Joy Lo-Bamijoko

AGENT OF DEATH by Joy Nwosu Lo Bamijoko was a story that confused me - I had to read it twice to understand. First, the protagonist, I don't know her name or anything about her other than being a female in the village. The story opens with her dreaming that a family member dies. She introduced the AGENT OF DEATH and indicated that she finally got it to move on after taking her two brothers, a sister, and then her mother. She then moved on to speak with spiritualists, sayseers, occultists, and divinations for help. Reading more, I thought this was all taking place because of the dream, but actually, it was the protagonist sharing everything she did to find out why those mentioned earlier had died and did not let us know that she was doing this. I knew that was resolved when she said they had a time of peace and tranquility.

Later in the story, the protagonist talks about new deaths in her family and that she was going to side with God this time to help redirect the Agent of Death. She ends up battling with a family member over her father's property and again, I got conf
used because and didn't understand what caused this fallout and why they were fueding to begin with.

I had a difficult time following this tale because of the many names of characters introduced into the story and the jumping around. There were also terms used that I was not familiar with: 'killed by his Batman'? and 'young boy with wrappers up to his chest'.

I'm sure that if the author spent time in reworking this story and 'fleshing' it out more, it would be a great tale about culture, legends, beliefs, and ancient practices used in a foreign country.… (mehr)

The Visit by Joy Nwosu Lo-Bamijoko takes place in a small, cramped town in Nigeria. The author's flat in the 8-unit duplex faced a highrise building next door. Most of the property was surrounded by concrete walls that hid all the activity on-site; the compound was dead during the day and booming at night. The building was unique and many people were curious, craving a peek inside. The neighborhood wasn't considered safe as thieves roamed the streets after dark.

A friend, Rebecca, from the U.S. visited her flat and they spent the day reminiscing of earlier times together in school. As the visitor readies to leave, she finds her world is turned upside down. The landlord and young people in the neighborhood all come together to help make things right.

The author does an excellent job of bringing it all together in such a short time. It was ten minutes well spent.… (mehr)