Synopsis/blurb….
A TEENAGER WITH A
CONSCIENCE GOES ON A HARROWING CRUSADE TO SAVE A BOY'S LIFE.
Seventeen-year-old
Lázara overhears her brothers plotting to kill the teenage son of her employer
for failing to pay his drug debt. Unable to bear the burden of the boy's murder
on her conscience, she embarks on a crusade to save the boy, first alerting the
boy's father then confronting her brothers and, finally, seeking help from a
New Orleans cop. When all efforts fail, she steals a handgun and surprises her
brothers during their rendezvous with the boy at the meth lab, Candyland,
unleashing consequences she never expected or could ever have imagined.
"...echoes the
great noir writers of the twentieth century...vividly drawn characters. ... a
first-rate crime novel..."-Scott Phillips, Author of Rake, The Ice
Harvest, and others.
"...Noir at its
darkest, set against the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New
Orleans."-Judy Alter, Author of Desperate for Death, The Perfect Coed, and
others.
"... suspenseful
plot full of surprises."-Mike Roche, author of Coins of Death and The Blue
Monster.
"...colorful and
lively...Salloum's writing sparkles and her story is compelling."-Karen
Pullen, Author of Cold Feet and Brea's Tale and Other Stories.
"... Pristine
prose and vivid characters...Highly recommended."-Thomas Davidson, Author
of The Museum of Sudden Disappearances, Past Is Present, and Exit.
Talk about a dysfunctional family; 17 year old Lazara’s parents
manufacture crystal meth in their own lab and their two sons use it and deal
it. Lazara is going to try and live an
honest life and make something of herself. Her route to this better life is through
work and initially a temping job, filing and typing for Eric Hutchins.
Hutchins is a lawyer with his own problems. He’s a booze
hound, is playing around on his wife and is disconnected from his son. Not to
mention that his practice is slowly going down the pan and he’s struggling at
trial with his best case and hope – defending a cop accused of shooting an unarmed
looter during the post-Katrina anarchy.
Four days after hiring Lazara, she’s coming to him with a problem
he doesn’t want to acknowledge – Hutchins’ son is a user and has ripped off Delmar
and Jacoby; Lazara’s brothers. If you want to thrive as a dealer in New Orleans,
harsh lessons need to be taught when your customers step out of line. Nicholas
Hutchins has just been handed a death sentence.
Lazara’s going to try and prevent the death of an almost
innocent, irrespective of Hutchins senior’s disbelief. Candyland is where it’s
all going to go down.
Vicki Salloum, a
long-time resident of New Orleans, serves up a pitch-black tale of one young
girl’s efforts to do the right thing, set against a backdrop of isolation and a
total disconnection from family, all played out in an almost post-apocalyptic
landscape – the crappiest neighbourhood in New Orleans after the hurricane’s
struck.
Drugs, meths dealing, disconnection from family, lost
friendship, familial abuse, poverty, a lack of trust in authority, allied with
an almost evangelical urge to be better than what’s gone before.
Dark and graphic, but with some rays of hope in the form of
Lazara. I loved the setting, but I’m not sure that the depiction of New Orleans
will endear Salloum to the local tourist board.
Probably fair to say that enjoyed would be the wrong word
for my reading experience. Unsettling, but satisfying with some weak-ish light
at the end of a very dark tunnel.
4 from 5
Vicki Salloum has
been published previously – A Prayer to
Saint Jude and Faulkner &
Friends are her earlier works.
The author was kind enough to send me a copy of this one for
review.
Read in April, 2016
Oh, this does sound dark, Col! Still, it's an interesting premise for a novel, and I can see how the plot would carry one along. I'm afraid it's probably a bit bleak for my usual taste, but the plot sounds interesting.
ReplyDeleteMargot, yes very dark undertones and probably a bit too bleak for some tastes. It worked well for me!
DeleteAlmost tempted - it sounds like a good setup. I think I find US noir more tempting than UK ..
ReplyDeleteI'm with you as regarding US as a venue as opposed to the UK. Probably have to make room for both though. Interesting family dynamic here.
DeleteStories about dystopian families would be dark and unsettling, I suppose. I don't read a lot of them. But the plot of this novels is certainly unusual.
ReplyDeleteI've not read anything remotely like it for a good while, if ever...
DeleteI like the premise but I think it might be too, too bleak. On the other hand I like post-apocalyptic settings. Who knows, maybe I will try it some day.
ReplyDeleteHopefully I haven't mislead you - "almost post-apocalytic" in the sense of how New Orleans found itself in the aftermath of Katrina, rather than after a nuclear attack. I liked it.
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