The Ghost of Africa by Don Brobst

The Ghost of Africa by Don Brobst ISBN-13: 9781503933224 Paperback: 340 pages Publisher: Waterfall Press Released: April 26, 2016

Source: ebook review copy from the publisher through NetGalley.

Book Description, Modified from Goodreads:
Together New York City surgeon Paul Branson and his wife, Nicki, had a dream: to help the people of the African bush. After Nicki’s untimely death, Paul decides to honor her memory and carry on alone. In South Sudan, he channels grief into hope, caring for villagers and working to save Leza, a little girl with leukemia who has captured his heart.

Meanwhile, Jason Quinn, terrorist leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, has deadly plans for the people of South Sudan. But he needs information to carry out his plot—information from research Paul did for the US government years ago. Quinn will stop at nothing to obtain this secret intelligence, even kidnap a dying child. Now, in order to save the ailing Leza and stop a genocide, Paul must go beyond his medical training to journey into a world of brutal terrorism and global intrigue. With only instinct and his faith as guides, how far will he go to save the lives of thousands?


My Review:
The Ghost of Africa is a medical suspense and thriller. There was plenty of action from gun battles and medical emergencies, dangers while flying and on the ground, capture and escape cycles, and the danger of cruel mass murder.

Paul's our unbelievable hero. He's a brilliant research chemist who, among other things, developed a chemo that can be used in remote areas. He's also equally successful at treating malaria or performing surgery in a dark, dirty hut on a pregnant woman with appendicitis using only a pocket knife and no pain killers. He can take a starved, sick child with terminal cancer--only weeks left to live--yet save with chemo were others failed. He can kill with a gun or in unarmed combat. All this plus a prevailing belief that he's The Chosen, yet he's the one who usually needed to be saved.

At the beginning, the Spirits sent a panther to mark Paul as The Chosen. Paul initially believed it was just superstition, but by the end everyone (including Paul and Christians) believed he was chosen to save the South Sudanese from a madman. Paul was able to command the panther when it reappeared, and his dead wife appeared to him in visions to help him.

This bothers me because it was nominally a Christian story. So there were a few short prayers, no sex scenes or bad language, and the gory scenes weren't graphically detailed. But God wasn't the Savior--Paul was.


If you've read this book, what do you think about it? I'd be honored if you wrote your own opinion of the book in the comments.