Horn of Africa: A Novel

by Philip Caputo

Three men are chosen to smuggle arms into a primitive, barren wasteland--the Horn of Africa--in this story that reveals the dark side of human nature

Genres: Fiction, Africa, Military Fiction, Action, War

487 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1980

About the author

American author and journalist. Author of 18 books, including the upcoming MEMORY AND DESIRE (Sept. 2023). Best known for A Rumor of War, a best-selling memoir of his experiences during the Vietnam War. Website: PhilipCaputo.com

Reviews

[Chris Wray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this novel. Just like his earlier Vietnam memoir, this one strikes the perfect balance of rawness and studied reflection. And just like that book, this is unrelenting, dark, and offers a uniformly bleak assessment of the human condition, seen through the eyes of a jaded Vietnam veteran and journalist turned mercenary military adviser in the border region between Ethiopia and Sudan. East Africa itself is one of the starring characters, with beautiful descriptions of its landscapes and the awful emptiness of the Eastern Desert. These are based on Caputo's travels in the region as a reporter, and serve well to reflect the wildness and emptiness that is so evident in his human characters. His writing has echoes of Conrad, exploring themes of human wickedness, condemnation and redemption, and the impact on our character of being removed from civilisation. There are a lot of similarities to Heart of Darkness, and this novel is in some ways a retelling of that story.

Caputo's exploration of and reflection on human wickedness is personified in the character of Jeremy Nordstrand. Nordstrand sees himself as one of the elect, a pure and unsullied man among weak and corrupted lesser beings. His character gives a fascinating and unsettling insight into human evil as his stated aim is to discover himself, explore his limits and be himself completely without any interference. That is pretty much a definition of human sinfulness. He goes on to offer some insight into his mindset with his interpretation of Gordon's famous last stand at Khartoum, "The ultimate power is to be yourself so totally that other people don't even exist for you. I keep thinking of how Gordon must have felt when he ignored his orders to evacuate, knowing he was condemning himself and everyone else to death, He did it on his own authority, without a thought about public opinion, or the history books, or duty, or obligations, or those little vermin in London who'd ordered him to run out. He must have felt totally self-fulfilled and self-possessed in that moment. He must have felt like a god." As if that isn't narcissistic and self-centred enough, Nordstrand is even more blunt when he later comments that since we can't be like God in creating life, we can only be like God in taking it. As narrator, Gage comments that these ideas can only seem harmless in the rarefied air of the academy, but now they are going to be translated into action by a determined and ardent believer.

As Gage continues to build up a picture of what Nordstrand is like and what drives him, he says, "The picture would not have been so disturbing if it had not been so familiar. I realised that it was a picture of myself, not as I was, but as I could have been. Many of Nordstrand's lusts, his rages, and hatreds, were not unknown to me. The demons who dwelled in him dwelled in me, as they do in all men: the attraction to violence, the need to be free from all restrictions, the impulse to follow one's desires wherever they may lead and without regard for others." Later, he records his realisation that "No catharsis would ever purge the murderous poisons within him. His appetite was limitless. I had feared him, had respected his strength, had admired the power of his convictions; but now all I felt toward him was an immeasurable disgust. He had come to Africa seeking a forbidden liberty, the freedom of the man in isolation, and the price of that freedom was an enslavement to his miscreant impulses. And so I had a moment of enlightenment....I saw him for what he was: neither madman nor monster, but the embodiment of all that was wrong with me, all that is wrong with our crippled natures." What's interesting is that being in such a remote place, away from society's restraining influences, hasn't changed Nordstrand in the slightest. Rather, his circumstances have merely allowed him to express his true nature and character.

The irony is that despite all his strength, resolve and sense of purpose, Jeremy Nordstrand is not a god after all, but a mere man. As such, he is ultimately felled, and not by someone stronger or smarter than him, but by something as banal as disease. This comes straight out of Proverbs or Ecclesiastes, as I found myself thinking "Vanity, vanity, all is vanity," and reflecting that man's glory is like the grass of the field: here today, in the fire tomorrow, never lasting. So it is with Nordstrand, as he lies unburied in the desert; forgotten, weak and utterly insignificant.

