BLINDSPOT IN AMERICA

A young Ghanaian immigrant becomes entangled in political intrigue.

Akoto’s novel opens with its protagonist, Kamao, imprisoned in the U.S. and awaiting trial. Precisely how he got there hasn’t yet been revealed, but Akoto notes that he is “the most infamous prisoner in the nation.” From there, the story takes the reader back to find out just how Kamao ended up in that position. He’s born into a prominent family in Ghana and eventually leaves to study in the U.S. There, he takes a job working at a gas station after a thief relieves him of several thousand dollars. While enrolled in college, his knowledge and idealism impress Lindsey, a fellow student who is the daughter of Brad McAdams, a conservative senator with a former Navy SEAL on call for “secret missions.” Kamao and Lindsey begin a relationship, which infuriates Lindsey’s father and prompts him to offer Kamao a bribe to break up with her. Akoto’s novel sometimes shifts registers; the scenes of Kamao navigating the bureaucracy required to stay in the U.S. and seeking a visa tap into a textured realism, while a subplot about Dania, a young woman fleeing gangs in El Salvador who is abused by politically connected Americans, heads into melodramatic territory. Eventually this novel’s more melodramatic elements advance to the foreground, as the reader learns exactly why Kamao finds himself incarcerated at the beginning of the novel. The tonal shifts can be jarring at times, even as Akoto finds interesting parallels between Kamao’s and Lindsey’s politically connected families. This novel is at its best when it gives its characters space to discuss their ideas, hopes, and dreams.

More successful as a character study than a political thriller.