him.

What more could be asked from a novel than fantastic plot, excellent characterization, and heart-pounding pacing? The most thought provoking backdrop wedged into a thriller in the last 50 years. The truth oozing from every sentence of this book is going to make "The Lords of Corruption" a classic. Kyle Mills has done his research and has so tightly coupled fiction to reality that the reader feels he can come to an understanding of the African situation through this work.

Kyle Mills pulls no punches, but at the same time he does give credit where it is due. We see that some aid organizations do have a positive effect even in the midst of political and military strife. Human suffering is alleviated by programs that show the natives how to work. The effective aid is in working with people, not for them. Organizations that purport to serve their fellow man only serves to make him dependent. Even more amazing for a main stream thriller is to find a Christian character treated with sympathy and even heroically. Annika Gritdal is a beautiful Scandinavian aid worker whose project is successful because it relies mainly on hard work coupled with the fact that it is far from the center of power. She is tough, but also lends romantic interest to the work. I thought the dichotomy between her and the naive aid workers corralled in a compound was not merely fascinating but also revealing.

For great suspense, a satisfying, thrill-packed adventure, containing as much truth as story-line, read "Lords of Corruption". Highly Recommended!

Lords of Corruption is available at Amazon.