David Mogo is a demigod living in Lagos in the years after the gods fell to Earth. The arrival of the gods has turned the once-thriving city into a place where feral godlings run amok and frustrated gods take out their pent-up anger on whatever human residents get in their way. David makes his living doing odd jobs for those who deal with the gods, and when a local wizard/gangster hires him to trap a couple of gods in a vessel, David initially takes up the job — but then discovers the horrific way the wizard is using the gods' powers. Soon, David finds himself in an uphill battle against the wizard and a whole pantheon of Nigerian gods.
A blurb on the back refers to this as "a Nigerian Harry Dresden," and I guess I can see that — David Mogo is definitely a down-on-his-luck guy who keeps getting into tricky situations with supernatural creatures and coming out battered and bloodied, yet somehow still in control of his powers. I particularly enjoyed the different gods and mythologies presented here, which are intriguing and new to my Western eyes. However, as rich as the religious/folkloric traditions are in this book, the plot is a bit messy and the characters are a bit one-dimensional. But it's a debut novel, and I know from his other books that Okungbowa has the ability to present African-based fantasy with plenty of complex stories and characters.
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