Acts of Faith

5 star Another Caputo book that opens up a world and takes you through an unknown place and grounds you in difficult and horrific circumstances. You are there with the characters and their raw experiences, it is not Vietnam, it is not Indian Country, it is not even Horn of Africa. It is the Sudan and Kenya. This a story of human conditions and consequences. It is well done.

Other reviewers have thoroughly catalogued the pros and cons of this sweeping novel set in the Sudanese civil war of the 1980s and 90s. I liked it. Caputo does a masterful job of describing both the landscape and political geography of that part of Africa, while populating it with a diverse collection of believable and interesting characters whom he involves in a complex and briskly evolving plot. I was impressed by the depth of his research, which he has used to add great color and authenticity to the story. The title refers to an underlying theme of the novel. I think Caputo believes religious zealotry (of all kinds) is responsible for much of unending conflict he describes, but for the most part he just portrays his characters as they are and lets the reader draw his or her own conclusions.

Philip Caputo's book is one of my all-time favorite books. He is an excellent writer, bringing his characters and the scenery to life. I felt like I was in every scene with the characters. This is a book I did not want to end it was so good, since I had come to know the characters so well. I may add, this is the first time I have written this about a book.

Eye opening view of how international aid groups are not only businesses first and foremost, but also how the services they provide enable despots to act with more barbarity, since they know the aid groups will always come to the rescue.

I would rank this as Caputo's best fiction to date, slightly above Horn of Africa yet below his biographies A Rumor of War and Means of Escape. The book centers around an unlikely group of misfits in post-colonial Sudan: Douglas, a Gulf War vet with an ideological streak, Wesley, a rough-and-tumble pilot with his eye on the bottom line, and Quinn, a nubile Christian girl who wants to spread her faith on the Dark Continent. Confined to a remote UN base where humanitarian aid is distributed, they quickly submit themselves to the "reality" of their new home: The weather sucks, every man has his price, and the people who are your friends today could be locking a missile on you tomorrow. As the book progresses, we start to wonder about the mental health of these would-be protagonists: sporadic flashbacks reveal them as people who are all either running from someone or looking for something, and we can only shake our heads in dismay as they realize the situations they find themselves in are far worse then the ones they left behind. As mentioned by several reviewers, dialogue is the Achilles heel of Caputo's game; it too often comes across as stilted, hackneyed, and melodramatic, especially the locker room talk of Wesley and the scenes with the African "big man" Adid. But man, the detail! Caputo clearly did his homework on the Sudan: he writes it as a land of sun and sand and snakes, a hard country that produces hard people. I also like how the ending avoids traditional feel-good cop-outs: The people with the most to lose, lose, the "bad guys" get away scot-free, and nobody comes to rescue Quinn when her heaven slowly descends into hell. In the end Caputo raises far more questions then he answers, which is the mark of either a very good author or a very bad one. Maybe if Douglas sported horns and scales we would be more inclined to vilify him? Is that the point? Despite the leisurely pace and frequent slow spots, I feel Acts of Faith was worth my time.

Loved this book to the last page. I had a hard time remembering who was who. None the less, I could figure out the details. Would recommend to men and women.

This is a very well plotted novel, with painstaking attention to background and authenticity; characters are also well-developed. My main criticism of it is its length, which makes it seem rather slow.It is good, but not great, and over-indulgent in its length

His development of characters and knowledge of the dynamics of Africa make this a great read. He is definitely one of my favorite authors.

Good

This is an excellent read but also well researched and empathetic. The character development is wonderful and the plot believable. This is an insight into the plight of South Sudan and some of the responses to it both altruistic and opportunistic. There seems to be a sympathetic approach to those providing aid with all of their foibles and colourful characters throughout.

This book is everything you would expect from an award winning reporter. Set in the north of Kenya/South Sudan where aid workers deliver food, medicine and armaments to Sudanese rebels. It presents a lively set of characters with a maze of moral choices where some do good things for the wrong reasons and bad things for the right ones. Definitely a candidate for my book of the year.