First of all thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an eARC of this book.

After reading Moses Mckenzie’s debut novel last year, I was in tepid anticipation of his next release. And it did not disappoint.

A poignant novel about the Rastafari family structure and the struggles a father and son face.

The way in which the main character’s relationship with his father was portrayed throughout the book was truly a sight to see

I first came across Moses McKenzie when he was featured in the 2022 version of the influential annual Observer Best Debut Novelist feature – for his novel “Olive Grove in Ends” which introduced a fresh and distinctive new voice to the UK literary scene from a very young author (the auction for “Olive Grove In Ends” and a follow up – described at the time as based around the St Paul riots – took place in 2020 when the author was a 22 year old recent English graduate).

It won the venerable Hawthornden Prize in 2023 – although I was surprised that it did not feature on some better known (these days) prizes like the Dylan Thomas Prize (for young writers) or the Desmond Elliot Prize (for debut novels). Undoubtedly it showcased an exciting young voice – it had a strong sense of place (here the Stapleton Road area of Bristol), some vibrant prose, some distinctive language (typically Jamaican patois of various vintages including sprinklings of Somali), a memorable narrator (Saylon), strong religious underpinnings (with explicit Christian, Islamic and to a lesser extent Rastafarian influences). Where the book was let down was in some rather cliched literary techniques (oddly inserted exposition, heavily telegraphed chapter transitions, dramatic cliffhangers or revelations, quite clunky formulations). Personally I also struggled with sympathy for the drug-dealing narrator’s cynical worldview and felt the religious aspects were unlikely to work for many readers (confusing for the non-religious, too reductive for believers – which I think subsequent reviews seemed to show).

Now still only 26 this is the author’s second novel.

Overall I have to say that it is a more accomplished novel in almost all respects while still keeping the strong sense of place and community (here as promised St Paul’s in the 1980s), a memorable narrator (Jabari – 14 years old but with a strongly held worldview), a distinctive but easy to follow language (the story is told in Rastafarian patois, most pretty standard but also some slang developed by Jabari and his community leader and self-proclaimed prophet father Ras Levi), a strong religious underpinning (Christianity and Judaism reflected via a Rastafarian lens – with the story of Abraham offering up Isaac for sacrifice at Mount Moriah being a key to the novel).

The novel itself is effectively written by Jabari – in custody – to his father Ras Levi (separately in custody) and is Jabari’s account of the events that lead to them both being detailed and a justification for the actions of him and others in the community, alongside a condemnation of the actions of his father.

Immediately we are plunged into a community/police confrontation, a relationship already at breaking point due to the explicit racism of the police force (and their unrestrained use of the sus laws) as well as the council neglect of the area. The book opens with the news that Angela – a firebrand who is part of a feminist group who meet at a nearby café Mother Earth (whose leader Joyce broke with the Rasatas over their misogyny and whose focus on justice for blacks in Bristol and Britain is at odds with the Garvey-inspired view Ras Levi is teaching his followers that their sole aim is to escape Britan Ethiopia) – is being arrested by the police for plotting a bomb attack on a nearby bank branch patronised by the richer white community of Bristol.

In the resulting fracas Jabari is struck by the police and Ras Levi arrested for trying to come to his age. Still raging at what happened, Jabari and a girl he knows from school (Makeda – named after the Queen of Sheba – who has joined herself to the Mother’s Group) drift into a white area of Bristol where they come across a small black child without her parents. Jabari quickly and correctly assumes that the girl has been adopted by a white family after being taken away from her black (and likely St Paul’s based) mother by the authorities/social services and decides to take the girl (who is both trusting and vulnerable) with him with a plan to reunite her with her birth mother (a plan pretty well everyone else tells him is both seriously criminal and ill-thought through).

Joyce recognises the girl and confronts Jabari with the reality of the girl’s mother’s situation in an excellent set piece scene (where the mother in turn confronts Joyce) – but before any decision can be taken, a series of police raids on first the Mother’s cafe and then Ras Levi’s Rasta run community centre inflames the tension to breaking and indeed rioting point. Among all of this – with his father released from the police after an abusive detention which seems to sap his will for any further community betterment – Jabari has to confront the truth about his father’s faith and what this means for him (all refracted through the Abraham/Isaac story).

Overall I really enjoyed this novel – its one that avoid easy answers: the belief and actions of almost all the actors in it are challenged but equally the circumstances that drive their behaviours and beliefs (for example Jabari’s extreme resentment of whites) are made clear and I think this reflects the author’s increasing maturity as a writer.