"Seeking a fixed beacon to guide on, I gazed up to look for the Southern Cross among stars so numerous they spread as a white dust across the sky. I found the constellation, and the sight of it comforted me. It was familiar. I had lived under it most of my adult life - in Indochina and in parts of the Middle East and North Africa. I had seen thousands die, cities fall, and governments collapse beneath it, but the constellation always appeared at its appointed place in the heavens, its cold white crucifix offering no consolation save the proof that all of man's wars, his great conquests and tragic defeats, had not the slightest effect on the order of the universe."

In the end, Gage sees that everything that is wrong with Nordstrand is wrong with all of us, as the seeds that have burst into full, murderous bloom in him lie within every human heart. This novel is a wonderfully written snapshot of human folly and wickedness, and of how fleeting and weak we really are despite all our pretensions to greatness. What's doubly impressive is that is Caputo's first novel, and I'm looking forward to reading more and discovering how his style and thinking mature. Great read.

[Geoffrey Benn · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Horn of Africa,” by Philip Caputo tells the story of a small group of adventurers who are hired by a rouge CIA officer to run guns to a rebel group in Africa. The nominal commander is Moody, a former British army officer, who joins the mission as a way to atone for past mistakes. He is joined by the narrator of the story, Gage, a former American soldier and journalist, suffering from PTSD after being present during the war in Lebanon. These two men, both somewhat weak, but possessed of strong morals, are counterbalanced by Nordstrom, a former Special Forces soldier who seeks to take advantage of the region’s anarchy to exercise fantasies of raw power and martial glory. The men successfully join up with the rebels, but are then left to fight alongside them and eventually try to escape. I found the book to be a fairly entertaining adventure yarn, though one that was nearly ruined by the character of Nordstrom. Throughout much of the book Nordstrom alternates between childish bullying of the other characters and pseudo-intellectual philosophizing – both of which I found obnoxious. Overall, a decent read, though nothing to be overly excited about.

[Vincent O'Neil · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book over twenty years ago, and it still holds my attention. It is an excellent novel about a small team of CIA operatives sent into the Ethiopian desert to aid a tribal insurrection. Part Heart of Darkness, part James Bond, and eminently readable.

[Ryan Davison · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite novel. A perfect story with characters that have amazing arcs that you grow to care about. Cannot recommend highly enough.

[John Benson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have really enjoyed so many of Philip Caputo's books, both his memoirs and his novels, but this one was not one of them. This was his first novel. Three white men get caught up in guerilla warfare in a fictional Ethiopian province. One of the main characters, the most demonic of them, Nordstrand, grew up in Minnesota. Having lived in Minnesota for many years, I found the description of him to not quite fit. Caputo writes of him having grown up in a small town where everyone knew everything about you and then describes the town as having 20, 000 people. In rural Minnesota, that is a big place. His Africa parts are okay but seem contrived, too. He did not have as much of a personal background in Africa when he wrote this book, except for three weeks in the Eritrean desert. His novels that bring in his personal background as a soldier in Vietnam or a journalist are much stronger than this one. I am afraid this novel disappointed me.

[Gnarly Authenticity . · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine as long as it sticks to being a Frederick Forsyth type thriller about a psychotic Vietnam vet, but keeps straying into Graham Greene type territory that Caputo simply lacks the chops for.

[Kevin Mayo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. Heart of Darkness style. I wish there was a sequel!

[Kevin Eigelbach · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a super-compelling read about a secret Cold War mission to aid one faction during a revolt in a mythical Ethiopian province. One of the three men on the mission, Nordstrom, sees himself as a Nietzschean superman, and has the physical strength and endurance to back it up. He's dedicated to destroying all ties to right and wrong. The author seems to have taken inspiration from Conrad's Heart of Darkness. The deeper the men go into rebel territory, the crazier and more power-hungry Nordstrom becomes. Filled with great descriptions of the desert and its effect on people. I don't know that it had anything new to say about good and evil, but I appreciated the effort.

[Florida BogJig · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Great Man of Power, full of Vitality, attempts to do something cool and bad ass in 1970s Africa, only to have it all ruined by a couple of boomers. One of whom is a neurotic Englishman, and the other an American pot head.

[Gabe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pretty good though it took me awhile to get through. I definitely see the Heart of Darkness comparison.

[Don · Rating 3 out of 5]

very strong writing. cross between Graham Green and Joseph Conrad. set in 1990s Eritrea. highly recommend.

