Stephen L. Carter 978-0-307-26658-3 Borzoi / Alfred A. Knopf 528 Pages; First Printing: July 2008
This two-decade time span is impacted by a meeting that occurred decades ago, when powerful men put together a plan, a plot to influence politicians and the United States government. Things seem to be progressing but then a man is killed. Eddie Wesley is nearby and discovers a clue, setting him on the trail of this secret society. Through his eyes and that of his former lover, Aurelia Treene, the reader enters high society Harlem, the White House and other exclusive locales. The quest becomes personal for both after Eddie’s sister disappear and Aurelia’s husband is killed in a bombing. At the end of the day, Palace Council asks whether the black elite of “the darker nation” who inhabit Carter’s novels are power brokers or mere pawns in the “paler nation’s” machinations.
Recommendation: MEDIUM-HIGH
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Reviewed by Guichard Cadet