You know, I read the word "stickybeak" and I crack up, because that's why my family calls our pet birds when they're being bird-ishly nosey. They have to know what you're doing at all times, and of course, they love to "help" people do chores around the house. (This helping, by the way, appears to be chirping instructions and getting in the way of doing whatever you're doing — the joy of parrots in a nutshell. Hee!)

So, stickybeak is a perfect word. I love it. :-)

Thanks for the feedback on Kenya. I think I stared at more pictures and read more entries on Kenya than I cared to count, especially given that there are very few details in the story about Nairobi and I maybe used 10% of what I actually researched. To be honest, I kept going back and forth about whether Xander would be ultimately killed in one of the mudhut slums, or in one of the business districts away from the city center that tend to turn into ghost towns once night falls. In the end, I went with a business district because I couldn't get a handle on where the slums where located within the city. I got the sense (although this could be erroneous) that they were further away from the city center (where it is very modern-day) than the the quieter business districts, so I erred on the side of caution there.

Oh, and I'm glad you enjoyed the story as well. Thank you very much for reading. :-)