Fast by the Horns by Moses McKenzie is a striking and powerful work of fiction. 1980, St.Paul’s Bristol, fourteen year old Jabari is son of the prominent leader Ras Levi. Jabari has been in raised in a world of sus law and council neglect. In the face of oppression and prejudice he finds hope in his Rastafari faith with the belief that one day he and his fellow believers will repatriate to the motherland. However, when a local activist is arrested, a catalyst of action and violence threatens the very balance of his community and his family, as father and son are drawn into its path. Jabari’s chance encounter with a young Black child gives him the opportunity for his own form of justice or is it revenge? The book is fast paced and engaging the more I read the deeper I was swept into the story and invested in the outcomes of the characters. The book is written in Rastafari patois which gave the story an individual rhythm and deep connection to the language of the characters. This story is a remarkable example of how impactful writing can be many things at once, tender and fierce, sharp and sensitive. It is a dynamic and luminous read from a young and talented writer whose work I will read more of 4.25 Stars ✨.

Even though I had a good time here, I'm thinking of stopping the series.
The universe is still very nice and it's easy to immerse yourself in it, but as far as I'm concerned, the characters are a bit on the periphery and that's too bad. I like that, when they're brought on stage.
I'm more into characters-centered universes.

A lyrical immersion into the Rastafarian community of 1980s Bristol, Moses McKenzie’s follow up to An Olive Grove in Ends does not disappoint. Jabari is a sympathetic protagonist who struggles with his father’s high expectations and tries to do what he thinks is right for Irie. I loved the patois.

An absolute show-stopper of a novel. I loved every single page and I have to say that I am extremely sad its over. Moses Mckenzie is truly an author to look out for. 5/5

Fast By The Horns is set in the Bristol neighbourhood of St. Pauls in 1980. It focuses on Jabari, the 14-year-old only son of the Rasafarian community leader Ras Levi. He exists in a clearly very close-knit community, but one that is constantly beaten down by corrupt policing and lack of council investment. Ras Levi and his fellow Rastafarians in the community, including of course Jabari, dream of repatriation to the Ethiopian motherland, though others in the community mock their ambitions and urge them to engage with the political realities of life in the UK. Amidst the violence and daily struggles with police brutality, Jabari's encounter with a young girl formerly from St. Pauls, who we find has been placed in the care of a white family in a neighbouring affluent area, provides a tender and emotional thread at the centre of the novel.

It's a book with a lot to recommend it. Foremost is its vividly evoked sense of place and time. We're thrown headlong into a world with its own codes and language, with the vast majority of the novel written in Rastafarian patois. It takes a bit of time to adjust to, but ultimately makes for an incredibly immersive reading experience. Within the community there's a richly rendered web of complex relationships, typically blending both a strong sense of community support with an exploration of the conflicts that exist despite this, both within families and between the different elements of the community.

Alongside Jabari and his father's Rastafarian community, we encounter a group of feminist activists who run a local community centre and contain within their ranks those seeking to affect change by potentially violent protest; and elsewhere within the community we find youths engaging with familiar 'melting pot' ska/two-tone subcultures of the era (very familiar to this white British reader, but viewed with a special kind of disdain by Jabari).

There are some shocking, if sadly unsurprising, moments dotted through the book, the recurring theme being the inevitability of victimisation, targeting and straight-up abuse at the hands of the police, who are depicted without exception as cackling and heartless grotesques. The shock here is less the reality of their racist actions, and more the sadness of the way the St Pauls residents have to submit to this relentless humiliation (as well as the anger, of course, in the knowledge that this sort of thing continues relatively undiminished some forty years later). The treatment of Ras Levi at the police's hands is, however, on another level and a hugely powerful depiction of a brazen act of brutal humiliation that stands out even in a novel filled with similar tragedies.

There's also a lot of love and tenderness on display in here too, in the community bonds, in the relationship between Jabari and his friend Makeda, and in their determination to help the young girl. It's a novel in which hope plays a big role, albeit a hope that is often frustrated and occasionally brutally crushed. As a result it's also a novel full of righteous anger, which carries you along, reading in a kind of rage and despair. It's a complex book with no obvious solutions or conclusions to its ongoing issues, but with a huge amount to chew on.

This is a compelling, exciting work by a young author who is already making serious waves and likely to play a serious role in British literature in the years to come. He's already expressed determination to be seen alongside 'the greats' (for him, that's the likes of James Baldwin and Maya Angelou) and at the moment anything seems possible for McKenzie.

(8.5/10)

Fast By The Horns is the new novel by Moses McKenzie. His debut, An Olive Grove in Ends, was a Guardian Novel of the Year in 2022 and shortlisted for the Writers' Guild Best First Novel Award 2023. He was named one of The Observer's 10 Must-Read Debut Novelists of 2022, and won the inaugural Soho House Breakthrough Writer Award the same year. That expectation is high for his second is an understatement.

It is my pleasure to say that this is a superb novel. Set in Bristol, and written in Rastafari patois, this novel is a thrilling read. The voice grabs you, pulls you in, and shows you a world. I haven't yet read his debut, but I've just gone and bought it, such was the power of this novel.

Thank you to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

Breathtaking….. a powerful story of broken dreams and divided loyalti…
This book is a show stopper - one I would give to my friends.
Five stars from me