Detective Mollel, having left his nomadic Maasai roots to become an urban policeman, previously appeared in Richard Crompton's Hour of the Red God. As Hell's Gate opens, Mollel has just been incarcerated in a Kenyan prison. The prologue ends with shocking violence, and then the story flashes back one week to Mollel's arrival in the tiny backwater town of Hell's Gate.
Demoted and transferred from the Nairobi force, Mollel is reluctantly partnered with a slightly sleazy local cop named Shadrack. Mollel and Shadrack are investigating the drowning of a young flower picker when it becomes clear to Mollel that much more is at stake than the death of one woman and that Shadrack may know more about underground activities in Hell's Gate than he's admitting.
The gritty beginning, the introspective Mollel and the vibrant Kenyan setting all make Hell's Gate irresistible. Crompton neatly portrays the complicated dilemmas of Mollel who is caught between his Maasai heritage and the modern world, trying to be honest in a land of rampant corruption. The action is fast-paced, forcing the reader, along with Mollel, frequently to change opinions about the relative innocence and guilt of the many policemen and criminals who inhabit the pages of Hell's Gate.
Set in the wake of the embassy bombings and the disputed elections of 2007, Mollel's world is sometimes an ugly one, but it will keep readers on the edge of their seats. Hell's Gate is a mystery not to be missed. --Jessica Howard, blogger at Quirky Bookworm