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My Life in Crime
The late 1960's and early '70s may be remembered as the years of the great bank and other armed robberies in Kenya. This is the true story of one of the participants in some of those robberies, John Kiriamit. In raw and candid language, Kiramiti tells the story of how he dropped out of secondary school when he was only fifteen years old, and for a time became a novice pickpocket, before graduating into crimes like car-breaking and ultimately into violent robbery. This spell-binding story takes the reader into the underworld of crime, and it depicts graphically the criminal's struggle for survival against the forces of law.
Worldreader proudly presents this ebook in a new series of children's and young adult books from Sub-Saharan Africa. Worldreader is a non-profit organization committed to delivering digital books to children and families in the developing world using e-book technology. By purchasing this book you directly contribute to this effort by helping fund school literacy programs, and promote the writing and publication of great books from local authors everywhere.
Worldreader proudly presents this ebook in a new series of children's and young adult books from Sub-Saharan Africa. Worldreader is a non-profit organization committed to delivering digital books to children and families in the developing world using e-book technology. By purchasing this book you directly contribute to this effort by helping fund school literacy programs, and promote the writing and publication of great books from local authors everywhere.
234 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1984
167 people are currently reading
2250 people want to read
About the author
John Kiriamiti
6 books188 followersJohn Batista Wanjohi Kiriamiti was born on 14 February, 1950 in Thuita Village, Kamacharia Location of Murang'a District in Central Kenya, he is the second of nine children born to Albert and Anne Wanjiru Kiriamiti, both primary school teachers (now retired) in Murang'a.
Kiriamiti studied for and passed his Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) at the local primary school in Thuita Village. He was privileged to be among the first nine African students to join the dominantly‐white Prince of Wales School (now Nairobi School) at a time when most Africans could not afford the Ksh 1,080 school fees charged. Although Kiriamiti received bursaries as a gifted African student, he joined Prince of Wales school as a day scholar and stayed with his uncle in Bahati Estate in Nairobi's Eastlands where his elder brother Sammy stayed too.
His academic life at the Prince of Wales School was short‐lived though because in his last term as a Form One student, at the age of fifteen, he was expelled from school after being the ring leader in a student's strike. That marked the end of Kiriamiti's formal education in spite of pleas from his parents to take up schooling elsewhere.
Kiriamiti resulted to wayward behaviours, and by the age of twenty, he was already a known robber and in the police "VIP list", as he calls ‘the most wanted' police list. As a criminal, Kiriamiti went by the names John Khamwene, Charles Lukindo, Richard Mwangi, Albert Ngure, Albert Wanjohi, and Jack Zollo (a name which he later used for his fictionalized self in both My Life in Crime and My Life in Prison) among others.
In 1971, after a long cat and mouse game with the police, Kiriamiti was arrested and sent to jail for twenty years with forty-eight strokes of the cane. It is at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison and Naivasha Government Maximum Prison that his first novel, My Life in Crime, was written, and the initial ideas of My Life in Prison born.
Five months after the publication of My Life in Crime (in 1984), Kiriamiti was released on grounds of good conduct, having served thirteen out of his twenty year sentence. Kiriamiti's freedom however did not last long for two years down the line (in 1986), he was sent back to jail by President Moi's regime for allegedly being involved in what the government deemed a seditious movement meant to overthrow the government (Mwakenya).
This time Kiriamiti found himself head‐on with the law after Benga musician‐turned‐soldier, Hajullas Ochieng Kabaselle, implicated him in crime. Having had interacted with most of the brains thought to be behind the Mwakenya movement like Onyango Oloo, Prof. Katama Mkangi, Mwandawiro Mgangha, Joe Ombuor and others, Kiriamiti was a natural suspect to the authorities.
Resultantly, he earned himself a seven‐year sentence for the alleged involvement in a clandestine movement. However, he was released after four years, on 11 February, 1990 (the same day that South Africa's freedom icon, Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island). As fate would have it, two days later, what was thought to be the political assassination of the Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. John Robert Ouko on 13 February, 1990 linked him to yet another ‘suspicious look' from Kenyans, as rumour had it that he "was released to kill Ouko".
