A Brief History of Seven Killings Characters

When the novel begins, Nina’s father is traumatized by the robbery that took place at his house. After learning that she slept with the Singer he beats Nina, although Nina grabs the belt and begins hitting him instead.

Ras Trent is a wealthy Rasta whose father is the Jamaican Minister of Tourism. He dates Kimmy and, according to Nina, has a sexist attitude toward women.

Barry is a Yale-educated CIA station chief living in Jamaica with his family. Barry takes pride in his work and is furious when Bill Adler undoes his progress in Jamaica and when his wife, Claire, accuses him of being bad at his job. He is eventually relocated to Argentina.

Claire is Barry’s wife. She hates Jamaica and is thrilled when the family is re-stationed to Buenos Aires.

William (Bill) Adler is a former field officer for the CIA stationed in Jamaica. Troubled by a guilty conscience, he went rogue in 1969 and wrote a book exposing the operations of the CIA in Latin America.

The son of Richard Lansing, the former Director the CIA, Mark goes to Jamaica in order to make a film about the Singer. Perceived as a clueless rich kid, he is treated as an annoyance by the other characters, particularly Alex.

Mr. Clark, another CIA field officer, arrives in Jamaica in 1978, replacing Louis Johnson. Like Louis, he is close with Doctor Love.

Bill Bilson is a Jamaican journalist who works for the Jamaica Gleaner.

Winifred is Josey Wales’ girlfriend. Although they never officially get married, Josey remains faithful to her throughout the novel.

Benjy is Josey’s son. After his father is imprisoned, he takes over as don of Copenhagen City. However, he naively travels through Kingston without protection, and ends up being shot and killed. This provokes an outburst of violence throughout Jamaica and New York.

Bam-Bam’s mother is a sex worker. She is killed by Funnyboy, who also kills her husband.

Bam-Bam’s father is described as “the last good man in the ghetto,” although he beats his wife. When Bam-Bam’s mother calls Funnyboy to back her up, Funnyboy orally rapes Bam-Bam’s father and then shoots him in the head.

Funky Chicken is another one of the gunmen recruited by Josey for the attack on the Singer’s house. We learn nothing about him except that he is a heroin user.

Leggo Beast is captured by Papa-Lo during the time that Papa-Lo is trying to round up all the gunmen involved in the shooting at the Singer’s house. He admits guilt, but claims he was “brainwashed” by Josey Wales and the CIA. Papa-Lo kills him as punishment.

Priest is a resident of the Kingston ghetto who works as Alex’s informer. He is not taken seriously, as there are rumors that he shot off his own penis with a gun.

Junior Soul is a teenage member of Wang Gang whom Alex interviews, and who tells him about the conflict between Wang Gang and the Jamaican army.

Funnyboy is the second-in-command of Shotta Sherrif in the Eight Lanes. He is known for forcing men to perform sexual acts on him before killing them, which is what he’s done to Bam-Bam’s father.

Richard is the former Director of the CIA and Mark Lansing’s father.

A-Plus is an old friend of Tristan’s who lives in Miami.

Ren-Dog is an enforcer for the Storm Posse in New York. He tortures Alex alongside Eubie.

Romeo is a young boy employed by the Storm Posse in Bushwick. He initially works as a spotter, but is promoted to runner by Weeper when Weeper realizes that most of the other dealers have disappeared. Josey Wales takes a liking to Romeo, admiring his cheeky courage.

Rocky is John-John’s lover. He lives in Chicago.

Mr. Colhirst is Ken’s son.

Ms. Colhirst is Ken’s daughter-in-law. She treats Ken dismissively and is rude to Dorcas.

A Jamaican politician and prime minister. He is a deomcratic socialist.

A Jamaican woman who sleeps with Alex at one point in the novel.

The Singer's wife.

The Singer's manager. He gets shot on the day of the attack at the Singer's house.