African American Fiction

 K'Wan's latest is Black Lotus 2: The Vow. "It's been months since Kahllah El-Amin, aka the Black Lotus, hung up her pistols, retired from the murder-for-hire business, and finally found peace. But when a police officer is murdered and a familiar flower is left at the crime scene, all signs point to it being the work of the Black Lotus. Someone is trying to frame her. Things get more complicated when the case is handed to Detective James Wolf, a former adversary who has since become a friend. To clear her name, Kahllah is forced out of retirement and once again must don the mask of the Black Lotus. She races against time to catch the real killer while trying to outrun her most formidable rival. Their deadly game leads to a shocking truth buried under a mountain of lies, as Kahllah attempts to find justice in a world devoid of light." (from Amazon.com)

The Secret Lives of Church Ladies is a National Book Award Finalist written by Deesha Philyaw. This collection of nine stories features four generations of characters struggling with what they want to be in this world. They are caught between the church’s double standards and their own needs and passions. Fourteen-year-old Jael has a crush on the preacher’s wife. Lyra realizes that her own discomfort with her body is holding her back in her relationship. Caroletta’s yearly arrangement with her childhood best friend is up in the air as Y2K looms. A serial mistress has to lay down the rules for her married lovers. Finally, grieving strangers find comfort in one another’s embrace in the parking lot of a hospice. These church ladies are seductive, vulnerable, unfaithful, unrepentant, and as free as they deserve to be.

The Prophets is a novel by Robert Jones, Jr.  Isaiah and Samuel belonged to one another. It was that way in the beginning, and it is the way it will be until the end. These two enslaved young men try to find moments of happiness as they tend to the animals in the master’s barn. They manage to transform a hollowed-out shed into a place of refuge and hope in a world ruled by a cruel master. When an older fellow slave begins preaching the master’s gospel in order to gain favor, the other slaves begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel’s love—once so simple—is now seen as sinful and a clear danger to the harmony of the plantation. As the tension builds, the weight of the centuries comes crashing down, culminating in an inevitable reckoning.

Rumaan Alam is the author and National Book Award Finalist for Leave the World Behind. Amanda and Clay are looking forward to their vacation out in a remote corner of Long Island in a luxurious home they’ve rented for a week. It’s a chance to leave their hectic life in New York City behind and to reconnect with their teenage son and daughter. Late one night there is a knock on the door and an older couple—Ruth and G. H. who claim to own the home—have arrived in a panic. The strangers inform the family that a sudden blackout has swept New York and they have nowhere else to go. They have come to the country for shelter. With the TV and internet down, and no cell phone service, Amanda and Clay cannot verify their story. Should they trust this intruding couple? What has happed back in New York? Is the vacation home a safe place for the two families? Are they safe from one another? These are the questions at the center of this suspenseful and provocative novel.