“When I’m reading a novel and find a passage I like, I mark the spot and dog-ear the page so that I can come back to it later, remember, and learn from it. In a typical novel, this doesn’t happen very often, maybe once per chapter, if that. Well… you should see my copy of Madagascar now. There aren’t just a few dogears, but a whole pack running through it, more pages bent than not. . . . It’s hard to put a value on humor. Yours is priceless. But there’s more, a level of depth, honesty and humanity (flawed as it is) that’s rare as… well, a good book.”

“In a style evoking Graham Greene and the atmosphere of Casablanca, Holgate (Tangier, 2017) presents the island nation of Madagascar through the eyes of a nearly burned-out American diplomat, who is one smart remark away from complete ruination. Robert Knott, the aging diplomat, struggles with a large gambling debt to a French expat casino owner, with an estranged daughter who barely listens when he calls, and with a withering sense of duty to free and American jailed in a nightmarish gulag. When Robert is followed by the American’s very attractive Malagasy girlfriend, political intrigue and dirty money lead him through the back roads and violent alleys of the country, where all dead ancestors watch over the living, and no one ever escapes their fate. It would be easy to dismiss the main protagonist as another haggard antihero done in by his vices, but Holgate sneaks in well-crafted moments of insight while the pace drive dramatic action.”

“(T)he style in which author, Stephen Holgate, describes the flora and fauna is a delight, making it easy to imagine their beauty. The mystery and mysticism of the island add to a culture being destroyed by the greedy. Madagascar is an intriguing novel about those coming to grips with their own outlook on life.”