A Rock and a Hard Place
A Novel of Suspense
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- R$ 72,90
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- R$ 72,90
Descrição da editora
Barrett Raines is a black detective on an isolated police force in Deacon Beach, a sweltering enclave on the Gulf Coast of northwestern Florida. Barrett's worked all his career to live up to the faith Romana Walker, Deacon Beach's eternal Homecoming Queen, showed in him when she pushed Barrett onto the all-white force in the face of local and bigoted opposition. Seven years later, Raines has made a place for himself and his schoolteacher wife in the hard-bitten community--to all appearances they are accepted.
But affections can be fickle, as Barrett discovers when his despised elder brother, Delton Raines, becomes the chief suspect in the investigation of the brutal rape and murder of Ramona Walker. It's a no-win for Barrett. If he cannot find the much-loved Ramona's killer, locals will say he's shielding his brother. But if Barrett nails Delton for the crime, the detective's neighbors will say that he has used his badge to hang a brother he hates.
There's a lynch mob brewing on The Beach, and the only way to calm the ugly waters is for Barrett to bring Ramona's killer to justice.
There are a lot of things Barrett hates about this case. But what he hates most is that the only lead he has in the investigation comes form a prevaricating, hell-raising brother whom he has to trust.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Barrett Raines, the only black detective on an all-white police force in Deacon Beach, Fla., is forced to choose between his duty to society and his loyalty to his family in this unpolished yet promising debut. Barrett's brother Delton has always been a thorn in his side. Despite Barrett's stellar record, Delton's reputation for womanizing and drinking has kept his sibling from getting the respect he's long deserved in his racist hometown. Yet when Delton is accused of murdering a beautiful, popular white restaurant owner in a fit of passion, the only person between him and a lynching is Barrett. The cop arrests his brother--the evidence against Delton is powerful, if circumstantial--and then sets out to unravel the truth, though his digging is complicated by his mistrust of his self-serving sibling. Barrett soon discovers that the killing may be tied to arms dealers based in Deacon Beach. Wimberly's prose is spare and his dialogue catchy. The novel contains excess exposition that often interrupts momentum, however. In addition, a subplot involving Barrett's wife and two sons drags on the narrative, and some of the switches in point of view can be confusing. In short, the book reads like a novel in search of a final draft. Wimberly's launch may not be for readers looking for sophisticated intrigue and complex plotting, but its successful depiction of small-town corruption should appeal to those with a fondness for the pulpy side of the tracks.
