A Brief History of Seven Killings

In December 1976, seven gunmen stormed Bob Marley’s residence in Kingston, Jamaica, an event that serves as the pivot for this narrative spanning three decades. The story unfolds through a chorus of voices including gang leaders, CIA operatives, drug runners, and beauty queens. These characters navigate the violent intersections of Cold War geopolitics, the crack cocaine epidemic in New York City, and the brutal internal warfare of the Jamaican ghetto system. The plot tracks the consequences of the attempted assassination across international borders and shifting political alliances.

Readers interested in the relationship between organized crime and statecraft use this book to examine how local violence reflects global power struggles. It appeals to those who value linguistic variety, as the text utilizes heavy Jamaican Patois alongside formal diplomatic reports. The reader finishes with a detailed map of how political instability in the Caribbean fueled the rise of international narcotics cartels. It provides a granular look at the mechanics of street-level enforcement and the systemic failures of governance in post-colonial societies.

Deep, open-ended and thought-provoking; a demanding read.

Best for readers like The Deep Diver. Which reader are you?