Cape Fear Rising

I wonder why this book is not on the reading list at all southern high schools. This type of incident should never been forgotten so oit will not happen again and again.

Wilmington, North Carolina, and its history came alive when I walked its streets recently. The river front, Lattimore House, the old cemeteries, Ann Street, Market Street and the beautiful trees captured the beauty of this old town. But as I walked the streets, the scenes from Philip Gerard's novel, CAPE FEAR RISING, flashed across my memory: These old streets filled with white racists. The secret societies sneaking to meetings to plan the deaths of hundreds of black leaders. The wild militia men in red shirts ready to kill "black birds." Yes, Wilmington's history from 1898 can still be felt on its streets and in its gorgeous historical buildings. That such a monumental racial atrocity of killing and burning had taken place here just over 100 years ago seems impossible. But it did. This book of fiction based on factual research, even though awkwardly written at times, is a must read. by Larry Rochelle, author of the mysteries Bourbon and Bliss, The Mephisto Diary and Ten Mile Creek

This book was excellent! In the beginning things seemed a little dry to me but it was not long before the story takes hold of you and you cannot put this book down! It is definitely sad to see how people were in the past, but nevertheless an excellent story to learn from.

This book is a prime example of how major events in history can go overlooked. These riots in Wilmington did not only affect the city but whole nation in dealing with race realtions. With the emergence of Jim Crow in America these riots just reaffirmed the old doctrine of white supremacy. The novel also shows how major a city Wilmington was at the turn of the century. Gerard sums of the events that took place in 1898 in a quote by Edmund Burke in 1789, "An event has happened, upon which it is difficult to speak, and impossible to be silent." This is true about a lot of American history. Check this book out you might come away with more than you bargain for.

This is one of those books that blows your mind by opening a new door on history. I wondered while reading of the incredible events chronicled in this book why my education had failed to teach of this. (There's an obvious reason: it's a shameful page in America's history.) The novel that surrounds the history is good, solid, but not superb. However, the book is worth reading for the history alone. You will not be disappointed. It will change you.