What do you think?
Rate this book
Ex-Flying Squad cop Jake Moore runs a game fishing business, but when Mombasa detective Daniel Jouma asks for his help in solving a baffling murder case, he cannot help but become involved. The mangled body of a street criminal has been washed up on the beach and a fishing boat skipper and his bait boy have blown up in the water.
330 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
4 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 29, 2011
Lots of deaths, but only a few are anything but tangential to the central mystery, which is the death of a fisherman and his "bait boy" in a mysterious boating accident. Brownlee brings to the forefront how violent the society of modern Africa can be. This is the first of a series featuring the Kenyan police Detective Jouma -- it's a little confusing with the amount of violence from different vantage points, but the series looks promising.
November 18, 2015
Marked down for the language and the extreme violence. I loved this book otherwise. The suspense was really suspenseful. lol The story kept going and there was never a dull moment. I didn't see the ending coming and this made the book even more enjoyable. The plots were convoluted and intertwined with each other to make a total sum that was riveting.
August 28, 2024
Great mystery and very easy to read. Short chapters and large print but I was disappointed to see the "N" word used in it several times. That word is so offensive to me.
March 11, 2009
The latest "it" in crime fiction can be pretty common. Sometimes it's a plot elements, sometimes it's locations for books, sometimes it's the home location of the author themselves. The "it" thing I'm coming across a lot at the moment is books set in Africa. Not that you could possibly complain if the books are the standard of BAIT.
BAIT is set in Kenya, and whilst the setting is used to good effect - the scenery, the animals, the weather, what is really used well is the society (emerging / building / dealing with the after-affects of civil unrest) and the people themselves. There is also an almost matter-of-fact approach to violence. It's actually quite interesting the way that the story will suddenly burst into extreme violence - with an almost dismissive regard for human life and quickly step away. The reader may quickly find themselves in a bar, on a boat or deep in the musings of a good and decent policeman's mind. It is this contrast that is one of the things that I really enjoyed about BAIT. It enhanced the feeling of a society very much on the edge - where the rules are slightly different than they are in more settled or peaceful locations.
BAIT is set around two main characters - Jouma the Kenyan policeman, a man with very firm personal boundaries, somewhat buttoned up and stiff on occasions, a good man in a world where it is very easy not to be. Jake is an Englishman - an ex-London copper, he's your classic fringe dweller. He came to Kenya to move away from his past - but he's not a stereotypical tortured soul, he's aware of his past but he's not "running" - he's gone somewhere where he feels comfortable to start again and in the process he's found himself on the fringe of English expectations and well within the norm in a wilder world.
The investigation at the centre of this book starts off as a series of small events - the explosion of a charter fishing boat and the death of its skipper, the discovery of the remains of a young black man, the arrival of the dead skipper's daughter. As a number of smaller investigations start to converge Jouma is trying to work out the significance of the young man's death and Jake is trying to work out who wants to kill him. They team up more by accident of circumstance than any particular plan to get to the bottom of a very messy story of human greed and violence.
The book is in someways a police procedural, although the nature of those "procedures" are controlled very much by the levels of corruption in the official classes, combined with a general feeling of a chaotic society. What we might class as lax procedures, seems highly evolved and very sophisticated in light of what's going on around the police. There is also the unofficial sidekick element - Jake isn't operating as a policeman and he's definitely not using any form of procedures when he gets involved in the action. It's also very dark in places - but not consistently throughout the book. There are moments of extreme violence, there are moments of funny. There's even some romancing going on (only a little for those who hate that sort of thing in their crime fiction). There's a lot of pace, and there's a quite a bit of tension and there are just a few plot elements that you won't see coming, alongside a few that you will. It's also a debut book, which shows real potential - Jake and Jouma are just made for a series and Kenya is a perfect setting for them both.
BAIT is set in Kenya, and whilst the setting is used to good effect - the scenery, the animals, the weather, what is really used well is the society (emerging / building / dealing with the after-affects of civil unrest) and the people themselves. There is also an almost matter-of-fact approach to violence. It's actually quite interesting the way that the story will suddenly burst into extreme violence - with an almost dismissive regard for human life and quickly step away. The reader may quickly find themselves in a bar, on a boat or deep in the musings of a good and decent policeman's mind. It is this contrast that is one of the things that I really enjoyed about BAIT. It enhanced the feeling of a society very much on the edge - where the rules are slightly different than they are in more settled or peaceful locations.
BAIT is set around two main characters - Jouma the Kenyan policeman, a man with very firm personal boundaries, somewhat buttoned up and stiff on occasions, a good man in a world where it is very easy not to be. Jake is an Englishman - an ex-London copper, he's your classic fringe dweller. He came to Kenya to move away from his past - but he's not a stereotypical tortured soul, he's aware of his past but he's not "running" - he's gone somewhere where he feels comfortable to start again and in the process he's found himself on the fringe of English expectations and well within the norm in a wilder world.
