This was not my favorite book .I found myself losing interest I had to force myself to finish reading it.

While others have marveled at the comedic genius employed in this novel, I noted the effort, but it just wasn’t my cup of “literary” tea. I found this to be a tedious read and was not really engaged or intrigued with the plot or characters -- admittedly, it was a struggle and I found myself glossing over sections just to get through it. I wanted to really enjoy this, but unfortunately, it was a miss for me.

How tongue in cheek and thoroughly entertaining this read was. The premise couldn't have prepared me for the journey this was to take me on. Not for everyone, but definitely worth picking up and giving it a try.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A beautiful slice of international intrigue. A black artist goes to Guanaya to study folk songs and gets caught up in the greed and deception rampant in the country. It appears everyone has a secret and a unique way to protect their shortcomings. Typical of the 1980s and rich in character . A genuine find from one of the great black voices to ever walk the earth. Enjoy

Here is the description of The Minister Primarily from the publisher. Makes you think of Black Panther? Other recent novels telling awful often true stories about appropriation of natural assets? Yet this blackly humorous novel was written in the sixties and will be posthumously published this summer. It's a fresh darkly homorous read with the benefit of that time travel feeling due to it's age.
"Wanderlust has taken Jimmy Jay Leander Johnson on numerous adventures, from Mississippi to Washington D.C., Vietnam, London and eventually to Africa, to the fictitious Independent People’s Democratic Republic of Guayana, where the young musician hopes to “find himself.”

But this small sliver of a country in West Africa, recently freed from British colonial rule, is thrown into turmoil with the discovery of cobanium—a radioactive mineral 500 times more powerful than uranium, making it irresistible for greedy speculators, grifters, and charlatans. Overnight, outsiders descend upon the sleepy capital city looking for “a piece of the action.”

When a plot to assassinate Guanaya’s leader is discovered, Jimmy Jay—a dead ringer for the Prime Minister—is enlisted in a counter scheme to foil the would-be coup. He will travel to America with half of Guanaya’s cabinet ministers to meet with President Ronald Reagan and address the UN General Assembly, while the rest of the cabinet will remain in Guanaya with the real Prime Minister.

What could go wrong?"

Even though this is well written, I suspect it will remain a hidden gem. Like the description says, it is set in the 1980s, and it's smart and funny, and I stayed mostly engaged. Killens is a talented writer and it seemed like he had fun writing this. Recommended.

I really appreciate the ARC for review!!