I bought this book a few weeks ago mostly at random, as it looked interesting and was on a subject that I knew very little about. It follows James Brabazon, a British journalist, as he ventures into Liberia during the Second Liberian Civil War alongside Nick du Toit, a South African mercenary he had hired to protect him. The story follows the two of them through a number of trips to Liberia and then concludes with a botched coup attempt in Equatorial Guinea partially led by du Toit that Brabazon was supposed to have come along to film.
Overall, it was a very interesting book. It was fascinating to see how Brabazon evolved from a rather naive journalist struggling to reconcile his role in the conflict (as an observer to atrocities that he could do nothing to prevent but that he was profiting from) to someone who was in many respects a mercenary himself (seen in helping to coordinate a Liberian rebel ambush, referring to the Liberian rebels as "we" and "us," and being relieved that Charles Taylor wasn't arrested during the conflict because that would have meant the end of the war and therefore the end of Brabazon's story). I also found it very interesting how by the end Brabazon admits that it has become impossible for him to be a neutral journalist in the Equatorial Guinea affair, as his friendship with du Toit has compromised his neutrality. This also led me to question whether or not there might be things about du Toit or the conflict that Brabazon did not talk about in order to protect his friend's reputation, although he did talk about du Toit's questionable past as a part of the South African special forces during Apartheid.
In general, My Friend the Mercenary was an excellent book, and I would highly recommend reading it.
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