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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
****4.5/5 stars****
Awesome heart-pounding page-turner right here! Would love to see this made into a film.
After winning a huge case against a major corporation, Martin's law firm is about to become extremely lucrative and Martin's life is about to change. The opposing attorney, Damon Darrell, invites Martin and his wife, Anna, to dinner at his palatial mansion. At the dinner party, Martin is invited into Damon's inner circle of powerful and influential black men. Several times a year, Damon and his friends go on a remote camping trip -- no wives and no cell phones allowed. Martin is invited along for the next trip, but the destination is no cabin in the woods. Rather, the men are visiting a plantation-style manor in the middle of nowhere, and Martin quickly notices that something is amiss. All of the servants are white, all of the guests and guards are black, and the house's owner has an extreme philosophy. If Martin joins the elite group Damon is inviting him into, he will be skyrocketed to the upper echelons of society. If he resists, however, his very life may be in danger.
Couldn't stop turning the pages on this one! Excellent recommendation from the women at the Read or Dead podcast.
Awesome heart-pounding page-turner right here! Would love to see this made into a film.
After winning a huge case against a major corporation, Martin's law firm is about to become extremely lucrative and Martin's life is about to change. The opposing attorney, Damon Darrell, invites Martin and his wife, Anna, to dinner at his palatial mansion. At the dinner party, Martin is invited into Damon's inner circle of powerful and influential black men. Several times a year, Damon and his friends go on a remote camping trip -- no wives and no cell phones allowed. Martin is invited along for the next trip, but the destination is no cabin in the woods. Rather, the men are visiting a plantation-style manor in the middle of nowhere, and Martin quickly notices that something is amiss. All of the servants are white, all of the guests and guards are black, and the house's owner has an extreme philosophy. If Martin joins the elite group Damon is inviting him into, he will be skyrocketed to the upper echelons of society. If he resists, however, his very life may be in danger.
Couldn't stop turning the pages on this one! Excellent recommendation from the women at the Read or Dead podcast.
This book is a rarity. You don't get discussion like this from normal pop-fiction crime lit.
I really think this novel was a success. Dwayne Alexander Smith took huge risks with this novel. The premise could so easily cause knee-jerk reactions, ranging from disbelief to offense, but I think he succeeds by never letting us think that the ideas presented are outright crazy nor morally sound. The reader is presented with a reality bent by the wills of an angry old man but can also accept that reality as a possibility.
Race is obviously The Point of this novel so I can't not point it out but it's hard to know how to discuss it after this. The thing that sticks out to me so much is how little I see black writers on the shelves in the popular literature section or within the crime/mystery novel area. I know better than to think this is for lack of writers. It was really nice to read a book from the point of view of a non-white person. I know I need to do this more and venturing away from what the media recommends me to read is the best option. But that said, it was really nice to read a book that challenged my weird perceptions on characters. So often, I read a book and I picture the character in our mind, I picture a white man or woman. If the writer thought to include any characters of color, they use their race in their description or a very obvious give away (think of JK Rowling making Lee Jordan the "boy with dreadlocks" as a way to differentiate him from the white characters, surely she did the same with Cho Chang besides giving her a racist name but I can't recall), virtually making white the default mode for characters in popular books. When the main character enters a dinner party consisting of only black couples, he feels at ease. But I felt made aware of my privilege when even doing something as simple as entering a book. Most of the time the characters I know and love look like me. And that's not something important when you're used to it but it's something.
This also succeeds from a thriller/crime novel point of view. It is a turn pager. The bad guys are bad but also at times sympathetic and the main character is smart and relatable. The world it creates is interesting and sad. The history it shares is also interesting and helped me recognize my ignorance on a lot of civil rights issues they don't teach in schools. Yet it never comes off as preachy or educational, but always as a story about men being men and how even the most sympathetic of men can be evil. I don't know if Mr. Smith knew this when he wrote it, but I also feel it is very feminist in some ways. The women characters are brief but strong and though they are not important in the main story thread nor appreciated by the main men characters, they are written to be so much stronger and smarter then the men they are married to. I just wish that story line was developed more.
I recommend this book to thriller/crime fans but give warning to highbrow literature fans that you may not get what you seek here.
I really think this novel was a success. Dwayne Alexander Smith took huge risks with this novel. The premise could so easily cause knee-jerk reactions, ranging from disbelief to offense, but I think he succeeds by never letting us think that the ideas presented are outright crazy nor morally sound. The reader is presented with a reality bent by the wills of an angry old man but can also accept that reality as a possibility.
