Because of Nothing at All

by Paul Sunga

Near the Kenya-Sudan border, a team of international health program evaluators are abducted and force marched under a desert moon. Their pasts and presents — and those of their abductors — unravel before them. An orphan named Money is one of 66 too hungry to sleep. A rich public health doctor is gradually losing his points of attachment. A driver tastes the river of wealth through the vehicles he’s provided. Some escape; others are recaptured; a few are held at ransom. All are lured into schemes that often lead to unexpected results. Because of Nothing at All is a story of choices, identity, and wealth, its richly drawn characters pitched into isolated and desperate circumstances. Born from the underbelly of the modern era of internationalism, Sunga’s vividly compelling novel depicts the inequities of a world gone awry, where the lines between madness and sanity, between justice and injustice, are blurred, if not erased.

400 pages, Paperback

Published September 6, 2022

Reviews

[Alison Gadsby · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a gorgeous, tense and provocative novel. There are some humans in this book that will make you think about the complicated nature of good and evil. Are people really bad, or is it the political systems and economics of the world that force people to choose a side. But again, the good guys aren't always so, and the bad guys, more often than not, are not bad. This novel is filled with complex multi-dimensional characters and I loved it!

Because of Nothing At All takes the reader to Africa, along with a couple of global health consultants, a Somalian woman, a driver, and a few of those bad guys I mention above. The three outsiders are abducted, but things don't flow the way a reader might expect and even the most villainous character in the novel will have you wondering.

If you like tense abduction stories with a very strong whiff of capitalism-criticism, you'll love this novel.

Check out a conversation with Paul Sunga on www.youtube/@junctionreads