Nevertheless, since his trading of the gun for a pen, and his subsequent release from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Kiriamiti has become a renowned philanthropist and social reformist rehabilitating street children and thieves in his rural Murang'a home. Besides writing novels, Kiriamiti also owns and edits a newspaper, The Sharpener, which he established after the government ban on the Gikuyu version, Inooro, in 1995.
Kiriamiti has also embarked on a programme that seeks to counsel the youth in various Kenyan Secondary and College institutions on Behaviour change and role modelling. He is now a committed family man with a wife and 3 daughters.
Kiriamiti studied for and passed his Certificate of Primary Education (CPE) at the local primary school in Thuita Village. He was privileged to be among the first nine African students to join the dominantly‐white Prince of Wales School (now Nairobi School) at a time when most Africans could not afford the Ksh 1,080 school fees charged. Although Kiriamiti received bursaries as a gifted African student, he joined Prince of Wales school as a day scholar and stayed with his uncle in Bahati Estate in Nairobi's Eastlands where his elder brother Sammy stayed too.
His academic life at the Prince of Wales School was short‐lived though because in his last term as a Form One student, at the age of fifteen, he was expelled from school after being the ring leader in a student's strike. That marked the end of Kiriamiti's formal education in spite of pleas from his parents to take up schooling elsewhere.
Kiriamiti resulted to wayward behaviours, and by the age of twenty, he was already a known robber and in the police "VIP list", as he calls ‘the most wanted' police list. As a criminal, Kiriamiti went by the names John Khamwene, Charles Lukindo, Richard Mwangi, Albert Ngure, Albert Wanjohi, and Jack Zollo (a name which he later used for his fictionalized self in both My Life in Crime and My Life in Prison) among others.
In 1971, after a long cat and mouse game with the police, Kiriamiti was arrested and sent to jail for twenty years with forty-eight strokes of the cane. It is at Kamiti Maximum Security Prison and Naivasha Government Maximum Prison that his first novel, My Life in Crime, was written, and the initial ideas of My Life in Prison born.
Five months after the publication of My Life in Crime (in 1984), Kiriamiti was released on grounds of good conduct, having served thirteen out of his twenty year sentence. Kiriamiti's freedom however did not last long for two years down the line (in 1986), he was sent back to jail by President Moi's regime for allegedly being involved in what the government deemed a seditious movement meant to overthrow the government (Mwakenya).
This time Kiriamiti found himself head‐on with the law after Benga musician‐turned‐soldier, Hajullas Ochieng Kabaselle, implicated him in crime. Having had interacted with most of the brains thought to be behind the Mwakenya movement like Onyango Oloo, Prof. Katama Mkangi, Mwandawiro Mgangha, Joe Ombuor and others, Kiriamiti was a natural suspect to the authorities.
Resultantly, he earned himself a seven‐year sentence for the alleged involvement in a clandestine movement. However, he was released after four years, on 11 February, 1990 (the same day that South Africa's freedom icon, Nelson Mandela was released from Robben Island). As fate would have it, two days later, what was thought to be the political assassination of the Foreign Affairs Minister Hon. John Robert Ouko on 13 February, 1990 linked him to yet another ‘suspicious look' from Kenyans, as rumour had it that he "was released to kill Ouko".
Nevertheless, since his trading of the gun for a pen, and his subsequent release from Kamiti Maximum Security Prison, Kiriamiti has become a renowned philanthropist and social reformist rehabilitating street children and thieves in his rural Murang'a home. Besides writing novels, Kiriamiti also owns and edits a newspaper, The Sharpener, which he established after the government ban on the Gikuyu version, Inooro, in 1995.
Kiriamiti has also embarked on a programme that seeks to counsel the youth in various Kenyan Secondary and College institutions on Behaviour change and role modelling. He is now a committed family man with a wife and 3 daughters.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 81 reviews
March 12, 2024
A short but inspiring story about an African man kiriamiti and his experiences in crime as a robber. The story enlightens us on what drives a criminal to do what he does.
September 5, 2023
Are you really Kenyan if you've never read a John Kiriamiti book? This book had a chokehold on the country when it was first released, it's still wildly popular now and I can see why. My man had a wild, entertaining life.
