Where Lies My Heart by K.J.Rollinson.

                  Where Lies My Heart by K.J.Rollinson.

"Her mind told her that things couldn't be the same. She was soiled by the men who had used her body, and…and….She pushed the image from her mind of the knife between her legs."

Rollinson presents the reader with a mixture of romance and terror set in a number of politically volatile areas of Eastern Africa with corrupt governments, terrorists and sex trafficking. The author has researched her subject well presenting historical facts of events that occurred as well as accurate medical records. Other subjects to whet your appetite deal with female mutilation-circumcision, inhumane torture and the sale of illegal human organs. Intense.

Ian Cornwell, the protagonist was fourteen at the start of the novel. The initial setting is Birmingham, U.K. relatively stable apart from the usual yobbos at football matches, tanked up with booze, out to cause trouble. It is May 1985. A chance meeting with a blind man, Peter Bannister, his wife Margaret and daughter Ann soon developed into a steady relationship that lasted through thick and thin. In fact, young Ann was determined from a very young age to marry Ian and she eventually succeeded.

Peter had been struck down by bacterial meningitis which had damaged his nerves and brain. Time moves slowly and before long, Ian studies a B.Sc. at Birmingham University. In his second year he did a seventy day placement with the visual impairment team of the county council. Peter had offered financial support when Ian's father refused. He had wanted his son to work in the factory like him and earn good money. Ian had other ambitions on a more humanitarian level.

Romantic notions creep in at this point and Ian's first conquest is a Cheryl Brookes, a fellow student who became animated with Ian's talk about his placement. He, on the other hand, was captivated by her and inevitably they had a sexual relationship which was short-lived once Ian started blabbing on about being in love with her. Cheryl's attitude was more a case of love them and leave them, but for Ian, losing his virginity and discovering the delights of a sexual relationship muddled his mind into confusing love and lust. She soon ended it. That put him straight.

After his graduation in 1989, Ian ventured into lover number two, another doomed relationship with Pam. She seduced him knowing that her parents would exert pressure on him to do the right thing and marry their daughter. Ian felt trapped and walked away, slightly bruised.

The plot becomes a bit more interesting when Ian inherits a sum of money on Peter's death which enabled him to fulfil a lifelong ambition of going to Eritrea in East Africa, a country currently at war with Ethiopia. Eritrea had once belonged to Ethiopia before the Italians moved in. The country had been ravaged by war and coupled with famine was taking its toll on the people and making it vulnerable to terrorists.

it was November 1992 when our hero arrives in Asmara, the capital. He had volunteered for NGO work, hoping to be seconded to an Eritrean development foundation which worked mainly with the Asmara orphanage. On the plane he met Fessehaye Gebreselassie who owned a clothes shop in the capital. Fessehaye became a close friend to Ian and something of a protector when the country was in turmoil.

An interesting character is Aagil, the product of war and poverty, abandoned by his parents five years ago who lives in the orphanage. Blind and self-harming, suffering psychological problems. With the help of caring people like Ian and Fessehaye, he is able to turn his life around, a suggestion that there is still hope out of the destructive forces of war and suffering. Some people do survive and he is testament to this belief.

December 1992 was a significant time for Ian when he met the love of his life, Gail Summers from South Wales, a qualified nurse. She had taken unpaid leave to help out in Eritrea. She was working as an administrative assistant. Ian found her intelligent and charming and it wasn't long before he realises that he has found his life-long partner.

He chooses  a diving expedition to Tiwalet Island when he decides to propose to her, after a magical moment together: "They clung together, wordlessly; only the lapping of the clear water and a screech of a single bird broke the silence. Ian stroked her wet hair and kissed her repeatedly."

By November 1993 plans are afoot for the loved-up couple to return to the U.K. Eritrea seems euphoric in celebrating its independence. However, there is evidence of political instability. The Eritrean Islamic Jihad rebels, trained in Khartoum, were attacking the armed forces. The novel reaches its first climax during the Cairo flight when the plane is hijacked by the Islamic Salvation Movement, six of them. They were loaded with grenades ordering the plane to be diverted to Khartoum. Their demands were for the government to free 22 Jihad brothers. They took six hostages and threatened to kill them if their demands were not met. Gail was not initially one of the six but unfortunately she was substituted at the last minute. Ian, shocked and horrified, tried to protest but was forcibly pushed back in his seat as a pistol barrel was lashed against the side of his head.

"We will kill all six hostages if any effort is made to impede us. If we see any armed forces, police or anything that arouses our suspicion, we will kill the hostages."

Omar Al-Tunabi was their leader. He had connections with Osama bin Laden who had invested heavily in Sudan's infrastructure and had also provided funds to train a  dozen Islamic groups in almost thirty camps established throughout Sudan. So, instead of returning to the U.K. Ian decided to remain in Khartoum so that he could find Gail. He has a perilous journey ahead of him and once you get stuck into this, you'll be absorbed by his endless spirit, determined to find the woman he loves.

Publisher: K.J.Rollinson. Self-Publishing. ISBN: 978-1533039095.

REVIEW it by Carol Naylor.

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