Foreign Gods, Inc. - Book Review

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In Okey Ndibe's Foreign Gods, Inc., Ikechukwu Uzondu ("Ike" for short) is a Nigerian living in America. Ike hatches a plan involving his native village's god of war statue that stands to make him a lot of money. But carrying out his plan proves harder than he initially thought.

The god of war, Ngene, hasn't overseen a war in Ike's village for a long time, but with Ike's return, there seem to be many wars brewing. Wars between Ike's mother and uncle. Between Christians and those who believe in the ancient deities. Between Ike and his mother and sister.

But can Ngene help Ike win any of these battles, including the most important one: trying to succeed in America?

This was a well-written book about one man's struggle to become someone in America. Ike left Nigeria to attend an American college, but his degree doesn't get him any high-paying positions. His accent puts people off. So instead, Ike drives a taxi around New York City and can barely make ends meet. He's under a lot of pressure from his family back in Nigeria, his ex-wife in New York, and bill collectors. Turning to Ngene is Ike's last option.

The book is written in both English and pidgin dialect. The pidgin can be difficult to understand if you're not familiar with it, but I like that the author wrote some of the dialogue in pidgin to give those scenes a more realistic feel.

Foreign Gods, Inc. is published by Soho Press and is available to purchase today. I received a free Advance Review Copy at Book Expo America last year for my honest review.