Forty Acres
A Thriller
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4.2 • 5 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
“A thriller in a class by itself—brilliant and scary!” —Terry McMillan
Read the page-turning, provocative thriller that will forever change the way you think about slavery and its legacy in today’s America.
Martin Grey, a smart, talented black lawyer working out of a storefront in Queens, becomes friendly with a group of some of the most powerful, wealthy, and esteemed black men in America. He’s dazzled by what they’ve accomplished, and they seem to think he has the potential to be as successful as they are. They invite him for a weekend away from it all—no wives, no cell phones, no talk of business. But far from home and cut off from everyone he loves, he discovers a disturbing secret that challenges some of his deepest convictions…
Martin finds out that his glittering new friends are part of a secret society dedicated to the preservation of the institution of slavery—but this time around, the black men are called “Master.” Joining them seems to guarantee a future without limits; rebuking them almost certainly guarantees his death. Trapped inside a picture-perfect, make-believe world that is home to a frightening reality, Martin must find a way out that will allow him to stay alive without becoming the very thing he hates.
A novel of rage and compassion, good and evil, trust and betrayal, Forty Acres is the thought-provoking story of one man’s desperate attempt to escape the clutches of a terrifying new moral order.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
A bold if over-the-top premise nearly overwhelms the plot of Smith's entertaining debut thriller. Damon Darrell, an internationally famous former trial lawyer, recruits lawyer Martin Grey, a courtroom rival, into a secret conspiracy of powerful black men determined to redress the wrongs of slavery in America by taking revenge on the descendants of the oppressors. Grey is revolted at what form this revenge takes, but his own life and the life of his family is on the line. A terrible final initiation tests all that he holds dear. Smith deftly lays the story's foundation with potent arguments that the legacy of slavery is far from over, and is a shadow that still haunts America. But these justifications ring hollow for Grey when he confronts the reality of slavery for any human being, regardless of the guilt or innocence of society at large. Unfortunately, a hurried conclusion dissipates much of the power of the intriguing set-up.
