A Review of Amber Green’s Steal Away
By LMReviews on Dec 12, 2010 in Multicultural History, Multicultural Lit Reviews
The promise of independence, bright city lights and singing gigs is what lures Twilight Amery to an Alabama field along a cargo train route just outside her home town. She may not be a runaway slave but picking cotton is a memory not far enough in the distance. As she stows away among train’s cargo headed for Harlem, she shares her stash and her dreams with two men on a similar journey. Twilight and the men, one gay the other bi-sexual, form an interesting triangle of lust, jealousy and vulnerability.
After the cargo cars are raided and the trio barely escapes, their adventure truly begins. Without enough money for the trio to make it to Harlem, the lay-over at an Atlanta whorehouse singing and dancing for tips. In exchange for some loving of her own, Twi is the perfect decoy for the complicated relationship between massive and possessive Daniel Stone and equal opportunity lover Hector.
A wrestling challenge turns deadly while Stone is defending both his and Twi’s honor and safety against a strong and menacing debt-collector. The three are forced to flee to Harlem with their winnings only to discover that death doesn’t stop the repercussions of their fatal deed from finding them.
Green paints an interesting story with plenty of time period details. However, the reader will soon realize that the story is all about the journey and very little about the destination as the trio is forced to flee again when their whorehouse troubles fail to be resolved. While the jealousy between Twi and Stone subsides as both realize that neither of them alone would be enough for the charming Hector, their interactions become emotionally suffocating threesomes where eventually there is always an odd person out.
Amber Green’s Steal Away earns three Sable Seals for the characters you come to care about and the fine details of the time period.
Format: E-book
Publisher: Loose Id
