Betrayed

Bintell Powell's Betrayed brings the reader into the world of Mark Christian, a first generation Jamaican, whose main mission in life seems to be "gettin' paid." A tumultuous childhood, riddled with violence and childhood ridicule of his dark skin, drives him to achieve a social and monetary status in life that will have others envy him. This drive to so called success leads to a troubled young adulthood along the way. Mark is on a quest to launch a website for the very wealthy consumer. If this website is a success, he will become a millionaire and will be able to leave his unfulfilling position as a sales executive from his everyday corporate "nine to five." His journey getting this lucrative venture underway almost drives him to the point of insanity. He has to deal with racial prejudice on his job, his insatiable appetite for sex from beautiful women that he thinks ordinarily would not give him the time of day and his family issues. He literally pays a high price from these hunger pains as he is spending money like he is already a millionaire. This drive to success brings out his dark side and he is unable on most days to see whether he is coming or going. He fears that he will go crazy like his uncles before him as he starts to feel like he can trust no one around him. Not his family, not his co-workers, not the many females he sleeps with and not even some of his closest friends from high school. Will his distrust of them all lead to failure of him being able to launch his website? Or will it leave him to learn to have faith in himself and to not look at his cultural Jamaican upbringing as a hindrance or as a mark as to who he can become? Will all this craziness cause him to lose the one person in his life that has not betrayed him? I found this book to be a very good read. It has a few points where I would like to see this "realization" tied into the story a bit more. One thing that intrigued me about this book was the naming of the main character, Mark Christian. You see this strong character who is "marked" but is trying to attain a certain "highness/status" in life. Along this path he feels "marked" and yet has gentle qualities--one that is seeking to "redeem" himself in his own right. One that seeks to show himself worthy. I give this one two thumbs up. The voice of Mark Christian rings loud and clear to the reader, bringing them into his existence as he feels it--definitely a page-turner! Reviewed by Coulee Eidos APOOO BookClub