[Tom Buske · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good yarn about 3 mercenaries in the fictitious country of Bejaya, on the Ethiopian border. Good plot, excellent dialog and well drawn characters.

[Esteban Stipnieks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Surreal well crafted intense Vietnam vet turned journalist plays mercenary for CIA Caputo is always a read.

[RANGER · Rating 5 out of 5]

A highly recommended modern classic that rises above genre; a genius of descriptive prose and psychological tension
Every once in a while a book comes along which rises above the mass marketing genre pigeonhole of American publishing to become a genuine contemporary classic. This is one of those books. Originally published in 1980, Horn of Africa possessed all of the hallmarks of that era's massive publishing industry's promotional ethos. Epic in length and title; the storyline echoing the then popular male-oriented suspense-thriller-action novel theme of discontented, disconnected Vietnam vets wandering Africa in search of fortune as mercenaries, gun-runners or contract spies; Horn of Africa had the misfortune of being released a year after Apocalypse Now appeared in theaters. The similarities in tone and theme probably led some to view Philip Caputo's novel as a poorly disguised imitation. Indeed, this novel and Caputo's prose are often favorably compared to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, from which Francis Ford Coppola drew inspiration for Apocalypse Now. But Horn of Africa is so well-written, its characters so stark and the story so relevant to our post-modern age with its clash of cultures between Islam, Marxism and the West that this book deserves a resurgence of interest and a place among modern American classics. It would make a great movie given the times we live in. And I heard the movie rights were just acquired by Stephen Altman and David Levy. Hope they stay true to Caputo's original vision.
That being said, Horn of Africa is not without flaws. 90% of the novel is near genius. 10% should have been edited out prior to publication. The book traces an ill-fated CIA expedition to train Islamic rebels leading a revolt in a fictional breakaway region of Ethiopia (reflecting Caputo's experience as a war correspondent covering Eritrean rebels). The main character, Charlie Gage, is Philip Caputo's shadow -- a Vietnam Veteran turned Middle East war correspondent. Gage has lost his will to action after a harrowing RPG attack on his Beirut office kills his secretary (Caputo was wounded covering the Beirut conflict). Gage ends up in Cairo, jobless, listless and eager to do anything to regain his nerves. An overly ambitious, rogue CIA bureaucrat named Colfax recruits him for the Ethiopia mission, dubbed Operation Atropos, along with two others, Patrick Moody, a broken ex-British officer and nominal mission leader, and Jeremy Nordstrand, a sociopathic ex-Special Forces officer and Vietnam veteran. Each man takes on the mission in an effort to redeem himself from some past failure of will. But Nordstrand's plan to take over the mission and establish himself as a demi-god among the jihadi rebels sends the entire mission into a death spiral that only Charlie Gage will survive. Its an intense read, even at nearly 500 pages. The only misstep in the entire novel is a lengthy and altogether unnecessary backstory-psychological analysis of the diaries of Jeremy Nordstrand. Caputo's prose even changes here, as if he was in a hurry to add this portion to somehow explain Nordstrand's insanity. Sometimes less said is better. The book would have benefitted from a 10% reduction including that entire, amateurish analysis. It's a small but obvious flaw.
I hope a brave, new audience will rediscover Horn of Africa. Given world events and the resurgence of radical Islam, novels such as this should be required reading in modern literature classes. And I hope the movie, if it ever gets made, stays true to the book. Highly recommended.

[Billy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A mostly entertaining read about three operatives sent to the fictional country of Bejaya to arm and train a small rebel faction for a rogue operation called Atropos.

As some reviewers have noted, the author has drawn upon Conrad's "Heart of Darkness" as a model with the wild-man Jeremy Nordstrand as his Kurtz. While in "Heart of Darkness" the journey up the Congo River marks the regressing of civilization, the author attempts the same thing with the lengthy and arduous journey through the desert prior to the rendevous with Jima, the rebel leader. Unfortunately, the three Western protagonists (the narrator Gage, the weak team leader Moody, and the impossibly wild Nordstrand) are more archetypes than real people, so the relationship between them doesn't deteriorate over time because it was non-existent to begin with. Gage is there because he's haunted by the memory of his dead secretary; Moody is haunted by something he's done in the past; Nordstrand is haunted by fears of being conventional.

Still, if you like intelligence service flavored tales, this is a good one.

