Jerome Mark Antil

The Hoodoo of Peck Finch

• Broschiertes Buch

Produktbeschreibung

"In two intersecting tales set in Louisiana, an elderly black veteran kills his attacker and faces a murder trial while his Cajun French best friend tries to discover the truth about the mother he never knew. Gabriel Jordan, an "aging army captain" and "veteran of Korea and Vietnam," is threatened by a young white man, Kenneth Bauer, at a Walmart in New Orleans, and as a result buys a cane for a future act of self-defense. Later, Kenneth hunts the vet down and threatens him with a knife, and Gabe beats him to death with that cane. He's arrested for second-degree murder, a charge that could stick, especially because the knife is nowhere to be found. And Gabe, despite his advanced age, is known to be an "experienced, highly trained, battle-savvy army captain." Gabe is less haunted by the prospect of prison time than he is by the enormity of what's he done, a poignant moral nuance characteristic of this thoughtful drama: "Let me work it out in my mind....I'm an old man. I need to make it right in my head and with God." Meanwhile, his best friend, Boudreau Clemont "Peck" Finch-who overcomes illiteracy and gets accepted into college in under a year's time-decides he needs to track down his real mother, a woman who remains a mystery to him. But as his relationship with his girlfriend, Millie, becomes ever more serious, he worries that she won't be able to accept his inauspicious beginnings. He travels to the Louisiana swamps that he fled when he was only 9 years old, the victim of morbidly dark abuse. Antil's (One More Last Dance, 2017, etc.) touching sequel draws heavily from the plot established in the first novel, but remains an "entirely self-contained story." The author palpably re-creates the electrifying energy of New Orleans, a combination of old-world merriment and lurking danger ("The velvet sax was an offer of promise and calm for the old man, jazz aficionado, dancer, and troubled soul"). Further, Peck is a memorable character-surprisingly deep and boyishly innocent simultaneously, he provides both comic levity and some of the book's most moving moments. An affecting novel that richly captures the inimitable spirit of Louisiana." KIRKUS REVIEWS

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Produktdetails

• Verlag: Little York Books
• Seitenzahl: 298
• Erscheinungstermin: 7. Juni 2021
• Englisch
• Abmessung: 229mm x 152mm x 18mm
• Gewicht: 487g
• ISBN-13: 9781735307671
• ISBN-10: 173530767X
• Artikelnr.: 62116922

Autorenporträt

International award-winning author Jerome Mark Antil brings the vibrant New Orleans and Acadiana to life on every page of this novel - The Bayou Moon. Experience New Orleans and visit a culture first painted by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow in his poem, Evangeline, about the tragic beginnings of the Cajun French and their journey into Louisiana's Acadiana. Look no further than The Bayou Moon. The area's life, culture, food and music are perfectly woven into the story to create a fantastically immersive narrative tapestry; Jerome Mark Antil allows the reader to walk the streets, the st. Charles Avenue, the Canal Street alongside his characters and see the world through their eyes. The Bayou Moon is a faultless mix of everything from sex and crime to life and death, but the overwhelming themes are that of hope and love. When it comes to love the author shows practically every form of love possible in the world, from family/friends love and romantic love to the love of life and experiences.The novel shows the friendship between a group of unlikely friends, a man close to death, an illiterate Cajun French yardman and two of the most successful women in Southern Louisiana. With a wide spectrum of personalities on the surface it appears that they wouldn't complement each other. And yet Antil has developed the characters to be multidimensional and connected through their hope and love each other. Jerome Mark Antil showcases a wide range of emotional turmoil, especially within Peck's story, which no doubt will charm sympathy from the reader and the overwhelming desire for Peck and the others to achieve everything they desire.Antil set this novel apart from all others by how he handles two different yet intertwining stories. Just when the reader thinks that the story is going to go one direction Jerome Mark Antil skillfully twists the tale to another direction keeping the reader on tenterhooks as to what will happen next.From both an Acadian and Irish heritage - Jerome Mark Antil is a consummate researcher who spoon feeds his story backdrops with such historical accuracy his fiction leaves lasting messages. Born the seventh child of a seventh son of a seventh son he was named Jerome after the librarian, Saint Jerome and Mark, after the wit and adventure of Mark Twain - Jerry, as he goes by - wears the honors well and writes what he knows - as Hemingway would encourage - and as he entertains with a talent for storytelling, he's earned from more than a dozen novels.