[1][2] The novel documents the experience of two journalists as they try to rescue a kidnapped European wife in the oil landscape of the Niger Delta.

The novel explores themes of both the ecological and political consequences of oil conflict and petrodollars in the delta.

[3][4][5] Oil on Water is a story about two people, Rufus, an emerging journalist, and Zaq, a famous reporter.They went to the Niger Delta in pursuit of an abducted white woman named Isabel Floode, who was used as a bargaining chip in Nigeria's civil war.

Orion magazine called it "a powerful work, one that reaffirms that art done well is always big enough to contain politics".

[3] The Guardian's Rachel Aspden called it a "powerful, accomplished third novel [that] displays a growing pessimism about journalism's capacity to effect change.