January 27, 2020
This is the stuff of legend!...mad skills!!! John Kiriamiti is Kenya's equivalent of America's John Dillinger. This is his adrenaline-fueled narrative of his exploits as a gangster. The last chapters leading to his arrest were simply heroic.
As to the difficulty of reforming criminals, one paragraph left me in stitches "There is this man called Laban Nyutu Muiruri, a man who is a hardcore. To have him reformed would cost the
authorities not less than one million Kenyan shillings and that should be kept in his bank account, otherwise he would still go back to the game. There is this other one called Mike Davis Thiong’o who swears that he will die a millionaire. When you ask him how he will manage it, his eyes turn blood red, his face turns as hard as granite, then with a voice as hard as his face he tells you, ‘A .45 is a master key to every safe in existence. It will be my spoon, my dish and my meal!’"
As to the difficulty of reforming criminals, one paragraph left me in stitches "There is this man called Laban Nyutu Muiruri, a man who is a hardcore. To have him reformed would cost the
authorities not less than one million Kenyan shillings and that should be kept in his bank account, otherwise he would still go back to the game. There is this other one called Mike Davis Thiong’o who swears that he will die a millionaire. When you ask him how he will manage it, his eyes turn blood red, his face turns as hard as granite, then with a voice as hard as his face he tells you, ‘A .45 is a master key to every safe in existence. It will be my spoon, my dish and my meal!’"
July 1, 2021
A life full of daring and dangerous episodes.. What a thriller!
If these brains and energy were channeled to the right direction from the very beginning, this man could change the world.
It's the intelligence, the excellent and quick decision making skills that wowed me the most.
How can one person be able to pull themselves out of almost every trouble they get into with so much courage no matter how dangerous and grim the situation looks?
This was one good read! Entertaining, educative and yet thrilling.
I loved it.
If these brains and energy were channeled to the right direction from the very beginning, this man could change the world.
It's the intelligence, the excellent and quick decision making skills that wowed me the most.
How can one person be able to pull themselves out of almost every trouble they get into with so much courage no matter how dangerous and grim the situation looks?
This was one good read! Entertaining, educative and yet thrilling.
I loved it.
July 22, 2023
I loved this story when I was in primary school, and now, at age 24, I still love it. I can't wait to devour the remaining books
January 26, 2019
A second read
I read this book many years back. I thought a second read would be ideal and in fact I have been more enlightened than my first read.
A great peace of remarkable work!
I read this book many years back. I thought a second read would be ideal and in fact I have been more enlightened than my first read.
A great peace of remarkable work!
April 1, 2020
A book that takes you to different worlds, gripping, and intriguing. It is a book that would keep you engrossed throughout the day.
Grab a copy and fasten our seat belts.
Young John Kiriamiti is kicked out of secondary school and his family orders him to return to his rural hometown of Thuita. He does not stay for long though, eventually making his way back to Nairobi, where he becomes a pickpocket under the alias Jack Zollo.
Jack becomes involved in his first "big job" when asked by his friend Captain Ngugi to be an accomplice in robbing a white man. Jack walks away with six grand, but not without feeling guilty for his actions. While out to clear his head, Jack runs into his sister Connie, whom he has not seen since running away to Nairobi years ago. Connie invites Jack to her and her husband's house, where they watch the news and hear a report of the robbery in which Jack was involved. Jack becomes paranoid and leaves Connie's house.
Jack and Connie continue spending time together. One day when visiting his sister's home, their mother comes over, and she is overjoyed to see her son. She insists that he return with her for a visit home and that he share with the family part of the money he has been earning. He is broke, though, and resorts to another robbery so as to not disappoint his family. He makes away with 10,000 dollars and goes home with his mother. While out one day after returning to Nairobi, Jack picks up a lost student ID and becomes enamored with the girl pictured, Miriam Nyambui. Jack decides to visit the girls' school to return her ID. Jack spots Miriam and calls her over to give her the ID, then asks her to lunch. Miriam accepts the offer, and the two begin spending a lot of time together.
