Books

BOOK REVIEW: ‘Laws of Solomon’ Reveals Tender Heart of Former Child Soldier

The monsters that came to him early in his sleep were the easy ones. It was the later demons that stole Solomon Nangobi’s sleep, the spirits of all the people he killed when he was a child soldier in Uganda, and when he was a fixer in New York as an adult. Their ghosts called to him with urgent voices, though he left that life behind long ago.

Published

2 months ago

September 22, 2026

Post News Group

Book cover of “Laws of Solomon.” Courtesy of Poisoned Pen Press

By Terri Schlichenmeyer, The Bookworm Sez

Author: Eriq La Salle, Copyright: c.2026, Publisher: Poisoned Pen Press, SRP: $18.99, Page Count: 304 pages

Finally, after so much work, you’ve left your past behind.

That’s what you tell yourself: what’s done is done and you can’t undo history. It’s over. You try not to think about last month, last year, a decade back because what does it matter? As in the new novel, “Laws of Solomon” by Eriq La Salle, remembering is too full of pain.

Now, his days were filled working the soil in gardens near Malibu, and he loved the quiet life.

Still, he kept his guns.

And he was glad: when Solomon recognized two Zeta gunmen stalking a well-dressed man, woman, and child through the gardens, he couldn’t walk away. He stopped the gangsters with bullets, but not before the adults and their bodyguards were dead. The child, an 8-year-old boy named Gaby, was safe, but Gaby couldn’t tell Solomon what was going on.

What became quickly certain, however, was that Solomon was now Gaby’s guardian, and the Zeta crime boss wanted them dead, too.

When he was the same age as Gaby, Solomon saw unspeakable things, the murder of his parents, the destruction of his homeland, and the atrocities that Uganda dictator Idi Amin’s soldiers committed. He learned to kill, he observed, and he was hardened, understanding as a small boy that revenge was often necessary and needed, and that blood would shed at those times.

But Gaby was pure, an innocent, a child.

Solomon reached out to his contacts to try to get the boy to safety, but being a contact of a marked man was likewise a dangerous thing: the monsters outside were worse than the ones inside him.

Two words for you: ‘Whoo weee.’ That’s what you’re going to say when you close the back cover of “Laws of Solomon,” knowing that you’ve just been taken on a wild up-and-down, around-and-round ride.

La Salle makes it impossible not to like Solomon, an African man who has, over time, lost nearly everything dear to him and who has no faith in much of anything. Readers get that part of the story eventually, and there’s historical authenticity in some of it, but we never really get to know Solomon, which makes the book feel dark and dangerous. Along the way, we meet and get to know his helpers, which buoys Solomon’s chase to find safety for the boy, and your heart won’t stop pounding.

Keep in mind that this is a thriller partially set in 1970s Uganda, so expect lots of violence but don’t expect a lot of people to live. If you’re up for that, find “Laws of Solomon.” You won’t be able to leave it behind.

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Black History

Michael Shiner: The Enslaved Man Who Wrote His Way into American History

Born into slavery in 1805, Michael G. Shiner became an essential eyewitness to 19th-century America by documenting over five decades of history in a private journal. Working at the Washington Navy Yard, Shiner recorded monumental events ranging from the British invasion during the War of 1812 to the complexities of labor and racial discrimination. His writings offer a rare, first-person perspective on the nation’s transformation from the eyes of a man who navigated both bondage and liberty. Read more to learn how Shiner secured his legacy.

Published

3 days ago

November 3, 2026

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By Tamara Shiloh

Long before African Americans could freely tell their stories, Michael G. Shiner was quietly documenting history.

Born into slavery in 1805 in Piscataway, Maryland, Shiner became one of the most remarkable eyewitness chroniclers of nineteenth-century America. His writings preserved more than five decades of Washington, D.C., history, providing an extraordinary perspective on slavery, freedom, labor, and the nation’s transformation.

He was born to William Pumphrey Jr., whose family owned property in Maryland and Washington, D.C. Around 1812, Shiner was brought to the nation’s capital, where he eventually worked at the Washington Navy Yard. Although denied the educational opportunities available to White Americans, he learned to read and write, likely through religious instruction at Washington’s First Presbyterian Church.

His literacy became a powerful instrument of historical preservation. Beginning with recollections of events in 1813, Shiner recorded significant happenings in a handwritten journal he called his “book.” His observations included the British invasion of Washington during the War of 1812, particularly the burning of the Capitol and other government buildings in August 1814. His descriptions captured the fear, destruction, and confusion surrounding one of America’s most devastating wartime attacks.

However, his writings extended far beyond military events.

In 1828, Thomas Howard, chief clerk of the Washington Navy Yard, acquired Shiner and hired out his labor. He worked in the Navy Yard’s paint shop, observing the everyday experiences of enslaved and free workers. His diary documented ship launches, workplace accidents, labor disputes, racial discrimination, and political developments.

One of his most heartbreaking experiences occurred in 1833 when slave traders threatened to separate his family. His wife, Phillis, and their children faced the possibility of being sold away. Through determined intervention and assistance from influential individuals, Shiner obtained their release from enslavement.

He petitioned for his own freedom in 1836 and subsequently lived as a free man. By 1850, census records identified him as free, living with his second wife, Jane, and their children.

His writings continued through the Civil War, documenting the changing political landscape and the struggle for African American freedom. His manuscript also revered the Emancipation Proclamation, demonstrating the importance of this historic declaration to someone who had personally experienced enslavement.

Following the Civil War, he became active in Republican politics and advocated for African American rights. His remarkable memory and detailed observations made him a respected figure throughout Washington.

Shiner died of smallpox on January 16, 1880, at approximately seventy-five years old.

Today, his 186-page manuscript, The Diary of Michael Shiner Relating to the History of the Washington Navy Yard, 1813–1869, is preserved at the Library of Congress.

What makes his achievement extraordinary is that an African American laborer, once considered property under American law, became an invaluable recorder of the nation’s history.

Shiner never achieved fame during his lifetime as a writer. Yet his determination to document the world around him ensured that future generations could understand American history through the eyes of someone who experienced both slavery and freedom.