Adam Roberts, The Wonga Coup

I got more and more depressed as I read Adam Roberts' The Wonga Coup. The idea that 75 armed men -- regardless of how well-armed -- could overthrow a government (in this case, Equatorial Guinea) would have been laughable if not for the fact that, well... If they had been a little more discreet and maybe had a bit of luck, they could have done it.

But perhaps depressing is a bit too strong.

Disappointing. I was increasingly disappointed the further I got into the book.

I don't read this sort of book for the swashbuckling adventure of it all. I've gotten a little past that. But Roberts never really figured out what sort of book he wanted to write. It's no wonder that the film rights have been picked up, it has all the elements of a "classic" 1970s mercenary in black Africa flick.

But Roberts, to his credit, also wants to build a case, a dossier. So "revealed for the first time ever" are various facts, testimony, etc.

Oh, how I wish he had actually provided this information. The narrative cries out for appendices (maybe we could actually see some of these documents he touts, read some of the emails he paraphrases, etc), practically begs for citations (or maybe that was me; I mean, how many unsourced 2 paragraph quotations can we swallow?), and is in dire need of a more deft editorial hand.

And here's the rub for me. As you push through the book you start hearing the same lines, the same little snippets of dialogue, the same scenes replayed. Wait? Didn't I just... Yes, you did. Jump back and forth, the same descriptors, the same... It's like he didn't quite know how to write a straight line chronicle, beginning to end, let alone finishing it up.

A bit of an odd criticism to level at a working journalist, but perhaps the sheer length was too much. At times it feels like it; it certainly reads like it.

Not an unpleasant read. Certainly not a difficult read (though keeping up with the cast of characters as Roberts jumps all about became a bit of an exercise in futility and one that I eventually just let go) -- but one that will, I would be willing to bet, be better told on screen.

At least Hollywood often doesn't even bother to try to keep to the facts...