Heart Of Diamonds

Dave Donelson's Heart of Diamonds is a well-crafted, well-informed story of fictional, but highly likely events in the Congo. Donelson captures the government corruption that prevents the Congo (and all of Africa) from rising to the position among nations that this resource-rich country could attain were it not for the history of exploitation by outsiders. The story is exciting, you care what happens to the characters. The rape and amputations and exploitation of child soldiers and general brutalization of the people by the military and by rebel forces is drawn straight from current reality, as is the power of greed to make people do the most terrible and idiotic things. My only complaint is this is another story of white people set in Africa. It would be more compelling were the main protagonists African, perhaps wealthy sons and daughters of the elite sent to the US for college who return to do exactly what Valerie and Jamie do in this story. This is a small quibble, however, Donelson can write best from a perspective that he truly understands and his readers/listeners are mostly westerners who can better relate to the characters than if they were Africans. You should listen to this book for a great story, but also to get some understanding and realization of the terrible conditions that prevail in West Africa today.