John Crow's Devil

August 8, 2005
Set in James's native Jamaica, this dynamic, vernacular debut sings of the fierce battle between two flawed preachers. In 1957, the village of Gibbeah is a dusty remnant of the plantation era, halfheartedly ministered to by drunken Pastor Hector Bligh, aka the Rum Preacher. On a day beginning with a bad omen—black vultures, locally called John Crows, crash through the church windows—a man calling himself Apostle York "set pon Pastor Bligh like when you beat a mangy dog" and takes over his church. Bligh takes refuge in the home of another village outcast, while York's commanding presence whips Gibbeah into a frenzy of repentance. Lucinda, long reviled as the town slut, sets her sights on salvation and the Apostle, while Clarence, with whom she had a dalliance, becomes one of "The Five," a group of young men eager to enforce York's decrees against sin. It isn't long before group cohesion becomes mob mentality, and punishments grow increasingly brutal and public. Bligh returns to the fray, and the resulting confrontations set the village on a path to destruction. With gruesome and sometimes gratuitous descriptions of sex and gore, this isn't a tale for the faint of heart, but those eager for fire-and-brimstone lyricism will find this an exciting read.

Starred review from October 1, 2005
Dueling preachers, black magic, and speaking in tongues; animal sorcery and retribution from natural forces; an old violation sparking a series of new tragedies; alleged and actual bestiality, rape, pedophilia, and incest; violence and thuggery in the name of the Lord -these elements coalesce in a Jamaican stew spicier than jerk chicken. First novelist James moves effortlessly between lyrical patois ("After six years, false story and true story rub together so much that both start to shine") and trenchant observations ("Far below grief was lust, and like any other sin, it came with opportunity") as he relates the battle between two men of faith in the village of Gibbeah. Although set in 1957, this is a morality tale for the moment that cautions against people, movements, and nations in the throes of fundamentalism and reveals the horrors that can result; it's 150-proof literary rum guaranteed to intoxicate and enchant anyone with a strong enough spirit and stomach. Highly recommended for all public and academic libraries (but warn your patrons not to read it before bed). -Jim Dwyer, California State Univ. Lib., Chico

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2005
Vultures, or John Crows, descend on Gibbeah, a vine-entangled Jamaican village where a catastrophic spiritual battle takes place between the Preacher and the Apostle. Pastor Hector Bligh's leadership of the Holy Sepulchral Full Gospel Church has eroded into drunken muttering by the time Apostle York arrives with his fire-and-brimstone manner and ironclad rules for holy living. As the Apostle and his five deacons engage in maniacal power-mongering, the black villagers are forced to submit to the harshness of a god in York's diseased image. Will a transformed Bligh be able to save the village? First-novelist James combines evangelical ideas about spiritual warfare with the folk traditions of voodoo and magic, producing a transfixing blend of horror and metaphor that echoes Austin Clark's Barbados tales. The result is a mesmerizing treatise on the nature of good and evil, faith and madness, guilt and forgiveness, eloquently captured in a microcosm of society.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2005, American Library Association.)