‘The American Mission’ by Matthew Palmer

Published by Head of Zeus,
12 September 2024.
ISBN: 978-1-03590880-6 (HB)

The American Mission is one of those rare books that has it all. Set in the Democratic Republic of the Congo – the DRC - it traces the life of Alex Baines, an American diplomat with a conscience, as his eyes are opened and ideals compromised over a four-month posting in 2009.

Suffering from PTSD, Alex was frustrated because he had been demoted to a pen-pusher. Out of the blue his old friend and mentor, Ambassador Spence, offered to restore Alex’s previous status and security clearance in return for working with him in the DRC. Alex jumped at the chance.

In the embassy in Kinshasa, Alex discovers that some of its working practices were not what he would have expected. Outsiders like Henri Saillard, head of the American company, Consolidated Mining Inc, attend high-level meetings and clearly influence decisions taken at them. Henri, a ruthless, calculating and manipulative operator, is interested only in profit and has less than no interest in the DRC or its people.

On the other hand, Manamakimba, the ruthless leader of the Hammer of God rebels, has a huge interest in the DRC and its people. He and his followers are fighting and killing to get their country and its valuable assets back from the control of greedy, foreign mining companies. He kidnaps a group of six Americans and Marie Tsiolo and will kill them unless a huge ransom is paid.  Marie is a trained mining engineer and the daughter of Chief Tsiolo whose mineral-rich village, Basu Mouli, is under threat of being taken over and ruined by Consolidated Mining. Alex is sent to negotiate with Manamakimba. Against all the odds and certain death if he fails, Alex succeeds in getting the captives released. He gains Manamakimba’s trust and the attention of Marie Tsiolo whom he regards as stubborn, opinionated and very attractive.

Unhappy about the way an embassy of the United States is colluding with American companies in robbing the DRC of its assets, Alex tries to alert his political masters in Washington to what he regards as un-American behaviour.  Instead of being listened to, he is accused of traitorous, subversive activities, stripped of his status and destined for a life in an American prison. At this point, Jonah Keeler, the head of the CIA office in Kinshasa, steps in as a typical devil’s advocate. Keeler both helps and manipulates Alex - now a wanted man on the run - as he fights to stay alive, and clear his name whilst simultaneously fighting the impossible fight against the vested interests of big business and the American state. Keeler helps Alex to warn Basu Mouli to prepare for a devastating onslaught from Rowandan fighters equipped with helicopter gunships paid for by the mining company.

The American Mission feels so authentic from start to finish that it is almost like watching a film rather than reading a book. It has wonderful descriptions of the DRC and village life, a love story and a myriad of original characters ranging from the child soldiers, orphans and natives of the Congo, to highly qualified diplomats.  Past and present armed battles and the dreadful consequences they impose on local populations are vividly portrayed along with the political intrigue, CIA shenanigans, and a coup aimed at removing the incumbent President Silwamba – a despot who stole the presidential election from the rightful winner six years previously. The book gathers momentum as you travel through its four hundred and seventeen pages, but it is a journey that is well worth making.
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Reviewer Angela Crowther.

Matthew Palmer is a twenty-year veteran of the U.S. Foreign Service, currently serving as the director for multilateral affairs in the State Department’s Bureau of Asian and Pacific Affairs. A life member of the Council on Foreign Relations, Palmer has worked as a diplomat all around the world.

 

Angela Crowther is a retired scientist.  She has published many scientific papers but, as yet, no crime fiction.  In her spare time Angela belongs to a Handbell Ringing group, goes country dancing and enjoys listening to music, particularly the operas of Verdi and Wagner.