Seemingly following the steps of his legendary father, Mukoma Ngugi the son of Ngugi wa Thiong’o published his first fictional crime novel Nairobi Heat through Penguin Book Publishers SA in 2009.
The book’s story line is set in New York and Nairobi where hard-working detective Ishmael Fofona finds himself moving from one contintent to another in a bid to solve a crime of a murdered blonde girl.
Ngugi’s ability to weave a complex narrative, which connects crime and racial tensions in the US to an in-depth knowledge of Kenya and its nuances, to Rwanda and its genocide past within this African crime thriller, is nothing but the work of a genius craftsman and wordsmith – Belinda Otas,New African Magazine.
One of the biggest publishing houses in Africa known mainly for its literary publications and as the home to Ngugi wa Thiong’o, East African Educational Publishers has grabbed the exclusive rights to Nairobi Heat. The rights given to EAEP are for the East & Central African region which include print and distribution.
Speaking to Kiarie Kamau, the former Head of Publishing at EAEP and one who handled this deal before moving to head the Regional Sales department, he could not hide his joy at gaining the rights to this much reviewed book.
The book is expected in local book stores by August and will have a different cover from the other editions.
Movie rights to the book have also been grabbed by Oz Scott. As Mukoma put it
“The screenplay, by David Abramowitz, is excellent and in some ways an improvement on the novel”.
Mukoma is already working on Finding Sahara, the sequel to Nairobi Heat.
Mukoma will be joining Cornell University in the fall of 2012 as an Assistant Professor of English specializing in twentieth-century Anglophone African literature.