Jack becomes involved in another big robbery job, this time with his friend G.G.. The two spend a couple of days planning the heist and Jack becomes nervous because he knows he will have to use his gun for the first time. The robbery is successful but ends in a gun fight. Although Jack never talks about the job with anyone, word spreads and he becomes one of Nairobi's most wanted criminals. Jack stays around his apartment as much as possible, pulls a few small jobs here and there, and falls even more in love with Milly. Jack gets arrested for the first time and is taken to Central Police Station. He spends a few days in jail and plots to escape. Jack eventually makes bail under a false name and flees just as the police are realizing his escape. He returns home, where Milly asks that they finally marry, but Jack refuses, saying that he must instead flee the country for no less than six months. Milly agrees to the plan.
Jack gets everything in order then begins his get-away journey from Kenya. On his way out of town, Jack runs into his old friends Ndung'u and Njoroge, who join Jack on his trip out of the country. While on the road, police pull the men over for questioning, and the three are taken to the police. Jack, knowing that his fingerprints will incriminate him, decides to take a razor to his hands and peels off the skin. Jack is released and resumes his fleeing from Kenya and drives to Uganda, stopping for a few days every now and then. His final destination is Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he stays for two months.
Jack seeks a job in Congo and gets a job chauffeuring for a Greek millionaire, Stephano, and his family. He becomes close with the family and even entertains the idea of staying in Congo the rest of his life instead of returning to Kenya.
In Congo, Jack finds himself in the middle of a love triangle and resolves to leave the country. When Jack boards the plane, he feels that he is in the clear and safely on his way to Uganda, but he is approached by the plane's captain and told he must get off at the next layover in Astrida, Rwanda. There, Jack is questioned and detained by the Rwandan police. Jack flees the airport and makes his way via cab and foot to the town center, where he offered help by a shop owner. Once he finally makes it to his home country, he returns home to find Milly is missing.
Jack is finally reunited with Milly, but notices that she acts differently toward him than before he left Kenya. Jack adjusts back to life in Nairobi and soon feels comfortable again. Jack learns that most of his old criminal friends are dead or in jail, which temporarily convinces him that he himself should no longer be a criminal. Jack soon, however, meets up with his long lost friend Captain and gets pulled into another job. The job does not go as planned and Jack returns home empty-handed. Jack takes a two-month break from jobs, but then becomes involved in another that he hopes will result in enough money that he can spoil Milly and retire from being a criminal.
He becomes involved in yet another job, this time robbing a bank in Naivasha. Unforeseen circumstances at the bank complicate doing the job as swiftly as Jack and his accomplices would like, but the group soon do the job and flee in the getaway car. They notice, though, that a European is following them. The group comes across an accident between a bus and a car, and does not have time to properly stop. The driver tries to circumvent the accident, but ends up rolling over multiple times. Civilians from the bus in the accident approach the car to help Jack and the others inside, but Jack fires warning shots and the civilians flee. Jack and Captain run in the same direction away from the scene of the accident. Jack spends a while on the run before finally making his way home to Milly. He lays low and decides to stop being a criminal.
Milly and Jack decide to finally marry, and the two make preparations for the ceremony, which is to take place in Thuita. On the way to Thuita, Jack becomes involved in a skirmish with the police, who successfully shoot and immobilize him. Jack is swiftly arrested and transported to the police car to take him to the station.
On the day he was to be wed to Milly, Jack spends the day in the Central Police Station being questioned and tortured. He is later tried and sentenced to twenty years in prison and forty-eight lashes of the cane. Jack is escorted to prison, where he writes his book and claims that he is a reformed man.
Grab a copy and fasten our seat belts.
Young John Kiriamiti is kicked out of secondary school and his family orders him to return to his rural hometown of Thuita. He does not stay for long though, eventually making his way back to Nairobi, where he becomes a pickpocket under the alias Jack Zollo.
Jack becomes involved in his first "big job" when asked by his friend Captain Ngugi to be an accomplice in robbing a white man. Jack walks away with six grand, but not without feeling guilty for his actions. While out to clear his head, Jack runs into his sister Connie, whom he has not seen since running away to Nairobi years ago. Connie invites Jack to her and her husband's house, where they watch the news and hear a report of the robbery in which Jack was involved. Jack becomes paranoid and leaves Connie's house.
