God's time is the best...

Finally on its way, laden with all the necessities to carry me forth. I have waited for this moment for many days. It has been a countdown for years. I’d turn up at the docks and be told there is nothing for you. It’s not time yet. I return home disheartened but my spirits again replenished as I realize I haven’t completed my work. There would be always something that I had failed to do or see. So I would work at this until it was completed and again return to the docks with searching eyes. The answer would be the same,
‘Go home it isn’t yet time.’
Today was different because the answer was different. The message was, it has just left the docks and it’s on its way so be prepared, it is now your time. In one way I am ecstatic because I have been waiting for this moment like forever. In another way I am in wonder whether it is my imagination playing tricks on me. Still I cannot be in doubt because I have been here many times before, when this happens. I can’t hide behind words nor is it about the evidence before me. I can hear the voices around me, I hear the sounds, walk the streets day and night still this calling is deafening, resonating from afar. This time the answer I get back is,
‘It is on its way, be prepared.’
I am not hungry nor do I thirst. I am just thoughtful staring into yonder. I shall jubilate in this moment and be grateful that I have waited this long, for safe passage to the haven I seek. I thank God for this comfort and for revealing his secrets to me.

Faces...

Grains of sand scattered through the wind, eyelids fluttering like the wings of doves, the truth lies in not knowing. Now here is a face for you, rage, what I see is anger and the depth of disappointment, staring into the abyss of discontent and frustration, wanting to strike out at someone but pounding the soil a thousand and one times and destroying the good within. Suddenly there is motion in the clouds above and oh dear it is fear. An initiation into a realm of uncertainties, palpitations, unconscious groaning and the eyes of the dog that scurries with its tail between its legs. The fearful mind seeks a selvedge that keeps it from unraveling the truth of its need for escape.
Next stop along this endless highway, boredom. Yes, I am looking at you. The face that’s shouting I’m here because you made me! I have no choice in the matter and now that I’m here you will pay for making me do this. Brother, it is thyself that suffers I'll move on.
Thoughtful, who me, you ask? Yes you, the mudlark of the universe, enquiring into thoughts and beyond becoming the proselyte, Professor Xavier is an infant before your deeds. Does your day end in satisfaction or are you pondering through endless wonders of what lies for the morrow. Oh dear, I turn the page and who’s next and stares with those eyes at me but none other than Wisdom. Oh virtuous one, in your face we embrace thy presence amongst us but do not be deceived because we make you real. You cannot exist without us minions if you must build that gopher, Noah would have been proud of you.
Smile, warmth and hurrah, be this face but don’t hide behind it, it is not what others see that matters it is what you feel that counts. Do not be the gimcrack, be the gem, the jewel that glitters before us and where thou goeth we shall follow in thy footsteps. In this espial the sun shines within and you reflect its beautiful radiance as a mirror.
We are many people with many faces in one world and one universe. We should have one God. There is one God. Amen.

There are two sides to this story...

