Social Volatility in Osagie Onolunose’s Call The Four

Osagie Onolunose’s Call The Four is a formidable addition to contemporary British crime fiction, specifically the “Tartan Noir” subgenre. However, where traditional noir often finds its grit in the physical underworld, Onolunose finds it in the digital volatility of the 21st century. The novel serves as a scathing indictment of how modern technology can transform a localized tragedy into a national ontological crisis through the weaponization of misinformation.

The narrative engine is ignited by a classic closed-circle disappearance in Edinburgh, but the scope quickly widens into a study of racialized suspicion. The pivotal moment of the text is the surfacing of a CCTV clip featuring Adeyinka, the son of Nigerian immigrants.

Onolunose meticulously charts the life cycle of a rumor. The image of Adeyinka acts as a Rorschach test for a fractured society; where a neutral observer might see a schoolboy, a radicalized populace sees a predator. The author uses this to deconstruct the “Ideal Victim” narrative, showing how the public’s empathy is conditional and how quickly “youthful defiance” is re-contextualized as criminal intent when the subject is an immigrant.

The novel’s structure relies on a sharp geographical and moral contrast:

The Fractured City (North): Edinburgh represents the systemic failure of the community. Here, the “real” danger is the anti-immigrant protest and the breakdown of civil discourse.
The Shadowed Underbelly (South): As the boys move south, they stumble into a ruthless trafficking ring. This represents the “unseen” reality, the actual monsters that thrive while the populace is distracted by xenophobic fervor.

This duality suggests that social silence and social noise are equally dangerous. The boys’ silence about their pursuit leads to wider panic, while the public’s noise (misinformation) prevents the authorities from finding them.

Onolunose’s prose is lean and urgent, mirroring the 24-hour news cycle it critiques. The multi-perspective narrative allows for a holistic view of a “nation’s unrest,” moving from the visceral fear of the trapped teenagers to the cynical manipulation of information by agitators.

Call The Four is a sophisticated psychological and social thriller that demands a reckoning with our current cultural climate. Onolunose has moved the thriller genre beyond the pursuit of a singular “killer” to the pursuit of a more elusive villain: the collective impulse to judge without evidence. It is an essential text for scholars of post-colonial studies and modern crime fiction, offering a chilling look at the devastating cost of a society that is “quick to judge and slow to protect.”

Ray Anyasi

Editor

Ray Anyasi is one of Africa’s most published author, poet, comic creator and screenwriter. He sits on the board of Literature Alliance Scotland and is the Global Director at Bookause.

View All Posts