(reviewed by JD Jung)
“The past is never gone. Revenge exposes your morality. Youth haunts middle age like the devil rules hell.”
D Hunter changed careers from bodyguard/ security in Brooklyn to owning a successful talent management company in Los Angeles. Unfortunately, he cannot escape his past, as working in security puts one in contact with shady characters. So, when two ex-FBI agents are found dead, it may not look good for D.
D signs a popular Atlanta rap artist, Lil Daye, and negotiates a lucrative endorsement for him. Unfortunately, the CEO of the company, who also is an acquaintance of Donald Trump, has ulterior motives on so many levels– from sexual perversion to far-right politics and beyond.
Throughout all of this, D can’t help but think about his mentor Dwayne Robinson, He was a music historian and critic who wrote the controversial The Plot Against Hip Hop. Some saw the music as poisoning white youth. Some saw hip hop only for its commercial value, as an “advertising delivery system.” Still, many powerful people considered how hip hop could be a tool to solidify white control of America. Could Robinson’s murder be related to his ideas along with exposing high-profile individuals?
In the meantime, we meet Serene Powers in London, who is proficient in MMA and fights human trafficking throughout the world. Locally, in Atlanta, Lil Daye’s mistress goes missing and is feared to have fallen victim to sex trafficking.
Yes, there’s a lot going on here, and throughout the book I kept wondering how it would all come together. Fortunately, it does, and very nicely. There are so many layers, and I particularly liked the political references. That said, each of the subplots, individually, kept me on the edge. For instance, I could have read an entire book solely about Serene Powers and her endeavors.
That brings us to all the fascinating characters. Initially, the sheer number of them did get confusing, but eventually I was able to sort them all out.
Those who enjoy fast-paced crime fiction with political and sociological implications are sure to like The Darkest Hearts.
