Smoke-Filled Rooms

This book picks up where "A Dangerous Road" left off, and continues the excellence! Nelscott brings unique perspectives of the Black experience during the turbulent 60's. She does it while weaving a tale of mystery, intrigue and double dealing. This is the start of, I hope, a series of Smokey Dalton novels. Maybe Nelscott could have Smokey meet Tamara Hayle in Newark, N.J.

I inadvertently reviewed "A Dangerous Road" in this space earlier. But now I've read "Smoke Filled Rooms." I had braced myself for the possibility of a let-down because, after all, I felt that "Road" was a hard act to follow. Not to worry: Nelscott has done it again, and in spades. Nelscott's Smokey Dalton character has all the layers of an onion:there's always another layer for Nelscott to peel away and surprise the reader with more of Smokey's past, more mysteries within mysteries, more bad stuff from more bad guys, more pain for Smokey who just, really, wants to find a quiet place to live and be left alone, preferably back in Memphis although that seems increasingly unlikely. Then, Nelscott has me wondering if there ever will be such a place for Smokey. Arriving in Chicago, Smokey is having a tough time adjusting but thinks that he and Jimmy are, at least, safe. And now he's learning just how wrong he is as trouble prowls after him in the forms of Northern-style racism, gangs, undercover police, yippies and hippies, an old love and an old enemy, a serial killer, missing children, the fears and worries and events from Memphis that remain alive and well and real and bring more danger than ever, and the riots of the 1968 Democratic Convention. "Smoke Filled Rooms" continues where "A Dangerous Road" left off but can stand alone, although I would encourage reading them in sequence because, after all, this is a series.Nelscott successfully imbues her second Dalton novel with the same suspense, surprising plot twists, sense of dread, real horrors, historical realism, character development, and the all pervasive, weary sadness of a reluctant hero who rejects the idea of heroism that made the first novel such a joy to read. And I am not ashamed to say that, like "Road", there are passages in this book that require me to force back tears while reading it during my train commute back and forth to work. Sometimes it seems that Nelscott spends an entire chapter setting the reader up to have the button of emotion punched with a single, simple, devastating sentence. There are scenes of such mundane horror that I am tempted to close the book and put it away for awhile, but I can't because I have to know what is going to happen next. And she presents me with a dilemma: I can hardly wait to get to the end of the story to learn the answers that Nelscott makes available but I know that I will regret it very much when the story is done. Book two in this series confirms to me Dalton's role as a tragic figure even as I am permitted to learn that Dalton, through training, experience, and his own intelligence, is, once again, the right man in the wrong place at the right time. And again I find myself cheering Smokey on, hoping that he will find a happy ending that his entire life mitigates against or, at least, win a defining battle that will allow him a respite from the nightmares he has lived. But, as Nelscott reminds the reader, that's not really th

While waiting for the return of Walter Mosley's Easy Rawlins and the ultimate fate of Mouse, I've been looking for some stand ins and found more than I was looking for with Kris Nelscott's "A Dangerous Road" and the introduction of Smokey Dalton, a getting-along private detective in Memphis in 1968 who describes his profession as "doing odd jobs", and the jobs are, indeed, odd. This book is more than the sum of its parts: Nelscott's writing takes the book far beyond the typical detective mystery;the plots turn in upon themselves and, even when the mystery of Laura Hathaway is solved, the subplots draw the reader on in pursuit of other mysteries and to surprises that could not have been imagined earlier;and the characters are drawn so finely that they are all familiar,sympathetic or dispicable but known from personal experience. Each character, no matter how minor, has a well-defined human face that is recognizable. This is a book that entertains, educates, reminisces, and touches the heart in ways that one will only understand at the last page. Nelscott's Dalton is a childhood friend of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., but Nelscott manages to treat that relationship as, remarkably, incidental to Dalton's own tragedy filled life and the mysteries he is trying to unravel about his client, himself, and the child alter ego he is trying to protect, thereby avoiding what might have been a predictable plot of a detective trying to change history.The pain of waiting for Easy has been eased considerably by Nelscott in her first book. Bring on "Smoke Filled Rooms", Dalton's second outing. I can hardly wait for Smokey's return even though I suspect that his heart will, again, be more broken than healed at the end. And Dalton is a character one can only hope the best for while knowing the best is unlikely to happen to him. Perhaps the best Dalton can hope for is survival. I gave this debut novel five stars. I wish I could give it more.

Smokey Dalton has fled Memphis with Jimmy, 10-year-old witness of the Martin Luther King assassination. The man Jimmy saw kill King was not the man the police arrested and Smokey knows that Jimmy's life is in danger. Unfortunately for both, Smokey chooses Chicago as his hiding place. The 1968 Democratic National Convenction in Chicago makes that city a dangerous place for a man on the run. If someone has spotted Smokey and Jimmy, they are in danger and Smokey knows he must get to the bottom of it. Yet what can he do against the forces of the FBI and Chicago police? Author Kris Nelscott does a fine job with Smokey's complex character, the feeling of a city careening toward its date with destiny, and the complex relationships between white and black. Smokey's ambivalent feelings toward Laura, an anglo woman whom he must ask for help, stand in microcosm for the entire world he lives in. Nelscott has written a novel that uses the big historical events (and conspiracy theories) of a critical period of U.S. history, but this story is intensely personal. Smokey and Jimmy are what matter, not some amorphous ideal. Perhaps this is why this novel works. Highly Recommended. BooksForABuck.com I appreciate your 'helpful' vote.

In 1968, ten-year-old Jimmy saw first hand who assassinated Martin Luther King and it is not the guy languishing in jail. The child?s older friend, Bill ?Smokey? Dalton knows how dangerous that knowledge is to Jimmy as the King scenario smells to much like a conspiracy between Memphis cops, local government officials, and the Feds. Smokey and Jimmy leave home in an effort to keep Jimmy safe. Smokey?s choice of Chicago does not look prudent with police activity swarming all over the city to keep riotsers away from the upcoming Democratic Party Convention. Especially tagged by Dailey?s troops are the blacks. I t is even worse for Smokey and Jimmy bcause they have apparently been spotted by those who want no witnesses to the King assassination left alive. Smokey calls on a friend to keep Jimmy safe while he goes aground to try to eliminate the threat. The latest Dalton historical mystery (1968 as historical just does not seem right) is an exciting tale that brings alive a period of major unrest. The story line is great as the summer of love is ancient history and the summer of boiling discontent has replaced it. The characters, especially Smokey and Jimmy are real people. Not only conspiracy buffs will realize that Kris Nelscott is doing more than just blowing smoke with this tale and the delightful A DANGEROUS ROAD....