Madagascar

by Stephen Holgate

An American diplomat—reformed alcoholic, unreformed gambler, and inveterate smart-ass—finds himself under threat of disgrace and murder even as he seeks love and redemption on the strange and spirit-ridden island of Madagascar. Author Steve Holgate brings the mystery and mysticism of Madagascar to life in his haunting and exciting second novel.

350 pages, Paperback

Published May 29, 2018

About the author

Stephen Holgate is a fifth-generation Oregonian who served for four years as a diplomat with the American Embassy in Morocco. In addition to his other foreign service posts, Mr. Holgate has served as a congressional staffer; headed a committee staff of the Oregon State Senate; managed two electoral campaigns; acted with the national tour of an improvisational theater group; worked as a crew member of a barge on the canals of France; and lived in a tent while working as a gardener in Malibu. Holgate has published several short stories and a successfully produced one-man play, as well as publishing innumerable freelance articles. Tangier is his first novel.

Reviews

[Joy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm just gonna put this one squarely in the "meh" column. It's got some good suspense and a few colorful characters, but it falls short of greatness. This is the story of Robert Knott, a diplomate stationed in Madagascar. I was thinking it would be a bit heavier on the setting, but there wasn't as much Madagascar in the book as I would have liked. There are touches, but the setting is really in the background of the story. I guess what I'm trying to say is that this story could have taken place in a myriad of places - there is nothing about the book that makes it special to Madagascar, in my opinion. Also, I had some issues with the female characters. Like, lots of issues.

[Sam Reaves · Rating 4 out of 5]

International intrigue set in the intriguing country of Madagascar, by a former Foreign Service officer. Not many diplomatic thrillers out there; I really liked this one.
Robert Knott is a jaded, washed-up Foreign Service time-server, currently political officer at the U.S. embassy in Antananarivo. He is divorced, his girlfriend has just dumped him, and his needy late-night phone calls to his teenage daughter back in the States are only proving that he's losing her, too. To top things off, he has run up twelve grand in gambling debts at the local casino, run by a sinister French ex-mercenary who is starting to lose patience.
An outbreak of rioting in the hinterlands precipitates a crisis, and Knott has a chance either to redeem his career or to make a bad situation even worse. Everybody wants something, from the greedy officials angling for bribes to the beautiful Malagasy girlfriend of an an American citizen wasting away in prison on trumped-up charges. It gets complicated, and there's a bang-up climax.
The interplay of Knott's personal struggles and the impossible demands of a diplomatic job make a compelling story; Knott's first-person voice is world-weary, self-deprecating and witty. Recommended.

[Ivor Armistead · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not great literature but great fun. Stephen Holgate’s “Madagascar” is like Slough House from Mick Heron’s series with a dash of cynicism from “MASH” set in the U.S. Embassy in Madagascar, which is pretty far down on the most desirable list for diplomatic postings. Robert Knott, the Political Officer at the Embassy is at the end of career in more ways than one. His desperate attempts to straighten out his life and career are doomed, but provide the central them of a humorous and often pointent novel. The looks into the maze of Malagasy culture give the story added spice.

Not an award winner, but an enjoyable and memorable read.

[Jeanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoy reading about different areas of the world, and having briefly visited this beautiful, albeit underdeveloped, island, could appreciate Holgate's description of the Malagasy and their culture. The bureaucracy that exists within foreign embassies and the relationship with local politicians and police comes as no surprise. This was very well written with touches of humor and held my attention right up until the exciting conclusion. A new author to add to my literary fiction list!

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like the author’s first book, Tangier, I really enjoyed the great detail and eloquent prose that made each part of the story come alive. I found some of the plot twists to be unbelievable, although perhaps that was part of the mystique of Madagascar! Regardless, the novel was a fun page-turner.

