Kahawa

Westlake's big blockbuster commercial international thriller: a heist with aspects much too dark and horrible for Dortmunder but an adventure too exuberant and freewheeling for Parker; instead we get one of those unique Westlake creations full of sly humour and with but with horror and violence lurking not far into the shadows. Mercenaries and corrupt operators and ousted Asian businessmen conspire to rob Idi Amin of a train full of coffee. It's a big, complex operation full of many moving parts with plenty of opportunities for betrayal and setbacks and a nasty price to pay when things do go wrong. Fantastic characters, intricate plotting, hair-raising situtations and unusually, for Westlake, graphic sex, all combine in a pot-boiler show more executed with rare craft and competency. show less

Kahawa is the word for coffee in Swahili. This book is the fictional account of a real event - a group of white mercenaries, in Uganda, while it was under Idi Amin, stole a railroad train a mile long, full of coffee, and made it disappear.

Part One, the background of the story and the set-up of the heist, seemed relentlessly long. As are the following three parts! If I were to re-read this, and I wouldn’t, I would skip from one to five, and not miss a thing. I would suggest you do the same, fellow reader! Because the ending is pretty good, and from the train robbery on, the book flows better. I just don't think the story itself was worth reading nearly 500 pages.

While not amongst Westlake's best books, "Kahawa" does bring us into that rather disconcerting period and place that was Idi Amin's Uganda. Even if fiction, it did not look a pleasant time and place to be in, with Idi Amin and his reign of terror looming over the book.

The plot has a gang of westerners and locals attempting to steal a trainload of coffee, train and all. The caper, as you can imagine, as numerous twists and turns, but by the ending you're just hoping you don't have to read more about torture techniques, Amin Dada style.

Though I am counting this as a "mystery", it isn't really - it is a crime story. While the heist plot was interesting, what made the book worth reading for me was the look at 1977 Uganda & Kenya.

The more I read Donald Westlake the better he gets. Kahawa is set in Uganda, an action packed saga with lots of history thrown in. A brilliant read. It took a long time to find a copy of this book but it was well worth the wait.

This author is gifted and amazing storyteller. I really like his style - reminds me of a trimmed down James Michener with a sense of humor.

This author is gifted and amazing storyteller. I really like his style - reminds me of a trimmed down James Michener with a sense of humor.