It was almost three am in the morning when I was awoken by the voices and the loud music coming in through the top shutters of the window. Their voices were raised as they chatted loudly in the back garden. I listened silently holding my peace as it all made sense because she was upset. What had happened to her two days earlier was enough to make anyone go crazy.
The detectives had knocked around 7am in the morning and I had let them in through the main entrance. They told me to return to my flat as they banged incessantly on her door. When she eventually opened the door they stormed in and within minutes I saw them leading her to their car and before long she was arrested and locked up for the night. She returned a day later fuming and angry. I heard screaming and shouting during the day and then at night I was hit by this thunderstorm of loud deafening music that now kept me wide awake and staring quietly at the shadows in my room.
Well that is one side of the story, now for the other. A few years back I took an oath that I would stay isolated and away from anything and anyone as I delved deep into a spiritual habitat to research and write my first novel. One day about eight in the evening I heard a knock on my door. It was my neighbor from below. She said she needed to use my phone and I obliged, inviting her into my apartment. I offered her my cell phone and she made a call, thanked me and was gone.
As these things go as part of my isolation I had worked into my program a schedule of running at least twice a week. Don’t ask me why, it was part of the discipline, keeping my mind clear and focused for the task at hand. Two days after my neighbor had knocked on my door I left the apartment around 10am, which was the routine and was gone for almost an hour. When I returned I noticed that my door had been broken into. There were splinters everywhere even though it had still been carefully shut to hide signs of a break in. I walked into the apartment puzzled. How was this possible? The house itself had only two floors, I lived in the apartment above hers and we shared the main entrance. I decided to knock on her door to see if she had heard anything. I knocked a few times and got no response. I checked the main entrance and the lock was as secure as ever. I got back into my apartment and after a quick glance believed I had imagined the whole thing, since everything seemed to be in place as I had left it. It didn’t take me long to change this line of thought when I noticed that my cell was gone and a few notes from my wallet. As I was about to ask the Lord what I had done to deserve this I noticed her debit card on the carpet in the living room. I knew it hadn’t been there when I woke up or left the house that morning so she had to have broken in.
She was a neighbor and so I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt thinking that she may have been out as there had been no response from her door. Suddenly I heard the main entrance door shut and I peered through the window to see her walking away from the building. She had been in all the time but had not answered when I knocked. I decided to wait. Perhaps she had needed the money and the phone in desperation. I would ask and give her a way out. I decided not to make any accusations but try to lead her to the truth.
When I saw her return I approached her and told her I had been burgled. I told her I had hidden a camera in my apartment that could see who had been there. I also said the person who had broken in won’t know this but I knew who they were. She shook her head giving nothing away. I asked her if she had lost anything and she said no. I had no choice this time and called the cops. To cut a long story short she was arrested and two days later she was returning the favor by blasting my eardrums into space.
In the silence of my room and darkness I knew that I wasn’t too bothered about the phone or the money I had lost. I knew those things would be replaced eventually and besides I had made my point by getting her arrested. What really got me going was the fact that nothing in life stays hidden before God. I had isolated myself to delve deeper into his world and produce a book dedicated to his teachings and someone had invaded this world. It looked like he was watching over me and letting me know that I wasn’t alone on this journey.

Suspense of a Cornerstone

I grew up in a town that looked like it had long been forgotten by civilization. Structure had been given to the town by the volcanic mountain that resided almost one hundred miles into the forest. Through its seismic symphony the mountain had purged lava that flowed through the town leaving huge boulders that carved small hills with forestry bordering the town from its neighbors. To add to its charisma a small river started at the Westside of the town and flowed south in to the Atlantic ocean making it an ideal place for settlers from the western world. The most prominent structures that could be seen in the town where those built by the Germans after the First World War, for they left an unforgettable sense of ruggedness about their strength. The bumpy nature of the buildings held their infrastructure in place through almost sixty years of evolution until my time. As a boy with fervor for adventure and discovery I could say this place lacked nothing for what I needed.

My parents had migrated to this town from our home in London when I could barely say more than two words. By the time I was seven I had discovered that one of the best forms of entertainment in my life was cinema. I loved the places I visited with my imagination in the short two hour period that most of the films lasted. It gave me the impetus to explore the town with vigor and create as many different forms of entertainment as one could find with my friends. We were driven like men on a mission cast into a domicile of battle. We walked for hours on long forgotten railway tracks covered with a blanket of shrubs and obscured from the world by tall verges of wild shoots. The fragrance of the ocean made the adventure merrier as the sea breeze blew through the old forgotten factory sites that had produced all forms of timber in their time. As we journeyed through these darkened verges one could hear the waves banging vehemently on the rocks making us feel inspired to the task that lay before us. I felt alive and in a place I knew I was meant to be for a reason.