[Bookreporter.com Mystery & Thriller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Robert Knott is a lower level diplomat assigned --- contrary to preference --- to the American embassy in Antananarivo, Madagascar’s capital, “a place so foreign to you that everything seems like dark magic.” Knott acknowledges that he has “few friends of any description. Even those I have don’t like me.” The reformed alcoholic and unreformed gambler, who has a humor dry as Madagascar’s Spiny Desert, brought this imbroglio of gambling debts upon himself.

Knott occasionally phones his estranged teen daughter in the States, who often cuts the calls short, shuffling them off to the ex. His addictive personality exchanged alcohol for the Zebu Room’s gaming tables. He is on a downward roulette spiral and owes casino owner Maurice Picard an insurmountable sum. Picard is an inveterate opportunist turning the gaming tables on Knott, who for Picard must now launder money through the embassy. “‘Will you walk into my parlour?’ said the Spider to the Fly.”

Picard has plans for Knott, other than acquiring enough hard currency to retire to Paris. Knott is drawn into a web of deceit, encountering nefarious warlords. Uprisings and guerrilla warfare compound “the bureaucratic tangle” between citizenry and the American embassy staff. “When it all goes wrong, it goes wrong very quickly.”

Knott encounters falsely imprisoned American Walt Sackett, who uses the stunning Nirina to attempt to get him out of a pigsty prison. Nirina, in turn, hopes that Walt will help her escape the quagmire known as Madagascar. Knott spins the roulette wheel of fortune one last time, blustering a corrupt official. “He sees my bluff for what it is, an act of defiance about as empty as a chicken flipping off the fox as it comes in for the kill.”

However, Knott does find redemption, through aiding others, and love. Nirina tells Knott that he is “full of love. For your daughter. For Walt. For Samuel the driver. For Miss Gloria.” He reminds himself “that, in Madagascar, the implausible isn’t just possible, it’s mandatory.”

He realizes that “I’ve resisted Madagascar at every turn, cursed it, despised it, never understanding I was really cursing and despising myself. I need to reconcile myself to my own life.”

More than a mystery/thriller, MADAGASCAR verges on literary fiction. Following his debut, TANGIER, mystical Madagascar comes to life in Stephen Holgate’s thoroughly satisfying thriller.

Reviewed by L. Dean Murphy

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

I knew nothing about Madagascar before reading this book, but the writing was so vivid that I felt like I'd been transported there and could explore it for myself. I loved how this book was full of adventure and the clear and vivid writing that can so easily make a place you know nothing about feel extremely real. While I loved the writing style, I struggled to immerse myself into the plot of this story. Things that I thought should be significant felt more like dead ends that didn't get the closure they deserved. The ending was very exciting in an edge-of-your-seat-what's-going-to-happen-next way though, and overall, it was a good book that I would recommend to anyone who likes the idea of adventures in exciting new places.

[Cait Cavanagh · Rating 1 out of 5]

You know that episode of The Office where Michael Scott writes a movie script called "Threat Level Midnight," imagining himself as the James Bond-esque hero Michael Scarn, which the office employees read aloud to skewer him? That's this book. The author-- a former diplomat to Madagascar-- has writen a novel about a James Bond-esque, troubled, ne'er-do-well, hypermasculine diplomat to Madagascar. All the racism, misogyny, anachronism, and YES, EVEN TYPOS of "Threat Level Midnight" are present in "Madagascar." It was problematic, offensive, poorly written, self-indulgent, and absolutely the worst book I read this year.

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Knott is a dissolute late-40ish political officer at the US Embassy in Madagascar caught up in problems largely of his own making. His debts owed to the local gambling boss, his failures with fellow female diplomats, his inability to get an American rancher out of jail, all contribute to an involving adventure in an exotic setting where tension ratchets up with political unrest. The Malagasy character, attitudes and beliefs are interesting and integral and, even if one too-coincidental encounter jars, it’s a good read

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not sure what to expect and for sure that is what I got - the unexpected. Having just visited Madagascar it was interesting to read about places I'd been and the people I had been around. There are many mysteries to that country and they are addressed in this book in a way. The story is based around a diplomat who has not learned to even like the country he is representing - Mr. Knott certainly does not seem to like himself - and still he ventures where people with better sense fear to tread. His is a story of fear, adventure and potential redemption.

