US Marines in The Congo-Beni War

US Marines in the Congo-Beni War is a riveting read. It is historical fiction and set in the Congo in 2007. Coming out of the so-called African World War, the country is beset with a number of problems, infrastructure is falling apart, roads are muddy and mere tracks in the jungle, schools are in a state of disrepair. There are numerous Congolese and foreign insurgents that kill, rape and loot the country’s valuable products – gold, diamonds, coffee, cocoa, niobium, and uranium to name a few. The government loses out on the taxes and the Congolese themselves live in abject poverty and in fear. In the book, a US marine, Captain Carson, is sent to the Congo by the Pentagon to form part of a team of military instructors selected to train a battalion of Congolese Special Forces. He boards a UN plane in Goma on his way to the training centre in Kisangani, in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The plane crashes on route. Carson and other passengers survive, only to be attacked and captured by merciless Simba militiamen. Captain Carson, who had fought in Iraq and Somalia, succeeds in subduing their captors, helped by a CIA agent who is a former Marine, a Congolese army lieutenant and a child[1]soldier. They escape through the Congolese jungle until they reach the city of Beni.

A fast-paced, gripping read that will keep you up all night.