At ten the reason for my existence became even more desirable. I pondered about things and wondered why I needed to search for the impossible. I didn’t know what I was looking for and that made it even more interesting, the mystery behind not knowing why I was searching for the unknown fascinated me. In our quest my friends and I decided to bring the movies to life. We were fascinated by the violence on the screens. However I don’t think it was the fact that men were beating one another that did it for us, but the heroism that was depicted through struggle as one group of people fought another. Alongside the older boys in the school we divided the classes from the highest to the lowest into two factions. One group which I considered the bad side at the time consisted of tough looking kids who just happened to love their role while our group which looked like the weaker side was driven by a force of struggle. Our sides were chosen by our characters, I cannot tell you how we all knew were we belonged but I can tell you that in my group we each had some personal vulnerability that made us relate to one another. If I had to put a face behind this today I would say that we admired each other more from our vulnerability than from our strengths. Somehow knowing that we were the weaker side made us stronger as a team. Everyone expected us to lose and we did many times but the few combat missions we won made our losses seem like triumphs in their own right. We would go through two weeks without a victory and then on one afternoon out of nowhere when you looked around the hall, a long abandoned indoor tennis court where we demonstrated our prowess, you would see only few of our soldiers standing having slain the powerful enemy using the imaginary laws of the land.

At the time it never made any sense how I could love to lose most of the time in order for one victory to seem extraordinary. However today which is a far cry from my youth makes me understand why so much fascinated me about the battles we fought and the adventures we made. To enjoy life spiritually you must love suspense. Suspense is the anticipation of what would be, suspense is giving your will to the Lord to make things happen that you would never have imagined were possible. There is a sense of humility behind this suspense because you leave things to turn out the way they do by the will of the Lord. There is patience in this suspense as you live in hope that as you survive through each day, there would be that day that would make your dreams a reality. To enjoy the spiritual world we must learn to accept suspense as a key feature to our characteristics. It is through this suspense that I realized that the playful war I fought with my friends those many years ago in the confines of the coast of West Africa was not just a war in one’s youth but a spiritual pledge in my existence.

Treasure Island - My Rock of Ages

What I feel with both hands in the air is not victory. What I feel with both hands in the air is not loss. What I feel with both hands in the air is wonder. I can’t look back because I know no answers lie there. I choose moments, places and times to come as each song reaches my core and opens a new vacuum. I am the voyager, the stranger, the wind that blows in every direction, in your direction. I am no one and I am me. I know that this feeling is strength because having been here so many times before victory was never too far off in the distance. Come dance with me, be my shadow and feel the strangeness of my land. Pause, feel it now, do you? You are walking, moving, dancing. That’s it! Run with me, fly, feel your arms, wave in the air. It’s the beat, it speeds up and then slows down. Get the rhythm, feel it in your limbs, then slowly let it reach your heart, now it’s in your mind and then it’s you! Yes it’s you, no more me I was long gone my time is over. It was a passing moment, a fleeting instant when I was me, that part in you that lighted the room.

Oh, the cavalry! How dare you interrupt my odyssey? Don’t you know what it takes to reach this place, this void, this moment? Ah, how can you? Where art thou, Oh Lord? How far art thou dear Lord? Well perhaps you are in front of me, no behind me, that’s wrong too, you are within. Yes you are eternal light, my redeemer, my messiah, my gift. You are my direction, my hope and my life. There they go, they run from us in fright, they haven’t seen us, heard us. Have we been silent, I doubt it but how does our voice surface in these times, in these extremities. Ah! There they go the lights, the streets, the cars, what they call reality, every path leading to an adjourning path that leads to another, endlessly. I’d like to follow, love to but can’t keep up, there are so many.

How can I forget Lord? It was Paris 1999 when they pulled up. Then I was in my prime another time and another place I can’t even remember what I ordered. Was it soup, I guess it was. Hand on chin, eyes facing a grey sky darkened by shadows, words of solitude, heart of warmth, fingers that cringe as they type. I have again risen from the dead to be who I was meant to be. I am Cephas, I am the truth and I am the better part of me. I am back.

‘You called and I am here, what’s the matter beloved?’ Cephas asks.

‘Felt a little low today, I needed you,’ I reply.

‘I’m here now what can I do?’

‘I am having one of those days when you need something to happen, just something to make you feel alive.’

‘You are alive. Explain.’

‘I badly need some form of comfort here, something, anything.’

‘You have forgotten then.’

‘Forgotten what?’

‘The twenty five.’ Cephas replied.

‘The twenty five?’ I ask.

‘Yes, and don’t pretend you don’t know who I mean, tell them now.’

‘Who would believe me, where do I start, I haven’t got the credentials, no name, nothing.’

