Crossing the border

Set in contemporary Zimbabwe against the backdrop of poverty, company closures, political violence, social and economic unraveling, the novel is a tale about the struggle to survive, love, and one man's quest to escape from all that he abhors. It follows the life of the young Insp. Timothy J. Shumba as he tries to deal with issues in his private life and those of a police officer. As an officer in a corrupt police force that dances to the whims of an autocratic government, he struggles to find meaning in life. In the end, he follows the road that many of his countrymen had taken by running away to South Africa, the Promised Land. On his heels is Chief Insp. Gaza, a man sent by the government to stop Insp. Timothy J. Shumba from leaving the country. Powerful people want him stopped from leaving the country fearing that he might expose the government's heinous crimes to the outside world. Along the way, Insp. Timothy J. Shumba dices with death as he escapes from man-eating lions, the South African Army, and Alistair Summers, a former Rhodesian Selous Scouts sergeant turned vigilante.