Jack and Connie continue spending time together. One day when visiting his sister's home, their mother comes over, and she is overjoyed to see her son. She insists that he return with her for a visit home and that he share with the family part of the money he has been earning. He is broke, though, and resorts to another robbery so as to not disappoint his family. He makes away with 10,000 dollars and goes home with his mother. While out one day after returning to Nairobi, Jack picks up a lost student ID and becomes enamored with the girl pictured, Miriam Nyambui. Jack decides to visit the girls' school to return her ID. Jack spots Miriam and calls her over to give her the ID, then asks her to lunch. Miriam accepts the offer, and the two begin spending a lot of time together.
Jack becomes involved in another big robbery job, this time with his friend G.G.. The two spend a couple of days planning the heist and Jack becomes nervous because he knows he will have to use his gun for the first time. The robbery is successful but ends in a gun fight. Although Jack never talks about the job with anyone, word spreads and he becomes one of Nairobi's most wanted criminals. Jack stays around his apartment as much as possible, pulls a few small jobs here and there, and falls even more in love with Milly. Jack gets arrested for the first time and is taken to Central Police Station. He spends a few days in jail and plots to escape. Jack eventually makes bail under a false name and flees just as the police are realizing his escape. He returns home, where Milly asks that they finally marry, but Jack refuses, saying that he must instead flee the country for no less than six months. Milly agrees to the plan.
Jack gets everything in order then begins his get-away journey from Kenya. On his way out of town, Jack runs into his old friends Ndung'u and Njoroge, who join Jack on his trip out of the country. While on the road, police pull the men over for questioning, and the three are taken to the police. Jack, knowing that his fingerprints will incriminate him, decides to take a razor to his hands and peels off the skin. Jack is released and resumes his fleeing from Kenya and drives to Uganda, stopping for a few days every now and then. His final destination is Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo where he stays for two months.
Jack seeks a job in Congo and gets a job chauffeuring for a Greek millionaire, Stephano, and his family. He becomes close with the family and even entertains the idea of staying in Congo the rest of his life instead of returning to Kenya.
In Congo, Jack finds himself in the middle of a love triangle and resolves to leave the country. When Jack boards the plane, he feels that he is in the clear and safely on his way to Uganda, but he is approached by the plane's captain and told he must get off at the next layover in Astrida, Rwanda. There, Jack is questioned and detained by the Rwandan police. Jack flees the airport and makes his way via cab and foot to the town center, where he offered help by a shop owner. Once he finally makes it to his home country, he returns home to find Milly is missing.
Jack is finally reunited with Milly, but notices that she acts differently toward him than before he left Kenya. Jack adjusts back to life in Nairobi and soon feels comfortable again. Jack learns that most of his old criminal friends are dead or in jail, which temporarily convinces him that he himself should no longer be a criminal. Jack soon, however, meets up with his long lost friend Captain and gets pulled into another job. The job does not go as planned and Jack returns home empty-handed. Jack takes a two-month break from jobs, but then becomes involved in another that he hopes will result in enough money that he can spoil Milly and retire from being a criminal.
He becomes involved in yet another job, this time robbing a bank in Naivasha. Unforeseen circumstances at the bank complicate doing the job as swiftly as Jack and his accomplices would like, but the group soon do the job and flee in the getaway car. They notice, though, that a European is following them. The group comes across an accident between a bus and a car, and does not have time to properly stop. The driver tries to circumvent the accident, but ends up rolling over multiple times. Civilians from the bus in the accident approach the car to help Jack and the others inside, but Jack fires warning shots and the civilians flee. Jack and Captain run in the same direction away from the scene of the accident. Jack spends a while on the run before finally making his way home to Milly. He lays low and decides to stop being a criminal.
Milly and Jack decide to finally marry, and the two make preparations for the ceremony, which is to take place in Thuita. On the way to Thuita, Jack becomes involved in a skirmish with the police, who successfully shoot and immobilize him. Jack is swiftly arrested and transported to the police car to take him to the station.
On the day he was to be wed to Milly, Jack spends the day in the Central Police Station being questioned and tortured. He is later tried and sentenced to twenty years in prison and forty-eight lashes of the cane. Jack is escorted to prison, where he writes his book and claims that he is a reformed man.