‘You have me, you have him, you have the Father, that’s a good place to start.’

‘But what would they think of me.’

‘Not your call, the Father’s.’

‘Is that it?’ I ask.

‘That’s it. And please don’t call me again, by now you should know what to do,’ Cephas snaps and is gone and I am left again alone with you. Well, this is what he meant by the twenty five.

On Thursday 18th February 2010, I received this note from Canon Michael Ainsworth of St. George-in-the-East in London:

I don't know where you are based, but our congregation at St George-in-the-East (in Tower Hamlets, about a mile east of the Tower of London) is very small - usually about 25 adults - and I suspect it would not be worth your while coming here to promote your book at a Sunday service. Nor do we at present have any other suitable opportunities during the week. I think you would fare better at other churches with larger numbers!

However, if despite this, and you live locally, you wish to come and meet the congregation (who are a very mixed bunch in every way!) with copies of your book, you could perhaps say a few words over coffee after the service (which I would flag up in the sermon).

I agreed to go despite the numbers. I knew there was no chance of a book sale but I felt it was my duty to accept this invitation and share my experience.

Now it just so happens that during this period I had been reading the bible continuously as I often do, don’t ask me why, its routine, it strengthens my faith, my spirit and what I write. It just so happens that I was reading the book of Ezekiel. It just so happens that on the Sunday morning that I decided to attend this particular church to introduce my new book, Eli this is what I read:

‘Moreover the spirit lifted me up and brought me unto the east gate of the Lord’s house, which looketh eastward: and behold at the door of the gate five and twenty men; among them Jaazaniah the son of Azur, and Pelatiahthe son of Benaiah, princes of the people.’

The spiritual world is treasure waiting to be discovered if you follow your heart rather than the noises of despair around you. My visit to this church was eventually published on the internet as I later discovered in this article. I owe the Lord many things, we all do.

Reverie: The Day I met Thursday and Friday

The club was steamy as smoke rose from the cigarettes of the many sailors and the hostesses that entertained them. It was a sixties environment and for the life of me I could not understand what I was doing there. I listened to the sound of old songs bellow from the gramophone and knew I had landed myself into an old war movie. I sat in the corner observing the scenery in wonder and then I saw them approach me. They looked like brothers only one was much taller than the other. They sat down without asking for an invitation and began talking to me as though we had known each other for many years. The shorter of the two did all the talking making claims of his escapades and boasting about his charm. His claims were backed up by the way the girls immediately swamped around our table and gave him all their attention. I saw him rise up with one of them almost lifting her off her feet as he guided her to the crowded dance floor. His taller companion remained seated and quiet watching his friend dance with the lady eventually he too was approached by another girl who appeared to be shy and they joined the others on the dance floor. I watched in fascination as the two couples in very different styles let themselves unwind to the music. How I had come to be in this place was a mystery but what was obvious was that I was there for a purpose.

    They eventually returned to the table and continued talking in the same way as before. I couldn’t hear the words clearly but from what I could see the short one was assertive of his position and gave the impression that he was in charge of all around him while the tall one was quiet with a resolute determination only depicted by his silence and the peculiar look in his eyes. I sat there mystified believing that anytime soon some one somewhere would eventually interrupt my dream and shake me back into reality.

    As time would have it I was roused up from sleep as the morning noise filtered through my windows and realized that I had been fully engrossed in a dream world that had sent me back in time to the sixties. The interesting thing about this dream was that it was vivid and I felt that it had a message from the Lord hidden beneath the surface. My first thought was to remember what I had asked of the Lord. Yes!  I remembered my prayer had been for him to shed light on the direction of my life. I had wished for a sign, anything to give me hope that the path I was dreading wasn’t covered in doubt and fear. I was afraid that my decisions in life had been plagued by guilt and the sole purpose of building prosperity. For the first time in a long while I was taking a step back and denying myself my ambitions holding firm to the virtues of faith and relying on the Lord to carry me to my destination. I had isolated myself from everything and everyone feeding solely on revelations in my life yet weakness had crept in and again I delved in self pity hoping after time that the Lord would show me a sign that I was on the right track. I couldn’t remember when I had last had a revelation and hoped for one with every ounce of my being. It looked as though in response to my prayer this was what I had to go by. This dream was all I had and it was up to me to figure out what it meant.

