Fans of Pat Conroy will enjoy John Russell's long-awaited second
novel, a rich, multi-generational story of money and morals, power and
race, sex and sanity, set in a changing America.
Jack Callahan is an outsider in his adopted hometown of Raleigh, North
Carolina. A successful lawyer, he's spent years trying to move in all
the right circles. But with his literary mother in a sanitarium, his
society marriage on the rocks, and his biggest client--Raleigh's
family-owned newspaper the Criterion--facing a hostile takeover, he's
beginning to wonder if it's really worth it.
Step by step readers are drawn into the "non-secret secrets" of an elite
that wields power founded on intricate manners and unsolved crimes.
Jack's mentor, World War II hero Hugh Symmes, is haunted by family
misdeeds during the Wilmington Massacre of 1898. His client, Ward
Forrest, third-generation newspaper heir, portions out liberal duty
against riches amassed during the Jim Crow past. His friend,
African-American judge Kai-Jana Blount, weighs the call to higher office
against deals with men her civil rights crusading family had opposed.
Together they face a threat from Wall Street raider Victor Broman,
Jack's former client, who is hell-bent to acquire the Criterion for
shadowy patrons. Jack tries his best to do the hero-ing--but questions
the costs. Eventually, he takes counsel from his friend Lowry, a
mysterious Native American mystic, who unveils a different path, away
from all the right circles.
