N: A Novel Horror Book Review

N opens with a bang, literally, as Aime DuBois is awakened at three a.m. by the ringing of her phone. She lifts the receiver to her ear only to hear two loud gunshots. Somewhere in the humid New Orleans night, the handset of a pay phone dangles by its cord, picking up only the sound of footsteps running away in the dark.  How did Aime, a well-educated and independent journalist who runs an alternative newspaper, end up on the end of such a call? It begins with the shooting of an eighteen-year-old boy on the steps of his high school. The only real clue is a locket bearing the letter “N.” As she investigates, Aime befriends a drug dealer named Strip, who is as sweet and sexy as he is dangerous. With Strip as her guide, Aime plunges into a side of New Orleans that takes her by surprise.  As her investigation deepens, Aime questions her ideas about herself, men, and her community. “N” becomes more than just a clue to a killer—it becomes a clue to her own sense of self.
  N received execellent reviews in hardcover.
  This award-winning young African-American writer has beenpronounced “one of the best of his generation” by Albert Murray, author of South to a Very Old Place.