Little Rot
'A masterwork of the form . . . mesmerising.' New York Times
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- $20.99
Publisher Description
FROM THE INTERNATIONALLY BESTSELLING AUTHOR
'A masterwork of the form . . . mesmerizing.' New York Times
'A fun, sexy, dangerous, dark thriller about corruption.' Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah
'A dazzling literary talent.' Esquire
Akwaeke Emezi's exhilarating new novel follows five people over the course of a weekend which will brutally upend all of their lives.
As Kalu drops Aima at the airport, it marks the end of their four-year relationship. Shattered and broken open, he thinks that's the last he will see of his ex-girlfriend. But, reeling from the breakup, both Aima and Kalu find themselves drawn back to Lagos: to separate nights of decadence. When Kalu visits an exclusive sex party hosted by his best friend, Ahmed, he makes a decision that will plunge them all into chaos.
On the other side of town, Ola and Souraya, fresh off their first-class flight from Kuala Lumpur, are getting ready for their own nights of pleasure, unaware that everything is about to go awry. Pulled into a whirlwind descent through the city's corrupt and glittering underworld, they're all looking for a way out, fueled by a desperate need to escape the threat that looms over them.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Emezi (The Death of Vivek Oji) unspools a web of erotic danger in their entertaining latest. Kalu, a young man in New Lagos, Nigeria, is dumped by Aima, his girlfriend of four years. That night, Kalu attends a high-priced sex party run by his friend Ahmed. There, Kalu witnesses an older man having sex with a handcuffed younger woman who appears to be a teen. Believing he is witnessing a rape, Kalu forcefully pulls the older man away, to the chagrin of Ahmed, who claims it was all consensual role play and that the man, a megachurch pastor known as Daddy O, is a good customer. As the narrative shifts focus from one member of Aima and Kalu's wealthy world to the next, subplots, side characters, and sex scenes abound. Meanwhile, Kalu finds himself in increasing peril, as an incensed Daddy O calls for his murder. Emezi keeps the proliferating plotlines together by the power of coincidence—a crucial set of keys appears at just the right time, as does a hidden wad of cash—which gives the story both the convolution and the pleasure of a soap opera. Readers in search of a decadent good time will find it here.