Race is obviously The Point of this novel so I can't not point it out but it's hard to know how to discuss it after this. The thing that sticks out to me so much is how little I see black writers on the shelves in the popular literature section or within the crime/mystery novel area. I know better than to think this is for lack of writers. It was really nice to read a book from the point of view of a non-white person. I know I need to do this more and venturing away from what the media recommends me to read is the best option. But that said, it was really nice to read a book that challenged my weird perceptions on characters. So often, I read a book and I picture the character in our mind, I picture a white man or woman. If the writer thought to include any characters of color, they use their race in their description or a very obvious give away (think of JK Rowling making Lee Jordan the "boy with dreadlocks" as a way to differentiate him from the white characters, surely she did the same with Cho Chang besides giving her a racist name but I can't recall), virtually making white the default mode for characters in popular books. When the main character enters a dinner party consisting of only black couples, he feels at ease. But I felt made aware of my privilege when even doing something as simple as entering a book. Most of the time the characters I know and love look like me. And that's not something important when you're used to it but it's something.
This also succeeds from a thriller/crime novel point of view. It is a turn pager. The bad guys are bad but also at times sympathetic and the main character is smart and relatable. The world it creates is interesting and sad. The history it shares is also interesting and helped me recognize my ignorance on a lot of civil rights issues they don't teach in schools. Yet it never comes off as preachy or educational, but always as a story about men being men and how even the most sympathetic of men can be evil. I don't know if Mr. Smith knew this when he wrote it, but I also feel it is very feminist in some ways. The women characters are brief but strong and though they are not important in the main story thread nor appreciated by the main men characters, they are written to be so much stronger and smarter then the men they are married to. I just wish that story line was developed more.
I recommend this book to thriller/crime fans but give warning to highbrow literature fans that you may not get what you seek here.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
So amazingly well written. Thoroughly suspenseful.
I have mixed feelings about this book! Where do I begin? As an African American woman I felt like I could understand why Dr. Kasim had a the concept of Forty Acres but the way he went about it was all wrong. I think there comes a time when you have to let the past be the past. I also think that two wrongs don't make a right. I couldn't stomach some of the torture that occurred in the book. As much as I hated some parts of the book I just couldn't put it down because I wanted to find out the outcome of Martin Grey. I still think there were some things that should have been addressed before the story ended. After reading this book, I feel like I need a nice and fluffy read. lol
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Physical abuse, Rape, Slavery, Violence
When Martin met Damon after his first big case, he never thought the changes that would be happening to his life. Damon will offer him a friendship with the most powerful black men of the world and an entrance to a secret society.
Will he be ready for all the surprising things they will show him?
I was surprised about this book plot, it's not usual to show and explain slavery, but a very interesting way to imagine how the black people can still feel rage about all the inconceivable things all their ancestors had lived.
It's a controversial book; the things they made are terrible, but don't they suffer the same? Do they have the right to still be furious after all these years? I, as a white female, would I ever be able to understand what they have suffered? I am not trying to defend them, the things they make in the book are horrible. But in the past they suffered that from white hands, that was truly real.
After reading this book, I have more questions than answers, the first of them is: How a human being can make so much pain to another?
Will he be ready for all the surprising things they will show him?
I was surprised about this book plot, it's not usual to show and explain slavery, but a very interesting way to imagine how the black people can still feel rage about all the inconceivable things all their ancestors had lived.
It's a controversial book; the things they made are terrible, but don't they suffer the same? Do they have the right to still be furious after all these years? I, as a white female, would I ever be able to understand what they have suffered? I am not trying to defend them, the things they make in the book are horrible. But in the past they suffered that from white hands, that was truly real.
After reading this book, I have more questions than answers, the first of them is: How a human being can make so much pain to another?
My biggest issue about this book unrelated to the plot was how it talked about women. Every sentence felt like it was written by a fratboy looking for shock value. Even before the book went into Forty Acres it talked about women in a vulgar way. It grated on my nerves.
The story was interesting. When is revenge no longer revenge but outright harm? I think not mentioning much about the logistics of how Forty Acres came to be made the story sound so unbelievable, yet it was still a thrilling scary read.
The ending was a little rushed as well, but I think the book as a whole was more good than bad.
The story was interesting. When is revenge no longer revenge but outright harm? I think not mentioning much about the logistics of how Forty Acres came to be made the story sound so unbelievable, yet it was still a thrilling scary read.
The ending was a little rushed as well, but I think the book as a whole was more good than bad.