The investigation at the centre of this book starts off as a series of small events - the explosion of a charter fishing boat and the death of its skipper, the discovery of the remains of a young black man, the arrival of the dead skipper's daughter. As a number of smaller investigations start to converge Jouma is trying to work out the significance of the young man's death and Jake is trying to work out who wants to kill him. They team up more by accident of circumstance than any particular plan to get to the bottom of a very messy story of human greed and violence.
The book is in someways a police procedural, although the nature of those "procedures" are controlled very much by the levels of corruption in the official classes, combined with a general feeling of a chaotic society. What we might class as lax procedures, seems highly evolved and very sophisticated in light of what's going on around the police. There is also the unofficial sidekick element - Jake isn't operating as a policeman and he's definitely not using any form of procedures when he gets involved in the action. It's also very dark in places - but not consistently throughout the book. There are moments of extreme violence, there are moments of funny. There's even some romancing going on (only a little for those who hate that sort of thing in their crime fiction). There's a lot of pace, and there's a quite a bit of tension and there are just a few plot elements that you won't see coming, alongside a few that you will. It's also a debut book, which shows real potential - Jake and Jouma are just made for a series and Kenya is a perfect setting for them both.
August 17, 2009
The story didn't get good til about the middle towards the ending chapters. It did make me think about the time of the apartheid in South Africa. Now, the story give some insights as to what can go on in a country like South Africa. Corrupt police force with international misdeeds by ex-military men from old South Africa government creates a good story. One character is very interesting is Jake Moore. The author can have more stories with the character. Moore could be a Blaine McCracken like character in the Jon Land espionage novels.
December 14, 2010
I was pleasantly surprised by this book: I've read one too many 'macho thrillers' in which the main character is a super-hero who ends up saving everyone and getting 'the girl', so I am pleased to say that this was not the case:
the characters seem real, just normal people who end up in difficult situations for one reason or another.
Also, the story is modern and entertaining, and explains brilliantly the ex-pat atmosphere in Africa, with its positive sides and, specially, the negative.
The short chapters make it easier and faster to read, as you think 'one more before I go to bed'.
the characters seem real, just normal people who end up in difficult situations for one reason or another.
Also, the story is modern and entertaining, and explains brilliantly the ex-pat atmosphere in Africa, with its positive sides and, specially, the negative.
The short chapters make it easier and faster to read, as you think 'one more before I go to bed'.
December 27, 2012
I had read Book 2 of the Jouma/Moore series, and had to go back and read #1, Bait. This was just as amazing and I'm go glad I discovered this author and this series of characters. This is the one where it all began with these two and once you discover them, you will only want more. I can't wait to read Book 3. Once you get into the lives of these characters, their dealings with each other in the various cases, the settings of these stories, the events, etc., you will be as impressed as I am.
April 3, 2014
I heard about this book on BBC 5Live's Book Reviews with Simon Mayo (a staple of my long list of podcast listens). They raved about it so I added it to my list of Book Club buys. I wasn't especially impressed. They give away the average twist about three quarters of the way thru. It's not particularly fast paced either. I was looking forward to it as I do enjoy things set locally (Kenya, being in Africa falls into semi-locally ... and plus, it's on the list of places I've been, okay?). But no, I wouldn't especially be recommending this one :(
April 13, 2009
BAIT is the first novel by journalist Nick Brownlee and it’s a ripper of a debut novel. Take one honest detective with a dash of street gangster, vigorously beat in a plenty of psychotic South African ex-army officer with a penchant for inflicting slow, violent death and add the beautiful daughter of a murder victim and you have a recipe for a grab-you-by-the-scruff of the neck thrill ride that will leave you wanting more.
September 19, 2011
Jouma is a Mombasa police Detective Superintendent. Jake Moore is a retired London cop turned charter fishing captain. In this engaging first novel, they wind up as allies fighting human trafficking and the corrupt officials who turn a blind eye, or actively participate. Good story, interesting setting.
December 25, 2015
This book had a few interesting parts. Overall it was not good reading. It was so fractured that it took over half the book to figure out what was going on and what in the world the focus was supposed to be. It was like trying to translate a foreign language with no knowledge of that language. I won't be reading any more by this author.
February 5, 2009
Really enjoyed this debut novel from Nick Brownlee, interesting thriller set in Kenya with somegood characters. Looks to be the start of new crime series & I will certainly get hold off the follow up on release - well recommended.
February 10, 2010
I've been on a mystery novel kick lately. Needing to just totally engross myself in other stories other than my own. And mystery novels tend to suck me in like that.
This one was interesting. Graphic in many ways...but interesting.
This one was interesting. Graphic in many ways...but interesting.
September 30, 2013
The story and the style of writing was not exactly captivating. Especially at the start there were new characters at each chapter - I ended up forgetting who's who, who's new and who isn't.
But towards the end, a lot of characters were dead so I solved the problem of who's who. It was ok.
But towards the end, a lot of characters were dead so I solved the problem of who's who. It was ok.
November 16, 2011
Average thriller, but what I liked most is that it takes place in Kenya.
August 13, 2016
not so good
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews