1 out of 4 stars
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The Repentance of a Bad Boy by Ezeifekwuaba Tochukwu Benedict seems intended as a morality tale. This is the most generous way to appraise it. It introduces the reader to James, who is known as a “bad guy” who has “many bad qualities” and keeps “bad company.” His bad qualities range from drinking excessively and having casual sex to starting a cult and poisoning his parents. (The reader learns these facts in the first two pages, so I do not consider them to be spoilers.) James funds a lifestyle of luxury and excess through armed robbery. The book recounts his life of crime and its consequences.
It advertises itself as a novel, but at approximately 4,000 words, Repentance can only be considered a short story. There is nothing thrilling or suspenseful about the book because there are never any meaningful stakes. The narrative lists events without creating any tension. As a result, there is no emotional payoff. Technically, there is crime in the story, but the crime is not plausible, nor is the world of the story.
One example of the latter’s improbability is an upstanding wealthy couple who have accrued their money through legal means and who keep over $100,000 in cash in a safe in their young son’s bedroom. We are told they chose to keep the money there because they know their child to be trustworthy and of good character. This does not make any sense.
The summary of Repentance states, “The author wrote this book to point out that many African youths are caught up in get-rich-quick schemes and enter into dubious activities.” This description confuses me, however, as the story appears to be set in the United States. Perhaps Benedict believes this setting will be more appealing to Nigerian youths? Perhaps it lends to Repentance an air of a parable? The U.S. is certainly a cartoon of itself here right down to James’s cultic fried chicken and wine parties.
I also have to wonder if Benedict fails in his mission by making crime look easy and profitable. Not many thieves walk into a home with only a gun and no skills to speak of and walk out with over $100,000 in cash even once, but this is the primary means by which James accrues and maintains his wealth. If one wants to warn people against get-rich-quick schemes, the fact that they rarely ever work seems relevant.
English is not this author’s first language. There are many errors in this book due to incorrect word choice. Even the title has connotations that make it sound more like a tawdry romance than a tale of crime and punishment. There are also a number of spelling and grammatical errors, including misuse of commas. There are several examples of such errors on page one, like “he had been suspended from school at many occasions, as this had caused hypertension to his parents.” The “at” should be changed to “on.” In English, hypertension refers to a medical condition rather than a state of extreme interpersonal tension and so this should be rephrased. “And” would make more sense here than “as.”
I know nothing about author Ezeifekwuaba Tochukwu Benedict’s life. I also know nothing about the current issues facing Nigerian society or Nigeria’s cultural storytelling traditions. I can’t help but wonder if that my ignorance gets in the way of understanding of this text, but it is worth noting that Nigeria has produced many world-class novelists such as Chinua Achebe and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Clearly, Benedict is trying to do something good here. That is admirable even if I am skeptical about his ability to achieve it. If there is anything to like in Repentance, it may be the bizarrely compelling earnestness with which Benedict relates the story. But that isn’t enough to carry the story.
I can only give The Repentance of a Bad Boy 1 out of 4 stars. This is the lowest rating possible, and there is no argument to be made for a higher rating. It is not what it claims to be. It is not a novel. It is certainly not a thriller. It recounts absurd crime in laugh-out-loud cartoonish circumstances; I find it a stretch to say this qualifies Repentance for a place within the crime genre. The only genre that fits this story is “morality tale,” and I am dubious of how well it succeeds. It was not professionally edited. I do not think there is an audience for this book, at least not in the U.S. The biography of the author states that he has written a church brochure in the past. Perhaps church youth groups outside of the U.S. might find it an interesting discussion piece.
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The Repentance of a Bad Boy
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