Rate this book

The Boy In The River (2012)

by Richard Hoskins(Favorite Author)

3.95 of 5 Votes: 3

languge

English

genre

Memoir & Autobiography

publisher

Pan

review 1: Both fascinating and horrifying.As a result of his expertise in African religions and ritualistic sacrifices, Richard Hoskins has been called to testify in a number of cases of murder and abuse in British courts. The torso of a young African boy, found in the Thames in 2002, was the first indication that these horrific practices were taking place in London. The child had been drained of blood and cut in a precise manner, suggestive of sacrifice. More cases have come to light in subsequent years, indicating that this is a serious problem, not only in Britain, but throughout the world.Richard Hoskins originally went to live in The Congo as a young man. His twin daughters were born there and one died very young. When the second daughter started to become sick, it was suggeste... mored that he should sacrifice a chicken or goat to save her from the call of her twin, from beyond the grave. Sadly the second daughter died too, but this event resulted in Mr Hoskins becoming aware of the practice of sacrifice. Also known as kindoki, this has subsequently developed into a much more extreme version and it is no longer just chickens or goats that are sacrificed. Extremist African churches are starving, beating and abusing young children who have been accused of witchcraft. Sometimes this may be because of some behaviour of the child, sometimes because a relative becomes sick and the child is blamed. Either way the accusations and their solutions are beyond belief.In his book, Richard Hoskins describes those early years in The Congo. He explains how the boy's torso was discovered and the phorensic work that followed it. He takes us through several court cases and other instances where these extreme religious views have resulted in the suffering of innocents. Although it is very well written, it is not an easy book to read. However, these practices are now no longer hidden in the dark; as detectives become aware that these things occur, so other children can be saved from following in their footsteps.An eyeopening book, highly recommended.
review 2: I'm currently listening to happy music to try to lift my spirits, so utterly depressing and soul destroying are the stories that emerge from Richard Hoskins account of his time as an expert witness on multi-cultural religious or ritual child abuse. And yet it is a book everybody should read, if only because the tortured and the murdered deserve to have their stories told.In this book Richard Hoskins describes how he travelled to the Congo with his first wife to work on behalf of the Christian Church and developed a deep understanding and love for the people and their culture. After returning to the UK he studies at university becoming an academic.It was when the mutilated body of a young African boy is washed up in the Thames that Hoskins begins his work with the police as an expert on the religions and rituals of African culture. This leads to his involvement in what feels like a series of increasingly horrific cases of abuse.There are some desperately sad cases such as the Congolese boy Londres who, having brought up in London is sent back to the Congo to have the 'kindoki', an evil demon, exorcised from him. When Hoskins tracks him down the boy is sad and wants to return home but his time in London was just short of the time required to become a British citizen. Nothing can be done.In many ways though Londres sticks out as one of the luckier ones, he's still alive and although lonely and living hundreds of miles away from the place he thinks of as home, being alive in this book is a rare thing.Hoskins unfortunately does a great job of describing the decay of Africa after years of misrule, the desperate poverty of it's people and the bleakness of existence for the hundreds and thousands of African children.The final case though is by far the most horrific and will stay with me for some time. It's truly awful and I would never have believed such cruelty and evil could exist.The toll that the work has taken on Hoskins life comes through the book as well and one can only imagine the mental strains exposure to such cases must have placed on himIf there's one criticism to be made it is that occasionally Hoskins's approach borders on the uncomfortable, does he involve himself too closely with certain cases and sometimes there's the hint of an ego that shows itself fleetingly. Hoskins often talks of the negatives sides of his work, understandable when the work is swamped in so much that is awful but surely he allows himself moments of pride at the position he's created for himself through his work with the police. Perhaps I'm guilty of judging a better human being by my own low standards?Ultimately though Hoskins deserves a huge amount of credit for his work in publicising the issue of African ritual child abuse and for establishing the religion can never be a defence. Child abuse is child abuse and no decent African would ever condone the criminal acts described in this book.Definitely a recommended read but have something happy ready to read afterwards. less

Download links for: The Boy in the River

Advertising