February is Black History month, and there are some great books (Caste, How to be an AntiRacist to name only two) that I've been using to educate myself but this is a blog that mainly covers mystery thrillers so let me introduce you to P Djeli Clark.
Since I stumbled across his brilliant short story, A Dead Djin in Cairo (which is available on Tor.com) referenced in an NPR article about his book The Haunting of Tram Car 015 - both are set in an alternate Egypt where the British never invaded and magic and technology meet, he's been on my watchlist.
Yes, I have a watchlist of authors, people like Tana French, Candice Fox, Anthony Horrowitz, Karim Abdul Jabar (yes that Karim Abdul Jabar) Gareth Hanrahan, Jess Kidd, Ben Aaronovitch people whose books I will buy and read without needing to know the subject matter because I love their stories.
Clark's Black God Drums, was set in New Orleans and Ring Shout- his latest- in Macon, Georgia in the 1920's. It weaves magic and fact into a tale of coloured female resistance fighters in the Jim Crow South. Chef, the former Harlem Hellfighter, Sadie, deadly sharp shooter and Maryse Boudreaux, orphan, champion and protector of her freed people. They hunt monsters who wear white hoods and blend in the with white Klansmen to feast on their hatred. But worse is coming, these Ku Klux are paving the way for a world ending event and the only thing standing in their way is Maryse and the giant sword she wields.
One of the reviews I read said that Clark couldn't write a bad book if he tried - I wholly agree with that.
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