November 15, 2024
In spite of the century when this piece was written, the story is as good and as true as it comes.
One thing that Jack Zollo needed to learn was that "hot feeling in his guts" was never wrong, for every time he felt it, he got burnt. Together with the "goodbyes" from his maid.
Maybe, whatever is meant to be will be.
There is never "This is the last time I am doing this". IF anything, we will most certainly fall back into our habits given time, opportunity and the means.
One thing that Jack Zollo needed to learn was that "hot feeling in his guts" was never wrong, for every time he felt it, he got burnt. Together with the "goodbyes" from his maid.
Maybe, whatever is meant to be will be.
There is never "This is the last time I am doing this". IF anything, we will most certainly fall back into our habits given time, opportunity and the means.
February 1, 2018
If you have the time, you can read it in a day. Easy to read and very interesting.
September 20, 2021
*2 Stars
This book really disappointed me. I remember when I was younger, I heard about this book written by one of Kenya's most wanted criminals and when I stumbled on it I decided to have it as on of my picks for the ongoing #KenyanReadathon on Instagram for the month of September.
Much as the memoir of Jack Zollo aka John Kiriamiti explains his life experiences elucidating what led him to being a criminal and how he rose up the ranks of the criminal world, the sentence structures and writing styles missed the mark for me. The writing had quite a number of issues around syntax and semantics that clearly brought out plot holes and lack of cohesion within the happenings of the life of Jack Zollo.
All in all, this was a light read.
This book really disappointed me. I remember when I was younger, I heard about this book written by one of Kenya's most wanted criminals and when I stumbled on it I decided to have it as on of my picks for the ongoing #KenyanReadathon on Instagram for the month of September.
Much as the memoir of Jack Zollo aka John Kiriamiti explains his life experiences elucidating what led him to being a criminal and how he rose up the ranks of the criminal world, the sentence structures and writing styles missed the mark for me. The writing had quite a number of issues around syntax and semantics that clearly brought out plot holes and lack of cohesion within the happenings of the life of Jack Zollo.
All in all, this was a light read.
December 3, 2024
3.75🌟
This was a fun read, but it got me thinking, what if he's lying. When you read this, you realise this man is a liarrrrr, and he stands with his lies😭.
But it was kind of fun to know what goes through a criminals mind because this is exactly what's goes on in Nairobi. Ngl, though, I'm tired of village guys coming to Nairobi and turning into criminals to make a living ( I'm talking about how most kenyan movies follow this script, gives us something new)
Milly is a stronger woman than me cause why would she stay that long with him. I'm going to read her side of the story to understand her
This was a fun read, but it got me thinking, what if he's lying. When you read this, you realise this man is a liarrrrr, and he stands with his lies😭.
But it was kind of fun to know what goes through a criminals mind because this is exactly what's goes on in Nairobi. Ngl, though, I'm tired of village guys coming to Nairobi and turning into criminals to make a living ( I'm talking about how most kenyan movies follow this script, gives us something new)
Milly is a stronger woman than me cause why would she stay that long with him. I'm going to read her side of the story to understand her
August 17, 2019
A riveting pageturner that will keep you at the edge of your seat! I was rooting for him the entire story
A reread and yet I'm still as captivated as the first I read it. Wow! John Kiriamiti I think I may even be slightly in love with him... if not just touched by mere compassion at the ending of this book. You can see the transformation and the breaking. Anywhooo his luck and adventure knew no bounds, huh? I must say he was great at what he did, no other explanation, wrong as it was. And we all just want to be great at something...
A reread and yet I'm still as captivated as the first I read it. Wow! John Kiriamiti I think I may even be slightly in love with him... if not just touched by mere compassion at the ending of this book. You can see the transformation and the breaking. Anywhooo his luck and adventure knew no bounds, huh? I must say he was great at what he did, no other explanation, wrong as it was. And we all just want to be great at something...
July 24, 2020
A fantastic thriller of the life of an hardcore criminal. This book is hard to put down. I liked it. I thought the author displayed too much heroism in his criminal acts unnecessarily. But Good book all the same
May 16, 2016
I read it again and again at 13. I'd love to read it again.
April 25, 2019
(Slight brag )I met the author; John Kiriamiti, in high school. His daughter was a classmate.
