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Powerboat Racers (ebook)

Thomas Hollyday
Solar Sipper Publishing with Lightning (2009)

Reviewed by Kam Aures for RebeccasReads (10/09))

One afternoon in July, newspaper owner Harry Jacobson receives a call from a sheriff’s deputy informing him some kids out fishing had found an old boat and this might be of interest to Harry.  Harry heads out to the Great Wilderness Swamp and knows there must be something big about this particular boat because of the people that are at the scene. 

After digging a little into the history he finds out the boat that was found is named the “Black Duck” and it had belonged to a black man named Walker James.  This information really didn’t mean much to him at first as not being from the area he did not know the significance of the discovery.  Once he probes a little more he finds out that there is quite a history around the story of Walker James.  James had disappeared a couple of decades ago after allegedly setting a fire which resulted in the death of two white women.

However, the mere mention of James’ name and the events surrounding his disappearance stir up quite a bit of racial controversy and Harry is torn whether to dredge all of this up again in the paper.  He needs people to buy ad space and if he prints controversial news he may lose advertisers.  Harry also has received threats such as the note left on his car telling him that “Yankee reporters who play with fires get burnt.” (p.40)  The discovery of the “Black Duck” has opened the existing racial gap in the small town even further.

Author Thomas Hollyday is skilled at crafting an interesting story.  The characters in the book are memorable and intriguing.  I really liked the premise behind the book and I enjoyed reading as the main character Harry unearthed all of the information about the events that took place thirty years ago.  Although a work of fiction, the story actually reads as a somewhat realistic one.  The text could have benefited from further editing as there were a few grammatical errors but other than that   “Powerboat Racers” was a worthwhile read.   


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