      I prayed to the Lord to shed light on this dream as I knew it was a gift from him in response to my wishes. It was Wednesday and the week was still young yet with my state of mind I wondered with apprehension if I would make it to the end of the week without loosing my mind. I knew Saturday would be okay and I felt this because the weekend had a way of taking care of itself, but who could tell about Thursday and Friday? I was only in Wednesday and there were two more days to get through before the weekend. It looked as though in my ply to avoid incessant badgering for success I was now sinking into a state of desolation. I needed a way out of this maze and I hoped that the Lord would guide me through it.

       I lay in bed wondering how these two sailors could be of any importance in my life.  Eventually it dawned on me that the sailors where two days of my life. The short sailor was Thursday for I expected to be rash, assertive and abrupt in all my decisions on that day because that is what the dream had foretold. However Friday would be a long day and the night would seem very far off. It would be harder and colder in its approach but in the end I would find it to be the better of both days.

      It is hard for me to tell you that these is how these days turned out to be not by my own doing but by the grace of the Lord. The spiritual world is so mysterious that its mysteries can only be lived to be seen. I write with the hope that through my words when you make your own discoveries in the spiritual world and jubilate at your experience it can bring back memories from my story that would make you believe and strengthen your faith in the Lord. On this occasion I told my mum about what I had dreamt and my interpretation of the dream as I knew she understood the spiritual world and knew I was level headed enough not to let my imagination get the better of me. Things turned out as I had dreamt for on Thursday I found that not to my doing my friends called me. Friends I hadn’t heard from in weeks called seeking my advice. Time flew by as we talked about times past and before I knew it I was having dinner and on my way to bed. In a way I lived through Thursday without knowing what had happened. It had been short, abrupt and I had been assertive and boastful in a way as I talked to friends about my own experiences in life. When Friday came I was in recovery mode from a hectic Thursday and found it slow and cold to start with. The day was long and I wondered with hope what the night would bring. However it ended with me going out to the pictures and this is how I managed to survive through to the weekend.

Eli - Pacific Book Review

Beautifully written in a first person format, Leslie Musoko brought me into the mind and thoughts of characters of immense spirituality seeking their destiny, in a masterpiece composition, ELI. Revelations between reality and the spirit world conflict within their minds, as his novel brought me into the depths of human awareness. Skillfully written using multiple dimensions of thoughts, feelings and actions of his protagonist, combined with the minutia of detail Leslie Musoko amassed from his life experiences and research, he constructs a philosophical pulpit. I felt transported into the mind of his character Cephas; seeing through his eyes, feeling through his touch, sensing all around him whilst listening to his thoughts, understanding his faith and witnessing first-hand his cognitive awareness. Kudos to Mr. Musoko for achieving such an artful literary feat.

I knew I was in for a treat from the very first page, during the Prelude, he writes, “Cry I say, cry I wish, yet there are no tears from me. I am all cried out, all dried up.” For those words written told me volumes about Leslie Musoko’s sensitivity and literary skills. His pen scribes an acme of articulation, reminiscent of eternal quotes and commensurate as a Shakespearian coinage. The introspective contemplative lamellate of his characters’ personality, juxtaposed against their logical layer, or public façade layer, divulges the depth of Musokos’ erudition of character development. The quest to find his character’s sanctuary in faith brings us all closer to our own. “Eli” translated meaning “My God” was exclaimed by Jesus Christ on the cross. “Eli, Eli lama sabathani,” said Jesus. “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

Eli is the second of a trilogy series of writing about Cephas, a Christian put to tests of his faith through a series of challenging circumstances. Achieving an advanced caliper of literary percipience, Leslie Musoko’s Eli is recommended to all readers with a cultivated appreciation of character development, epic storytelling, and faith based philosophy. I found it to be challenging and stimulating. One thought, written somewhere in the storyline, Musoko stated how odd it is for humans to have evolved to a point in their use of language where at times it is used to mislead or mask one’s innermost feelings. How absurd a culture would embrace such deceptive tactics, he pontificated. Mr. Musoko leads no reader down a path of deception, nor does he fraudulently portray his thoughts. Eli is communication at its highest level of veracity.

