Reviewed by: BigAl
Genre: Coming of Age/Historical Fiction
Approximate word count: 80-85,000 words
Availability
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Author:
A native of
Little Rock, Arkansas (the setting for this book), Jim Lester has a PhD in
history and has written several books on history as well as a novel, Fallout, which was traditionally
published several years ago. Lester has also combined his love of sports and
history in an indie-published non-fiction offering about college basketball in
the 1950s. Married to his high school sweetheart, Lester now lives in Denver.
For more,
visit the author’s website.
Description:
“Twelve-year
old Archie Lane’s next door neighbor is a killer. Archie has uncovered that
terrible secret, but no one will believe him. If he doesn’t find a way to
convince his parents he witnessed a real murder, the results could be fatal for
Archie. Set in the fall of 1957 in Little Rock, Arkansas, a city torn apart by
one of the nation’s first civil rights crises, Archie’s suspense-filled story
recounts his transition from an idyllic world to the incomprehensible world of
adults. Throughout his story, the reader watches Archie struggle to come to
terms with the subtleties of right and wrong.”
Appraisal:
The Great Pretender is a fun and entertaining
coming-of-age story. While the setting
of the late 50s is too early to invoke nostalgia in me, this combined with
taking place in Little Rock, Arkansas added another element I enjoyed,
integrating the attitudes and norms of this place and time on race relations
into the story. This also figured prominently in the growth the protagonist
Archie goes through. Plus, in case the title isn’t a dead giveaway with the
obvious reference to The Platters hit of the era, music plays its part in the
story, too. That’s always a positive, at least for me.
Format/Typo Issues:
No
significant issues
Rating: **** Four Stars
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