Keeping up her tradition of releasing a book every two years, local author Kagiso Madibana has launched her latest work, an explosive thriller titled ‘Queen of Mayhem’.
Released last week with a P200 price tag, the book tells the fictional story of Reneilwe Madome, a ball-busting political journalist who thrives on exposing corruption.
Fed-up with her stories never leading to any arrests, Madome swaps her pen for a gun, joining the BDF Anti-Poaching Unit.
Speaking to Voice Entertainment, 33-year-old Madibana revealed the tale starts in dramatic fashion: the heroine has just murdered her husband!
The story then goes back in time to explain how Madome reached such a point and leaves readers in suspense as to whether she will be caught or not.
“In the eyes of the public Madome is a respected public figure, she is married and living in a big house. She portrays a perfect life while in reality, she is in an abusive marriage. She couldn’t come out to share her troubles because society believes she lives a good life. At her missions, she was trained to use guns and how to shoot. She was tired of her husband’s abuse and ended up shooting and killing him!” disclosed the Bobonong-born wordsmith.
Describing the protagonist as ‘a brave woman’, Madibana said the storyline portrays real-life issues in a creative context.
“When I was employed by the United Nations working in Kgalagadi region, we were also focusing on anti-poaching. Some of the stories I wrote are those I heard at the area while I was on duty,” she said, adding ‘Queen of Mayhem’ also delves into drug addiction.
THRILLER: Queen of Mayhem
“There is also the story of drugs in our society including prescribed pills. Madome was addicted to sleeping pills because she couldn’t sleep from her experiences.”
Last week’s launch was sponsored by Stanbic Bank Botswana, with the bank also playing a leading in marketing the novel.
With Madibana’s previous two books – ‘Bareng’s Journey’ (2016) and ‘To Rangolo with Love’ (2018) – failing to create the impact the young author envisioned due to ‘lack of financial muscle’, she is confident her third effort will leave its mark.
