ONE LOVE. SEVEN KILLINGS.

A Brief History of Seven Killings

Now while the title may harken dreaded text books from your academic past…or present. This is fiction, and an epic thriller at that, set against a roots, rock, reggae backdrop. A Brief History of Seven Killings explores the attempted assassination of Bob Marley on December 3, 1976.

The deed took place before Marley, hands down the biggest cultural icon Jamaica had ever seen, was to perform a free concert. The goal of the event was to ease political tensions weeks before a heated general election. Marley defied the assassins by performing 2 days later at the Smile Jamaica concert in front of 80,000. The shooting did however change the artist’s relationship with the island forever.

A Brief History of Seven Killings is a fictional accounting of the event and the violent times that followed. One cannot talk about Jamaica without mentioning reggae and it’s pioneers. Many of whom were outspoken and had the ears and hearts of the country’s population to a greater extent than the politicians of the day.

The story is told by assassins, reporters, CIA agents, even Keith Richards’ drug dealer chimes in. Author Marlon James is in his element. No mere tourist of the scene, he was once a music critic for the Jamaican Observer. James understands his subject and the tunes. This is rock and roll fiction.

Find it here.