December 2016
Benjamen Beaulieu aka 'Skeeter Skateblade' and Henry Igasho aka 'Blood Slick' are half brothers as well as contract killers in 1920 South Carolina. Benjamin is a creole black man of color who is outspoken, dashingly handsome and silver tongued, a usual hire for rich white christian men who don't want to send other white men's souls to hell, the charismatic killer can charm his way into even the most racist of hearts.
Henry ('Slick' in most of the book) is a white man with Native American blood, equally outspoken as his half brother, just as handsome and just as smooth talking.
The two grew up together as boys as sharecroppers on a tobacco farm, often playing together as kids as well as working in the fields. When Slick's mother dies of consumption (tuberculosis ), the young boy is left alone in the world,that is until Benjamen's mother gives the child a place to sleep, food to eat, and plenty of love.
The men were born in the late 18oo's, Benjamen was the product of forbidden love; his mama was a free woman of color, his daddy, the cruel landowner who's land both boys grew up on .
Henry's parental upbringing is not much different, (the men suspect they had the same daddy) except his mama was a poor white woman with Native blood, left alone and destitute by a string of bad men.
Benjimen and Slick are kind men, a true irony, but in the end, its all about business . Killing for money pays very well, coupled with upward social mobility and protection by some of the richest men in the south, these cunning cut throats live the lives of pampered scoundrels. The men do not really care whom comes under there straight edged blade or gun, for the exception of women and children, committing their dastardly deeds all up and down the Deep South.
That is until a huge mystery drops into the killer's laps, spawning into several other unsolved murders, pure examples of white southern justice at its ugliest.
Somebody is killing off poor white and black land owners, taking their land for white owned businesses, the men are hired to find the lost unmarked graves of the murdered, as well as rediscovering lost land deeds, hopefully reconnecting the remains and land titles back to their families .
Through their investigations, the men happen upon some of the ugliest crimes done by mankind, often weaving their way around characters that are just as dangerous as they are, if not more.
Dark, brutally honest, gritty, and colorful, 'The River' is loosely based on a series of legends,folklore and short stories told to the author by his late great-grandfather, a noted bootlegger and card-shark in 1920's South Carolina. (Benjimen is said to be HIS father).
Written in a style first explored by noted author and anthropologist, Zora Neal Hurston's 'There Eyes Were Watching God', 'The River' explores anthropological dialect , diction and spoken vernacular concerning the rural black experience of that time, creating a richly woven tale that is not only historically based, but feels real to the soul.
'The River' is not a pretty tale, but it does expose a truth in the Deep South that has seen little light, whites and blacks cared for each other deeply. Even though cruelty and brutality was often heaped upon the black man and woman by Jim Crow in that time, this book has a message of redemption and love, showing that for every one white man that lynched a black man,there were two that hung their heads in silent shame .
This book is meant for *Adult Reading* Please Be Advised (Frank Language - Graphic Sexual Acts and Language - Grotesque Violence)
Benjamen Beaulieu aka 'Skeeter Skateblade' and Henry Igasho aka 'Blood Slick' are half brothers as well as contract killers in 1920 South Carolina. Benjamin is a creole black man of color who is outspoken, dashingly handsome and silver tongued, a usual hire for rich white christian men who don't want to send other white men's souls to hell, the charismatic killer can charm his way into even the most racist of hearts.
Henry ('Slick' in most of the book) is a white man with Native American blood, equally outspoken as his half brother, just as handsome and just as smooth talking.
The two grew up together as boys as sharecroppers on a tobacco farm, often playing together as kids as well as working in the fields. When Slick's mother dies of consumption (tuberculosis ), the young boy is left alone in the world,that is until Benjamen's mother gives the child a place to sleep, food to eat, and plenty of love.
The men were born in the late 18oo's, Benjamen was the product of forbidden love; his mama was a free woman of color, his daddy, the cruel landowner who's land both boys grew up on .
Henry's parental upbringing is not much different, (the men suspect they had the same daddy) except his mama was a poor white woman with Native blood, left alone and destitute by a string of bad men.
Benjimen and Slick are kind men, a true irony, but in the end, its all about business . Killing for money pays very well, coupled with upward social mobility and protection by some of the richest men in the south, these cunning cut throats live the lives of pampered scoundrels. The men do not really care whom comes under there straight edged blade or gun, for the exception of women and children, committing their dastardly deeds all up and down the Deep South.
That is until a huge mystery drops into the killer's laps, spawning into several other unsolved murders, pure examples of white southern justice at its ugliest.
Somebody is killing off poor white and black land owners, taking their land for white owned businesses, the men are hired to find the lost unmarked graves of the murdered, as well as rediscovering lost land deeds, hopefully reconnecting the remains and land titles back to their families .
Through their investigations, the men happen upon some of the ugliest crimes done by mankind, often weaving their way around characters that are just as dangerous as they are, if not more.
Dark, brutally honest, gritty, and colorful, 'The River' is loosely based on a series of legends,folklore and short stories told to the author by his late great-grandfather, a noted bootlegger and card-shark in 1920's South Carolina. (Benjimen is said to be HIS father).
Written in a style first explored by noted author and anthropologist, Zora Neal Hurston's 'There Eyes Were Watching God', 'The River' explores anthropological dialect , diction and spoken vernacular concerning the rural black experience of that time, creating a richly woven tale that is not only historically based, but feels real to the soul.
'The River' is not a pretty tale, but it does expose a truth in the Deep South that has seen little light, whites and blacks cared for each other deeply. Even though cruelty and brutality was often heaped upon the black man and woman by Jim Crow in that time, this book has a message of redemption and love, showing that for every one white man that lynched a black man,there were two that hung their heads in silent shame .
This book is meant for *Adult Reading* Please Be Advised (Frank Language - Graphic Sexual Acts and Language - Grotesque Violence)