04/03/2023
In this bold and timely novel, Orlando resident David Alan Taylor finds his carefree existence upended when he happens into a shootout and makes a quick decision. As a police officer is felled, Taylor intervenes and kills most of the assailants. Those men are Black, and Taylor soon faces an understandable maelstrom, as the incident and his background get publicly litigated. Forced into the limelight, called a racist and a murderer, he finds his personal life upended, and his past comes back to haunt him. Eventually, Taylor's freedom is threatened as he becomes a scapegoat for the tragedy, and he must address the way he has lived his life, and how he will face his future.
Trett does an excellent job covering the complex racial politics of policing in the Black Lives Matter era, and presents all sides with aplomb. We get Taylor himself, a white man who doesn't seem to have given race relations any serious thought until the day of the tragedy. The assailants appear in fearsome detail but also with a sympathetic light, as one of the attackers has an eventual epiphany. Also nicely limned are a grieving mother, an opportunistic reporter, and a civil rights activist who has turned into a cynical propagandist Although some extraneous storylines detract from the theme, and the switches from first-person to third-person narration can be confusing, the main narrative never fails to grip the reader.
Although the shooting is the main story, Trett effectively rounds out Taylor's character with a love triangle subplot. And he gets a surprise from his past that may change his life, even as he contemplates the possibility of being convicted for murder. Trett weaves the personal and legal threads into a series of satisfying and believable conclusions, giving readers reason to cheer for the growth of his formerly callow protagonist.
Takeaway: The gripping story of lives forever changed when a man gets involved in a police shootout.
Great for fans of: Sheldon Siegel’s Serve and Protect, Kenneth Eade’s Arresting Resist.
Production grades Cover: A- Design and typography: A- Illustrations: N/A Editing: B+ Marketing copy: B+