He is a fascinating guy and his story is very intriguing. The book is truly a page-turner.
He is a fascinating guy and his story is very intriguing. The book is truly a page-turner.
April 30, 2020
A fascinating and educative book
January 25, 2024
I first delved into this book during my preteen years, and even now in my late 30s, it hasn't lost its grip on me. The anticipation it stirred back then still resonates today as I reread it. The storytelling is not just captivating; it flows effortlessly. John Kiriamiti has infused every page with his experiences, and reading it feels like standing right beside him as he continually defied life's challenges. His existence was a constant dance with risk, living on the edge until the very end.
As I revisited the narrative, I couldn't help but wish that he had given Milly a chance by forsaking a life of crime. Perhaps, a complete transformation during his time in Congo, residing in the opulent abode of the Greek millionaire, could have altered the course of his story. Nevertheless, it remains a compelling read, offering a glimpse into a life lived on the edge and the choices that define it.
As I revisited the narrative, I couldn't help but wish that he had given Milly a chance by forsaking a life of crime. Perhaps, a complete transformation during his time in Congo, residing in the opulent abode of the Greek millionaire, could have altered the course of his story. Nevertheless, it remains a compelling read, offering a glimpse into a life lived on the edge and the choices that define it.
August 29, 2022
This is a well written book.. it does take you on a beautiful journey of the life of a criminal
After reading some chapters of the book I felt as though my mind was tuned into thinking like that kind of a criminal 😅
This man could change the world if his brains and energy were guided in the proper direction from the start.🤌🏻
I was most impressed by his knowledge and good and quick decision-making abilities.🤯
How does one individual manage to pull himself out of practically every scenario with such bravery, no matter how hazardous or dire the situation appears to be? 👏🏻🗂
This was a fantastic read! Educative, entertaining, and yet 😁
I’m more interested to know that John Kiriamiti is he still a criminal?? 🤔
After reading some chapters of the book I felt as though my mind was tuned into thinking like that kind of a criminal 😅
This man could change the world if his brains and energy were guided in the proper direction from the start.🤌🏻
I was most impressed by his knowledge and good and quick decision-making abilities.🤯
How does one individual manage to pull himself out of practically every scenario with such bravery, no matter how hazardous or dire the situation appears to be? 👏🏻🗂
This was a fantastic read! Educative, entertaining, and yet 😁
I’m more interested to know that John Kiriamiti is he still a criminal?? 🤔
June 11, 2023
Quite a light read. I read this when I was a teenager and decided to pick it up again. I have to say the experience was not as great as when I was a teenager. The story line though entertaining, was not well written. But also understanding the limitations around the author makes me appreciate the effort.
August 10, 2018
This felt like a plot from a Hollywood action movie. Sometimes I'd forget it was actually based on real events.
The ending and leading up to his arrest was just perfect. I'm definitely going to read the next book about his life in prison.
The ending and leading up to his arrest was just perfect. I'm definitely going to read the next book about his life in prison.
August 3, 2021
Great read
A compelling read about a man who got into Kenya's criminal underworld. Well told and you felt like you were in his mind. The weak point is a few grammar mistakes and typos here and there but this is a Kenyan classic
A compelling read about a man who got into Kenya's criminal underworld. Well told and you felt like you were in his mind. The weak point is a few grammar mistakes and typos here and there but this is a Kenyan classic
October 31, 2023
John was a go getter in his own ways.
He believed that what he admired he would get no matter the cost, be it his life.eg, nice cars, ladies, apartment oh! he lived his life fully. He surely enjoyed his youth .
I honestly love the book
He believed that what he admired he would get no matter the cost, be it his life.eg, nice cars, ladies, apartment oh! he lived his life fully. He surely enjoyed his youth .
I honestly love the book
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 30, 2017
Page turner. After reading I felt as though my mind was tuned into thinking like that of a criminal.
December 1, 2017
i wanna read
February 5, 2018
This is a well written book.. it does take you on a beautiful journey of the life of a criminal
August 2, 2018
It's a lovely read. Especially having the story told around places I know. I loved it...
November 23, 2018
So interesting to read
December 7, 2018
Great book
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