[J.D · Rating 4 out of 5]

At certain reading points I was going to give this book one star. There were so many, so many flashbacks that I thought the narrative had just moved forward so there could be another flashback. And they were long accounts these recollections. But the last third of the story redeemed itself enough for me to jack the rating up to the four you can see. That may possibly be on me though, as I am a pushover for a merc' in Africa tale. 'The Wild Geese', 'The Dark of the Sun', 'Beau Geste', read 'em all.
This is a pretty dark tale, however. There is a *Kurtz-like character (or Nietzsche's Übermensch), which is never amiss. Then there's the time-worn (especially by US authors), foppish, public boyschool educated, Sandhurst commissioned, disgraced Englishman.
And the burnt-out narrator seeking salvation. No massive surprises but solid.
* Kurtz - Joseph Conrad character in 'Heart of Darkness'.

[William Hood · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've enjoyed reading this book several times over the years. Essentially the theme within the story is one of individuals and how they are dealing with their weaknesses and failures in trying circumstances. These are men testing themselves either through a self-assured arrogance that they can't fail or striving to prove themselves worthy after previous failure. The book is told from the viewpoint of one of the characters that we might consider neutral in the story, early on, but who is dealing with his own problems.

There is plenty of adventure and intrigue in East Africa (if memory serves) and the psychology is inserted well in the story and is not a distraction.

[Seth Kaplan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Picked this up at Half Price Books warehouse sake and am glad for it. Novel tells the story of 3 CIA operatives sent into Ethiopia to assist a rebel insurrection. It harkens back to the old days of spy/spec ops novels, before technology came to dominate and when authors crafted a great story.

This novel spends large swaths of time delving into the psyches of the three main characters, focusing especially on how things can go so wrong when one is removed from civilization. East Africa is also a key character and described so well by Caputo, who spent part of his career there. Overall, a great engrossing read.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 3 out of 5]

A methodically paced novel about a small team of three down and out ex-military men hired by a rogue CIA agent to help bolster the efforts of a civil war within the fictional province of Bejaya squeezed between the Sudan & Ethiopia.

It's certainly a rather dark story pertaining to the seedier side of human nature and the depths to which some people will go in order to find and/or challenge themselves.

Wasn't terrible but I wasn't particularly enthused either, in parts it felt like a lot of sentences and description was used to say not a lot. That being said, it was still, a reasonable story of mercenary work in Africa with an ending that fitted the book's story.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great setup and everything. I really enjoyed everything about this book, but as it got further and further along I noticed that it was beginning to feel a lot more like Heart of Darkness. "The Horror," from Heart of Darkness and, "I See!" from Horn are interchangeable. Despite this I still enjoyed the adventure tale on a whole. And if you were going to use the formula of another book, you would be hard pressed to find a better one than Heart of Darkness.

[Bank · Rating 4 out of 5]

Caputo’s first novel is excellent . Mercenary / advisors hired by a rogue CIA operation are sent to insure continued access by the USA of a naval base in a rebel Ethiopian area. Red Sea . Well drawn characters not to be easily forgotten as the reader is taken into the tribal wars of modern Africa , reputed by many to be the bloodiest and most inhuman conflicts in recent history . Borrowing from Joseph Conrad in some respects but in others drawing right from headlines .

[Geo Forman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exceeded my expectations. 2 Viet Nam vets and a British secret service agent are enlisted to run illegal guns to a Somalia warlord. The story ends up a bit like Lord Jim with one of the Americans going native and getting more involved in the insurrection than expected. A story of the evils of war and how they can have long term effects on some, if not all participants.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book about 20 years ago and recently re-read it with context based on my experience in Ethiopia and Eritrea. Although it's a slog from time to time, it's classic Caputo and one of his best.

[Sarah Ashley Simmons · Rating 2 out of 5]

ok-and I get the feeling his style begins to seem redundant if you read more than one of his books

[Keith]

Sometimes (OK, often) full of “purple prose” and clichéd yet still readable. Especially when you’re in Ethiopia where it’s set.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

Sadistic book with a freaky character.

[Margaret · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not nearly as good as ACTS OF FAITH, the book i loved so much i just had to read more by this guy........

[John · Rating 1 out of 5]

just nor my kind of book,

[Paul Clayton · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good read. Kept me turning the pages. Maybe one of these days I'll get around to reading his Nam novel.

[Mark Broyles · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread April 2002.