“Fast-paced Horatio Algerian rags to riches story… Brisk style full of action and suspense.” - Robert Nagle, Editor, Personville Press, on Drone Child: A Novel of War, Family, and Survival.

Lemba Adula is a 15-year-old electronics genius able to fix anything from TVs to cellphones. His twin sister is a head-turner, a super-talented dancer and singer. Kidnapped by gun-worshipping thugs for his brilliance, can Lemba escape and rescue her in time from sex traffickers?

We first meet the twins earlier, just before the thugs raid the Adulas’ village and threaten to return. Scouring the countryside for child soldiers, the Congolese Purification Army forces young people to kill their own parents so Mama and Papa won’t be around to go AWOL for. The best way for Lemba and Josiane to keep their mother and father alive will apparently be to flee to the capital, the mega-city of Kinshasa.

Purifiers, however, catch up with Lemba there, and to save his parents, he must fly deadly killer drones for the wrong side and even become a sea-going pirate. His captors are led by a seven-foot-tall whackjob all too handy with his AK-47 and machete.

Despite the horrors​ that Lemba recall​s years later in his war memoir, ​the ending is inspirational and in some ways even joyous. Just what could happen in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in time if events there go ​​right? Can one charismatic genius make a difference with a mix of brains, moxie, and sheer luck?

Rothman, a veteran writer on technology, “got into Lemba Adula’s head through his techie side as well as our shared penchant for do-gooderism.” He also benefited from insightful Congolese feedback. A detailed Author’s Note distinguishes between fiction and tragic reality in the country’s war-torn parts.

Child is available as a paperback, ebook, and hardback, and an audiobook (Dion Graham narrating). Buy it through Amazon, Kobo, Barnes & Noble online, the Apple Store, Google Play Books, or other majors—or your favorite independent bookstore. Email davidrothman@pobox.com for more information.

You can read Chapters One and Two for free

For video and text on the Congo as it exists today, check out this site’s blog.