de Kris Nelscott
|
de Kris Nelscott
|
de Kris Nelscott
|
Descriptions du produit
Amazon.com
Anyone who doesn't realize that crime fiction can say a great deal about society has obviously never read Kris Nelscott's Smokey Dalton novels. Beginning with A Dangerous Road, in which the unlicensed African-American detective was caught up in the assassination of civil-rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., this series has established itself as a thoughtful forum in which the profuse ills of late-1960s America--racism, sexism, political polarization--can be scrutinized within the dramatic demands of fictional private investigations.
War at Home, the explosive fifth Dalton outing, ushers readers into the midst of the anti-Vietnam War movement. It's 1969, and Smokey agrees to help his tutor friend, Grace Kirkland, locate her elder son, Daniel. It seems that the black merit-scholarship student has gone missing from Yale University after firmly establishing himself there as a "troublemaker," and at one point beating up an affluent white classmate who'd threatened Daniel's brainy girlfriend, Rhondelle Whickam. So Smokey, needing a (possibly permanent) break from the epidemic violence of Chicago, bundles his 11-year-old adopted son, Jimmy, and street-smart, 18-year-old orphan Malcolm Reyner (introduced in Smoke-Filled Rooms) into an old panel van and wheels off toward New Haven, Connecticut, naïvely hoping to return Daniel to class. Instead, the trio encounter bigoted cops, disillusioned would-be rebels, and ominous evidence of a bomb-making scheme. And as Daniel's trail leads onward to New York City, Smokey finds himself confronting a vengeful sniper and his own mortality, as well as the awful realization that Daniel Kirkland may not be as innocent as his mother believes, but rather a passionate young man who's "scary because he's so smart."
Smokey's road trip reminds him that prejudice and poverty are just as ugly, wherever he goes. But War at Home's change of backdrop also means that we see little of this PI's increasingly interesting white girlfriend, Laura Hathaway. The compensations here are an introduction to Gwen Cole, a long-ago lover uneasy with having to revise her definition of Smokey, who had treated her badly; and the maturing Malcolm, whose pending induction into the military compels our Korean War vet hero to address his personal misgivings about Vietnam. Deftly juggling the requirements of a detective yarn with nuanced portrayals of the Nixon-era black experience, Nelscott (a pseudonym of science fiction author Kristine Kathryn Rusch) is producing a powerful, emotionally rich series that reminds us of just how much America hasn't evolved in four decades. --J. Kingston Pierce
From Publishers Weekly
In Edgar-finalist Nelscott's gripping fifth Smokey Dalton mystery (after 2004's Stone Cribs), the African-American PI and his "son," Jimmy, an appealingly plainspoken 11-year-old, agree to help locate the missing son of Jimmy's beloved teacher, Grace Kirkland. Daniel Kirkland, a Yale undergrad, has disappeared after failing to show up for spring semester. Malcolm Reyner, an 18-year-old short-order cook, joins the pair, making for a nicely balanced trio. As they travel from Chicago to New Haven, Conn., in the summer of '69, and then through various New Haven neighborhoods, a wealth of disturbing information about racial relations comes out. Smokey handles slights and threats with a sensitivity that's impressive but credible. Meanwhile, the three learn that Daniel apparently became involved with protests and explosives, and they find even grimmer hints about Daniel in New York City. Though a little too much time elapses before the boy's fate is finally revealed, the crisp writing and sharp details keep the story moving.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Détails sur le produit
Souhaitez-vous compléter ou améliorer les informations sur ce produit ? Ou faire modifier les images?
|
Associer des mots-clés à ce produit(De quoi s'agit-il ?)Considérez votre mot-clé comme une sorte d'étiquette définissant parfaitement ce produit.
Les mots-clés aident les clients à organiser et trouver leurs articles favoris. |
Commentaires en ligne
|
Il n'y a pour l'instant aucun commentaire client.
|
|||
|
Commentaires vidéo
|
Rechercher des articles similaires par rubrique
Rechercher des articles similaires par thème
Commentaires
Souhaitez-vous compléter ou améliorer les informations sur ce produit ? Ou faire modifier les images?
Votre historique récent
(Qu'est-ce ?)|
Après avoir visualisé des pages détaillées produit ou des résultats de recherche, regardez ici pour trouver une façon simple de poursuivre votre navigation sur des pages qui vous intéressent. |