Making your dream reality

believing in a dream

Believing that we are all called upon this earth to do something is one thing, however putting it into practice requires a level of commitment that very few of us are willing to put in.

As a child I read all the books I could get my hands on. I did not care about the subject or what it was about I just read. Mine was a hunger that needed to be fed and escape from my environment into another, time and again was much needed respite. Soon I was contemplating my dream. ‘If only’, was always a good place to start. I identified my weakness. I needed experience, I needed to understand the world I lived in. If only I could travel, if only I had been to the places I wished to write about, if only I had time to dedicate to my dream then nothing would stop me. I traveled, I gained experience, I learned a thing or two about the world, time was afforded me, I decided to write.

great expectations

Finding the story had never been the hard part for me as an author. It was always the fear of not succeeding in anything I endeavored to do. I demanded the best of myself whether it was in engineering, sales or management. Naturally it made sense that the fear of not succeeding as an author would spur me on. I expected and demanded more of myself. I had been to places, I had read numerous books. I took pride in my imagination and my gift of creativity as it had shone through my telecoms career. This meant writing about what I knew, what was at the core of my existence and what had carried me through all those years of traveling in my life. I turned to my faith. However faith is not about just what you know or your experience or where you’ve been. Primarily faith is about God and where you are going to end up! Perhaps we all think that we all have a small say in this. Do further research you’ll find that you agree with me!

qualifying expectations

By reading many books of different genre I had discovered that each author had their own identities. Some books were stronger in society than others for their time, their environment and the purpose they served. It wasn’t enough that I was creative and had a story to tell. I had to contemplate the time and the message I wished to get across to my readers. I had to qualify my dream if I wanted it to be a success! Talent or a gift does not serve the purpose it’s for on its own. It has to be channeled and directed to fulfill its existence. I was lucky here! God came through for me as he had done in the past. Qualifying my dream is in the response of the readers of my books. I have received handshakes, told by others that my book changed their lives. There has been some negative criticism but if looked into thoroughly, I expected it to come from those sources from the moment I typed the first words.

Creating Eli and what went into it....

Creating ELI – the novel

ELI means ‘My God’ and is taking from the Holy Bible in the words ‘ELI, ELI lama sabacthani’. ELI is a spiritual book and the second in a trilogy that begun with the book Divinity Dawns. It is partly an autobiography with the names of the characters in the book altered. It is set in Riyadh, Dublin, Bahrain, Brisbane, Sao Paolo, London, Lisbon, New York, Douala, Basel, Geneva and Shenzhen.

ELI is divided into three parts as listed below.

Part I – The Inheritance

Part one delves into the life of the hero Cephas as he discards his past and travels to the Middle East in pursuit of fulfillment and strengthening of his faith in God. He faces different tests physically, mentally and spiritually enabling him to come through better equipped with the strength and desire to fulfill his dream of writing about ELI. It is during his time in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia that he learns about the Muslim culture and the difference to that in the life of a Christian. He comes to terms with class and cultural segregation and the freedom that we all take for granted in the West. Cephas turns to camaraderie and the strength in friendship to understand survival in his new environment. While this is at the physical and mental level, Cephas experiences visions and an awakening that sets him on a path to go back to his past and understand his patrimony.  He must comprehend why he was chosen to write about ELI and divulge and interpret parts of the bible that he hasn’t seen interpreted anywhere else before.

Part II – The Beginning

Part two goes back to the late 19 and early 20^th centuries during the height of slavery in West Africa. It is about the life of Cephas’s great grand father Salem and his indoctrination into Christianity. It reveals the nature of the settling of the first Basel missionary from Switzerland in Cameroon. Salem’s life is espied from childhood through to adulthood and the shaping of his Christian faith up until the point at which he owns his own ministry. It is at this point that Cephas understands the meaning of his visions and the path he must follow.

