Susan's Diary: The Kidnap Case, 2013, Karo Oforofuo ***

Please click here to read my review of part one if you missed it.

After the incident with Eric where Susan almost lost her precious life, she decided to be a good girl. She made up her mind to leave her old self behind and start helping people. No more being a hot chick. No more deals with big boys.

Five months later, on a busy rainy day, a guy called Jude walked up to her and asked for help. Two of his staff have been kidnapped and a 50 million naira ransome was needed. He wanted her to help him find them and Susan accepted out of compassion. From there on the whole story unfolded interestingly.

She discovered that one of the staff was in fact dead and not kidnapped as she was told, which made her find the case somewhat fishy. And once again her life was at stake.

In my opinion, part two of Susan's diary was not as enjoyable as part one. All the same, it is still interesting; you will find Susan in action; fighting, shooting and eventually falling in love. I recommend if you have read part one and liked it. The Kidnap Case is longer than Friday's experience, though, I found the latter more engaging.

Finally, please bear that inasmuch as I might like Susan she is not a role model.

Please click here to read my interview to Karo Oforofuo author of Susan's Diary

Susan's Diary: Friday's Experience, 2013, Karo Oforofuo ****

Susan an only child, lost her parents in a fatal car accident when she was only thirteen. For this reason, she moved in with an aunt who immediately turned her into a servant, or rather a domestic slave. At sixteen, she was fed up. Consequently, she ran away and became her own boss.

"I was what you'll call a Lagos hot chick; I had deals with big boys who lived large and in turn, they paid my bills. Aside from that, anything else was...erm..not really important"

She got involved with a guy called Eric.

"One of the richest and most handsome guys in my part of town.... He was a green snake in the green grass and I nearly lost my precious life".

Well, Susan stole his N6 million (Nigerian currency), and Eric went as far as almost doing away with her life to get his money back. Which, as a result triggered a thrilling sequence of events that kept me hunger looking forward to what would happen next.

I highly recommend if you are looking for a youngish, vibrant and quick read. It is only forty pages. Susan's diary consist of various parts, and this is the first part (Friday's Experience). I look forward to reading and reviewing the rest. This novel would not have crossed my path if I was not a book blogger. And I am glad it did. It feels good to know that many talented young African writers are springing up with different kinds of topics. Different from the ones we are used to. 

Thank you Karo Oforofuo for sending me a copy, it was so entertaining.

The Prodigal Daughter, 2012, Patricia Nmukoso Enyi ***

Loyce Amaechi, was born into a privileged African-American family of Nigerian descendant, with a strict faith in the catholic religion. Being an Amaechi, she was expected to have her first sexual intercourse on her wedding night after college and with a well-to-do (African-American) catholic as herself.

However, in her final years of high school she met a badly off boy called Quintin, they both fell head over heels for one another. Loyce's parents, on the contrary were hellbent on making her fall out of love: hence she was sent to Nigeria where series of events unfolded in the strangest way ever.

Patricia Nmukoso Enyi has an incredible mental creative ability in telling stories with social and moral values. Nevertheless, in my opinion, I found it difficult to connect with her characters. Firstly, because they weren't clearly defined and secondly, the interminable grammatical errors were quite a pet hate. Also, the story most of the time was getting on and off the track and confusedly, I couldn't explain why. Certainly, this novel is a diamond in the rough. If it was well edited and work-shopped on, it would have turned out to be a great read indeed, considering the fact that Patricia Nmukoso Enyi is not lacking in imagination. But again, these imaginations need to be processed, polished and redefined in such a way as to produce an erudite novel that arouse (strong) interest in the reader.

It was somewhat difficult to write up my review, since the writer sent me a copy and asked for my opinion. Nonetheless, my reviews are unbiased and I am determined to stay true to myself and to my readers. It could have been an engaging chick-lit romance if it was carefully worked on.

All the same, thank you Patricia for sending me a copy.

PS: This novel will be reedited and republished.

**If you look forward to sending me a book for a review, please click here to read my review policy beforehand.