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. ( )

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 executed with rare craft and competency. ( )