Where Vultures Roost

Rating:
Summary: Africa as real as today
Review: An exelent read. While Josh devotes a great deal of the first half of the book setting the scene and developing his characters, he made up for it with an edge-of-your-seat climax. Not since Robert Ruark's "Something of Value" have I read a story that describes the harshness and cruelty of Africa as he does. Keep up the good work Josh. I'm waiting for the next one.

Rating:
Summary: Emotional roller coaster!
Review: Joseph Lee was born and raised in Africa, a land plagued with racism, political unrest, and witch doctors you only think about in fantasy. But for this half white, half Chinese young man, these things are all a reality.
Joseph falls madly in love with a black woman and together they half a son, Sipho. When a local witchdoctor learns of the child's beautiful skin color, he wants to use the boy for medicine. Through a series of tragic events, Joseph must face the loss of those women closest to him while trying to safe his son and best friend from the kidnappers evil hands.
In his novel "Where Vultures Roost," Josh Stafford has created an emotional roller coaster. He succeeds in bringing the harsh reality of Africa to the reader through an unusual tale of love, friendship, and sacrifice. It puts into reality a friend who is willing to lay down his life for another. An emotional ride, but well worth every tear I cried.

Reviewed by Melissa Amen
Author of "Phantom Faces"

Rating:
Summary: An impressive first novel
Review: Josh Stafford shows himself to be a seasoned writer, even if this is his first book. His style is comfortable, yet compelling. Beginning his story with a child's birth, Mr. Stafford makes the reader immediately curious about the child's mixed parentage and his future, and almost at once the reader becomes a participant in the narrative.
But a good novel also teaches us, and, as the story unfolds, we learn some of the history of a region we Americans know too little of and perhaps care too little about: Africa, and a topic we'd rather ignore: racism. It's obvious that the author has done a good deal of research or has drawn heavily on his own experiences to make the novel as real as possible. And it is also through these details (aircraft operation, African wedding customs) that the reader is drawn even deeper into the narrative. In most cases, they are so skillfully woven in that the reader does not realize he is learning, be it about flying or another culture.
The details notwithstanding, this is also a story of a young man and the difficult decisions he faces; it is a story of a brutal, senseless crime, and of family solidarity. But more than that, it's a novel about friendship.
This is not a "passive" tale; the reader will experience joy, despair and anger. There is also a strong spiritual aspect and a sense of hope at the end. By the time you put down the book, you may be wrung out emotionally. That's perhaps the most difficult part: putting it down.
Savor the experience while you're reading it. And afterwards, for it's going to stay with you for a long time.

Rating:
Summary: The Disclosure of Raw Africa¿
Review: Where Vultures Roost by Josh Stafford goes beyond the usual descriptions of gripping and poignant. The story of a Joseph Lee reveals harsh truths about a land that is particularly scarred by man's ugliest nature, from the oppression of apartheid to ancient customs of the most bloody nature, one can feel Africa's tears in this story. Mr. Stafford introduces the reader to cultures that are resisting the blending the future brings, cultures which we come to respect through his portrayal of their customs. And it is true that Joseph Lee is, as Mr. Stafford concludes, an everyman... someone who moves through the phases of his life under our perusal... someone who, through the artistry of this author, the reader can recognize in themselves. This is not a book just to read... it deserves to be absorbed.....and will have its haunting effect on all readers wise enough to select Where Vultures Roost. Five Stars for sure.