In an attempt to conceal what he considers to be a major crime brought on by a scandalous sexual indiscretion, a highly-placed, highly-respected Sierra Leonean public officer, who has been leading a double life, inadvertently places himself in the power of a vicious thug, a witness to the "crime." Set in the author's native Sierra Leone, A Pillar of the Community is about the gripping and potentially deadly relationship between the "witness" and the protagonist, as the two men-one a malevolent and sadistic embodiment of evil and the other a hypocritical and immoral public servant -get tangled in a web of intrigue, power and blackmail. The novel is a penetrating study of evil, religious hypocrisy, the exploitation of women and the exercise of power. All this is set against a well-textured background of social and moral corruption. It is a novel of social comment that moves relentlessly to an unexpected and alarming conclusion. There is vibrant evocation of local color and the attitudes of segments of the people of this fascinating West African country.