This book is definitely not for everyone, but it is extremely well written and the plot and situation is engaging, revolving around the main characters Nice aka Teresa, and her friend, the priest Duncan. Fast-paced and incredibly real, the reader follows them on a harrowing, life-threatening journey through the seedy, violent underbelly of Nairobi’s drug cartels. I could not actually complete this book, the violence and stressful lives of the characters simply wore me out. However, for those who admire and enjoy a thrilling, realistic ride through unfamiliar territory, told in an authentic voice, this story could be an adventure worth taking.
Based on the writing and character development, I give this book four thrilling stars.

Unfortunately this book was not for me. I tried several times to get into this one, but always ended up putting it down. The idea sounds interesting, but I think the storyline and dialogue felt forced and I wondered if the author was trying to write a book that would turn into a movie rather than falling in love with the written book version. It probably would make a good movie, maybe the author should try

This thriller didn't quite have me on the edge of my seat. I thought the ending was a little weak with the drug lord not playing as big a part in the end as I thought. I found the book to be slow going compared to other thrillers. A shame as I kept wanting it to get better.

Takes deep breath; here we go.

This book should have been just what I wanted. It is billed as a Literary Fiction and Horror book and has the makings of some really great commentary between race, criminal underground, and society as a whole. However, Hussain seemed to be trying to find his voice as an author and the writing fell a little short for me.

I did not finish the book, stopping after reaching the 47% mark. I will not be decimating this book, as I do think that others might enjoy it. This book just wasn’t for me. I found it hard to fully immerse myself in the story, or to care about the characters, which is a shame because I really wanted to. I really wanted to care about a pregnant woman who is trying to make a better life for her and her child, but finds herself in the midst of a drug war while being a mule. I really wanted to care about her white, pastor friend who will do anything to make her safe. I really wanted to care about the inner workings of this ring and the underground as a whole. I just didn’t.

I would not have described this book as a horror, or at least not based on the portion I read. Sure, horrible things are happening, but it’s not a horror book. Literary Fiction is also a bit of a stretch. I didn’t find it to be “literary,” but maybe it’s just over my head and actually super amazing and cleverly written. Just because a writer uses odd phrasing, does not make a book “literary”.

I did enjoy that the book takes place in Nairobi and that the author actually lived there for a time (though he currently lives in New York and is the co-founder of a fintech startup company). I enjoyed the idea of what the book is trying to get across as well as the conceptualized commentary, plot, and action. Everyone has a story to tell, but maybe not everyone is an author.

Again, I am sure other readers would enjoy this one. It’s just not for me and probably wouldn’t be something that I would recommend.

I am not 100 percent sure how I feel about Truth is a Flightless Bird, and there are a few reasons for that. First of all, overall it was not bad but not really my style. I assumed this would be something completely different based on the netgalley description and the fact that it was categorized as Horror, but it read more like action/thriller? Also, this was the description on Netgalley:

A female immigration officer in Kenya strives to thwart the efforts of an American expatriate pastor with a white savior complex.

and is that what happened?? did I misunderstand? I feel like this description told me nothing.

So, I liked the setting and I think the story was relatively fast paced. I also liked the female police officer who told Duncan, "Be your own Barrack Obama."

I didn't like that this felt very confusing (maybe just to me) and I wish the description was clearer.

TRUTH IS A FLIGHTLESS BIRD is a well-written and gripping story perfect for fans of literary crime thrillers and suspense novels. There's plenty of action to keep the readers turning the pages, and Akbar Hussain does a wonderful job of creating multi-dimensional characters. I especially appreciate how this novel combines literary writing with suspenseful plot. I will look forward to more from this author!

Abandoned at 21%.

I picked this ARC up solely because I was intrigued by the title (why it was even being offered as an ARC beats me—it turns out that it was published well over a year ago).

The plot didn't grab me; I had no problem whatsoever putting the book down in the middle of a chapter or even paragraph. Quite a feat, considering that it starts with a drug-packing pregnant woman on a plane, a car chase and accident, a kidnapping, murder, and subsequent corpse disposal, so I doubt that I would've been less bored if I'd kept on. The characters were cookie-cutter, the dialogues unnatural, and the writing so peculiarly bad, I started highlighting odd sentences. This was the worst offender: "Ciru arrested her sentiment"—from context, I gathered that she stopped speaking because she was getting worked up and losing her temper, but who ever used that arrangement of words? It can't be chalked up to a bad translation, either; the novel was written in English, the author isn't Kenyan, but rather an American co-founder of a fintech startup living in New York. I guess making your living by passively profiting off capitalism gives you the time to dabble in writing, but that doesn't mean you should.

DNF - I found this story difficult to immerse myself in. The premise sounded promising & I am always eager to read Horror but, this one just didn't work for me.