Part III – ELI

Part three is the core of the novel and as absurd as this might sound was written first. It is mainly set in the streets of China and is a mystical investigation into the dialogue between man and spirit as Cephas divulges and interprets parts of the bible. Amidst a backdrop of activity Cephas manages to retain a level of communication and dialogue in spirit to reveal parts of the bible that have long been mistaken for years. He is not only aware of his surroundings, the pleasures of life, relationships and romance he is also determined to fulfill his ultimate goal of keeping his spirit in line to reveal the message that had been the course of the novel ELI.

Eli  Pacific Book Review by Gary Sorkin

Beautifully written in a first person format, Leslie Musoko brought me into the mind and thoughts of characters of immense spirituality seeking their destiny, in a masterpiece composition, ELI.  Revelations between reality and the spirit world conflict within their minds, as his novel brought me into the depths of human awareness. Skillfully written using multiple dimensions of thoughts, feelings and actions of his protagonist, combined with the minutia of detail Leslie Musoko amassed from his life experiences and research, he constructs a philosophical pulpit.  I felt transported into the mind of his character Cephas; seeing through his eyes, feeling through his touch, sensing all around him whilst listening to his thoughts, understanding his faith and witnessing first-hand his cognitive awareness. Kudos to Mr. Musoko for achieving such an artful literary feat.

I knew I was in for a treat from the very first page, during the Prelude, he writes, “Cry I say, cry I wish, yet there are no tears from me. I am all cried out, all dried up.” For those words written told me volumes about Leslie Musoko’s sensitivity and literary skills.  His pen scribes an acme of articulation, reminiscent of eternal quotes and commensurate as a Shakespearian coinage.  The introspective contemplative lamellate of his characters’ personality, juxtaposed against their logical layer, or public façade layer, divulges the depth of Musokos’ erudition of character development.  The quest to find his character’s sanctuary in faith brings us all closer to our own.  “Eli” translated meaning “My God” was exclaimed by Jesus Christ on the cross. “Eli, Eli lama sabathani,” said Jesus.  “My God, my God why have you forsaken me?”

Eli is the second of a trilogy series of writing about Cephas, a Christian put to tests of his faith through a series of challenging circumstances.  Achieving an advanced caliper of literary percipience, Leslie Musoko’s Eli is recommended to all readers with a cultivated appreciation of character development, epic storytelling, and faith based philosophy.  I found it to be challenging and stimulating.  One thought, written somewhere in the storyline, Musoko stated how odd it is for humans to have evolved to a point in their use of language where at times it is used to mislead or mask one’s innermost feelings. How absurd a culture would embrace such deceptive tactics, he pontificated.  Mr. Musoko leads no reader down a path of deception, nor does he fraudulently portray his thoughts.  Eli is communication at its highest level of veracity.

Eli - APEX REVIEWS by Josee Morgan

As Cephas continues his trek to Saudi Arabia in pursuit of his inheritance, he soon discovers that discarding his past will be a much more difficult task than he anticipated. With his personal life steeped in confusion and uncertainty, not to mention his spirit nearly broken, Cephas is forced to rely on little more than his faith to survive in an increasingly challenging world. Little does he know, though, his current trials and tribulations - no matter how formidable - are just the beginning...

Thoughtful, moving, and deeply introspective, Eli is an immensely rewarding read. Skillfully crafted by author Leslie Musoko, this second installment of a compelling new trilogy takes the reader deep into the mind and heart of a devout Christian struggling to reconcile his faith with the often hostile reality that surrounds him. Not only that, he must also contend with the internal forces threatening to cloud his judgment and distract him from the all-important spiritual quest for which he's been pre-anointed. As deep as it all may sound, Musoko does a commendable job of framing Cephas' physical and metaphorical journey in clear, accessible terms, fostering a profound empathy within the reader - regardless of your specific personal faith. In so doing, Eli serves as an invaluable guide for anyone who finds themselves similarly conflicted in the spirit; by following Cephas' brave example, we will find it much easier to handle the emergent spiritual tests that unexpectedly befall our everyday paths.

Equally riveting and profound, Eli is an instant storytelling classic. Be on the lookout for more compelling works from this promising new literary talent on the rise.