Drone Child - ebook

At 15 I'd already killed a man. I wondered if he had left behind a son my age.

I'd go on to help slaughter hundreds more. This wasn't the civil war that outsiders described. Instead, it was a series of criminal acts by uniformed gangsters who'd forced me to join their Congolese Purification Army.

By the time the Purifiers captured and enslaved me, my sister and I had already done terrible things just to survive in the capital city of Kinshasa. We'd pickpocketed. I'd even run email scams out of an Internet cafe and lied to thousands. Josiane and I had left behind the innocence and warmth of the little village of our birth.

Yet none of that could have prepared me for what the Congolese Purification Army expected me to do. Led by child-killing monsters Tiny and the Demon Killer, these crazed gun worshippers saw my talents with computers and drones as powerful tools to further their murderous agenda.

With the lives of my parents hanging in the balance, I was forced to make unspeakable decisions - but through them all, I tried my best to cling to my sense of will. 

In the end, I knew that my choices would shape not just my own future, but perhaps even the fate of the Democratic Republic of Congo itself.

Drone Child is a chilling work of fiction recounting the life and struggles of Lemba Adula, a brilliant Congolese boy caught up in mass thuggery and an old tribal conflict in the digital age. 

Fact-checked and rigorously critiqued by Junior Boweya and prominent Congolese civic leader Jean Felix Mwema Ngandu, this fictional memoir from 2050 offers a shocking glimpse into atrocities in the Democratic Republic of Congo while ultimately providing hope.

Note: Drone Child is for adults and mature young adults.

PRAISE FOR DRONE CHILD

"A brainy, irresistible hero braves captivity to protect his family in this riveting tale." - Kirkus Reviews.

"Share this action-packed, sensitively rendered audio with fans of Ishmael Beah's A Long Way Gone and Emmanuel Jal's War Child." - Library Journal on the audiobook version.

"The author manages to address a number of angles in the novel, while maintaining an intriguing storyline. The writing is rich and evocative... Complete with a 'Discussion Guide,' Drone Child is at once a novel and a teaching tool." - African American Literature Book Club. 

"A tense narrative in which scenes of degradation and violence are effective without being overly graphic... A compelling story... Interesting choice for book clubs." - BlueInk Review in the American Library Association's Booklist.

"The barbarities of the conflict in Ukraine make Drone Child all the timelier." - Senior Reviewer Diane Donovan in The Midwest Book Review.

"A gripping, brutal account... Purifier general 'Demon Killer' is an astonishingly effective portrait of a sociopath..." - BookLife.

"...should be lauded for the frank conversations it has the power to open for younger readers." - Readers' Favorite.