A Los Angeles Times Book Review Favorite Book of the YearJohnny Mad Dog age sixteen is a member of a rebel faction bent on seizing control of war-torn Congo. Laokolé at the same age simply wants to finish high school. Together they narrate a crossing of paths that has explosive results. Set amid the chaos of West Africa''s civil wars and acclaimed by such writers as Philip Roth and Chinua Achebe Emmanuel Dongala''s powerful exuberant and terrifying new work is a coming-of-age story like no other.