Murder in the name of justice

A review of Derek Nwokoye’s In the Name of Murder by UZOR MAXIM UZOATU

THE well-written thriller is the mainstay of popular literature. It’s such an enlightening discovery for me reading the debut novel In the Name of Murder by Derek Somto Nwokoye published in 2024.

The 168-page page-turner stars the shadowy Wale Johnson-Ejiofor who worked incognito as the deadly assassin Cell for a covert agency. The murder of his beloved daughter Olivia makes him to look unapologetically for justice via murder. Olivia’s mother, Munachi, had died in the labour room shortly after her birth. It’s a heavily burdened Wale, wearing dark glasses, that makes the revenge vow after staring at the inscription on Olivia’s tombstone in the poor folks’ section of Ikoyi cemetery:

“In Loving Memory Of Olivia Munachi Johnson-Ejiofor April 5, 2012 – October 9, 2020.”

In the words of Nwokoye from the novel, “The Ikoyi cemetery grounds housed several assassinated bodies belonging to corrupt and despicable figures who occupied double plots. Even in death, they couldn’t stop oppressing the living. Wale chose a nice spot for Olivia where they buried regular people. His joints crackled as he rose from the ground. He brushed his hands against the top of Olivia’s tombstone, bidding his daughter farewell.”

After retrieving “the bullet that killed my daughter” from the police station, Wale followed up leads that settled on the dangerous assassin called Rattlesnake as the killer: “Rattlesnake is the guy that shot Olivia.”

The ominous portents of danger are clear and present for Wale to see, as he is duly told: “You don’t find Rattlesnake. Rattlesnake finds you.”

It’s bloodbath at Wale’s house when Rattlesnake comes shooting. Nwokoye’s narration in In The Name Of Murder is laden with menace: “As Slender sped towards them, one of Wale’s shots pierced through the side of Rattlesnake’s shoulder, eating through his skin. Two more pierced through his ribcage, the bullets rifting through his vest, sending ripples across the thin fabric. The crayon wax laced on the bullets mixed with his blood, a small taste of Olivia’s wrath. The sniper grimaced in pain and tried to stay on his wobbly feet. Using his last bit of strength, he turned his attention back to Wale and attempted to discharge a shot before going down. But his incoming sedan came in like a freight train and smashed into his midsection, launching him into the air and out through the opened window behind him. His body plummeted down below and crashed into the grassy field outside.”

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In The Name Of Murder by Nwokoye is a multi-layered story intervolving plot twists and turns and flashbacks with dates such as July 1997 of the Prologue, April 2017, and October 2020 supplying necessary vistas. It’s not incumbent on me to reveal all the details here so that the reader can still have enough meat to savour when eventually reading the thriller. It suffices to bring to light the fact that the pompous Senator KT Adams, who was assassinated by Wale while he was still working for the agency, is the author of the evil behind the scenes.

Senator KT Adams who had no biological son of his own had blackmailed Mummy Uzo who ran the orphanage into sleeping with him to bear the son Don Jogo. Senator KT Adams then got his wife who was barren to adopt Don Jogo from the orphanage.

In the end, Don Jogo gets arrested and is eventually standing trial. Rattlesnake’s body is not found in the abandoned building, but his real name happens to be Danny Mayowa Coker, a deportee from the United States which “explains the weird American accent.”

Don Jogo’s televised trial catches the eye of the public, engendering much comparison with the evil ways of his late father. The clinching telling words are summed up thusly: “His televised trial was the talk of the town as they accused him of involvement in several murders, including Olivia’s, drug trafficking, arms dealing and other illegal businesses. His father’s former colleagues labelled him as a disappointment to them and a stain on their legacy.”

Nwokoye is a young writer of tremendous promise such that the acclaimed novelist Okey Ndibe, author of Arrows of Rain and Foreign Gods Inc., delivers high praise of In The Name Of Murder for “offering a fascinating study of childhood trauma, a heart-thumping whodunit, and a tale of revenge that spawns further plots of vengeance.”

A holder of a BA degree in Mass Communication from Babcock University in Nigeria and an MA in Creative Writing from Bournemouth University in the United Kingdom, with multiform qualifications in 3D animation, Nwokoye writes almost effortlessly with sublime grace, as per: “Sarah was Wale’s best friend and a sisterly figure to him. She had lived next door to their orphan household when they were growing up. She was also a victim of tragedy when robbers murdered her father during her formative year as an adult.”

In The Name Of Murder by Derek Somto Nwokoye blazes a remarkable trail in crime fiction. He is the uncommon thriller writer with a social conscience. Derek Somto Nwokoye bears out these words of Aristotle: “To write well, express yourself like the common people but think like a wise man.” This debut crime novel marks the arrival of the voice of a new generation.      

•Uzoatu is a poet and journalist