[Constance Colding · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! This is a read that grips you from the first
Moment. Frankly, I was wondering why I haven’t seen the movie yet. Holgate evokes the atmosphere, the intricacies, and the realities of a fallible yet honourable person in service to his country without romanticising his protagonist the story reminds me of a symphony by Beethoven, first giving the background, accelerating and ending in a great crescendo.

[AnnMarie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gambling debts, drinking problem, strained father/daughter relationship, and an American stuck in prison are some of the problems that face Robert, an American diplomat in Madagascar. Seeing the end of his career, Robert begins to leave a trail of bad decisions around the embassy and nearby villages. Madagascar is a quick, enjoyable read.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an engaging book, fun to read. Having never been to Madagascar I can only guess that there is some accuracy in the description of weather, roads, tension between locals and government officials and foreign service employees. But I enjoyed this enough to look for other books by the author.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book is pretty good. The plot resolution was a little weak but I liked the mood and the characters.

I read this book while I was travelling in Madagascar (Dec 2018) and felt the depiction of the country in the book was rather dated. The Madagascar portrayed in the book doesn't have mobile phones or satellite TV. But they have those things now.

[Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

So-so, though some of Madagascar political corruption and some of the places and lifestyles of expats were interesting. Lacks the color, the drive, the characters, the pace of Tangier, which I loved.

[Cybercrone · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's actually quite a bit to be said for the book in terms of myth, reality, intercultural understanding and all that good stuff - if you can get to where it is before you hang yourself.
Not to be read by those who are depressed about their current "stuckness".

[Adriane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Entertaining but the writing and Chatfield seem to follow a stereotype and ate not original would it not be for the unique setting of Madagascar.

[Steve Blair · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stephen's writing puts you right there. Good read.

[E G Melby · Rating 3 out of 5]

I slightly clunky thriller with lots of potential

[Lydia Johanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interessant aber lässt sich nicht do flüssig lesen, eher zäh

[Michael Stanley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stephen Holgate has written a fascinating thriller set in Madagascar. His time there as a diplomat in the US Foreign Service clearly not only informed him on the island, but also saw him develop an understanding of the people that comes through strongly in the novel.
Robert Knott is a diplomat at the US embassy. He's spent his career abroad, and has finally washed up in Madagascar. Having traded a drinking problem for a gambling one, he’s hardly the stereotype of a successful diplomat.
The novel is written in first person, and Robert has a fluent and consistent voice with the right amount of humor. Despite his flaws (or perhaps because of them), he’s an attractive character.
One of Robert’s less pleasant tasks is visiting an American, Walt Sackett, essentially being held for ransom in a squalid prison. His cell mate, Speedy, is an expert thief who is released every night to make money for the guards by stealing.
Walt has an attractive young Malagasy girlfriend, whom Robert at first dismisses as a gold digger. Yet, she is willing to do anything to help Walt, and in spite of his best efforts, Robert finds himself sucked into their problems. From there the action ramps up to a climax as Robert, Walt, Speedy and the girlfriend try to escape from everyone after them.
The local culture and its belief in the spirits of the ancestors is central to the story. Robert understands this, but, of course, doesn’t believe in it. As he says himself: he prefers to keep the island at a distance. The island has other ideas.

[Annie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Robert Knott has reached what he considers the end of the line for his diplomatic career. He’s finally fetched up in Antananarivo, in Stephen Holgate’s Madagascar, after years of bouncing around third world postings across the world. He occupies himself with gambling and doing the bare minimum at the American Embassy, resigned to an ignoble existence at the end of the world. But when his debts are called in, he’s assigned to getting an American out of prison, and unrest starts to sweep the country, Knott discovers hidden depths...

Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type. I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss, for review consideration.