I'd have to say that Kris Nelscott is doing an excellent job
so far writing about a protagonist who is not just a man, but
a black man in a very specific time period (the turbulent
60s). Nelscott is a pseudonym for the author Kristine Kathryn
Rusch, who is fairly well-known in science fiction and
fantasy circles. Since my busy weekend, I've picked up and
read most of the second book in this series, _Smoke- Filled
Rooms_, which takes place in Chicago at the time of the
Democratic convention in 1968.
Smokey and his charge Jimmy are still on the run from
sinister forces in the government that want to silence Jimmy
because of what he witnessed during the assassination of
Martin Luther King, but for a relatively short time, they
feel like they've found some sanctuary with an old friend of
Smokey's. Smokey gets a job as a security guard at the
downtown Hilton and begins to do some odd jobs, finding lost
people in the neighborhood and such. But when a young boy
from his building is found dead, apparently tortured, Smokey
realizes that perhaps he and Jimmy aren't as safe as they
thought.
I've still got about 80 pages to go, but this book has been
just as riveting as the first. Smokey is a very believable
and human protagonist. He's a lot like Easy Rawlins, though
with more education and with less of the rough edges. It's
hard for him to keep a low profile--at the Hilton, he solves
a series of thefts and is written up in a local black
newspaper. When he interacts with the police who are
investigating the boy's death (which appears to be the third
in a series), he can't keep his knowledge of police procedure
a secret and continually surprises two detectives with his
knowledge, further endangering himself and Jimmy. Highly
recommended and I know I'll be looking forward to the third
book in this series.
Craig Larson Trinidad, CO
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