Stephen Atalebe

The Hour of Death in Harare Stephen Atalebe

Publisher Marketing: The Hour of death in Harare follows the story of a Zimbabwean agent in Prague who discovers a plot to assassinate his president. "The Hour of Death in Harare is ostensibly a political intrigue thriller. However, with its clever use of juxtaposition and characterization, it addresses some quintessential human moral quandaries, i.e., is murder ever justifiable? Along those same lines - is it ever justifiable to depose a current ruler through assassination? Particularly when the orders to do so come out of a 'first world country' and the country in question is a 'third world country'? What of the people in that third world country that have to live with the consequences of that decision? Would life be better for them or worse? Certainly Mugabe had his faults as were commented on but did he not have at least a somewhat democratic government that represented the people versus simply having his own political and monetary agenda? The book raises many questions along these lines and very effectively uses characters to showcase each moral dilemma. And the answer to the moral questions raised? The answer seems to be somewhere in the middle, i.e., that not everybody is bad/evil as evidenced by Anatsa's misplaced quest for revenge and even the hired killer, Jackson. Each had humanizing qualities (as also seen in Jackson's love for his sister and Tim). Kizito was the paradox; he was kind of an avenging angel. He catches the 'bad guys' and kills them but he is certainly not a paradigm of virtue. Nomsa comes the closest to being an innocent and the most noble. Thus these questions of good versus evil are not so easily resolved. Not everyone attains their 'just desserts'." - Catherine Morgan "The new novel written by this author is a thriller based on his highly topical grasp of contemporary dramatic events. With increasing narrative vigour, the writer presents really modern characters, who serve specific purposes and need a lot of information and courage. The action is set in several capitals (Prague, London, Lusaka and Harare), whose atmosphere is depicted with a number of characteristic details. But the descriptive passages are mostly subordinated to the principal line of action, i. e. the struggle between those who try to preserve the existing establishment and those who intend to modify it. Logically, the text touches on contradictions in the present-day world (e.g. sharply different views of homosexual orientation under different regimes). The reader will appreciate the way Stephen Atalebe uses this so as to develop conflicts resulting from his characters' behaviour in various situations requiring both thought and energy. It is only at the end of the novel that one learns whether the planned target is hit or missed." - Vladimir Klima