Crossbones

From an internationally acclaimed writer, Crossbones is a tense and moving portrait of individuals cast against overpowering social forces. An aging Jeebleh has returned to Somalia to visit old friends in his beloved Mogadiscio. He is accompanied by his son-in-law, Malik, a journalist intent on covering the region's ongoing turmoil. Instead of chaos, however, the two are greeted by an eerie calm, enforced by white-robed figures bearing whips. Soon, Malik's brother, Ahl, arrives in Puntland, the region notorious as a pirates' base. Ahl is searching for his stepson, who has vanished from the States, apparently recruited by an imam allied to Somalia's rising insurgency. As Somalis brace for an Ethiopian invasion, the brothers' efforts draw them deeper into the fabric of the country. Then the borders are breached, the country's uneasy quiet shattered, and Malik and Ahl experience firsthand the derailments of war. Timely and illuminating, Crossbones reaffirms Nuruddin Farah's stature as 'the literary voice of his country on the world stage' (Minneapolis Star Tribute).