A FIVE STAR : STARRED REVIEW for White Witch: Larry Thompson

Legends are often passed on from one generation to another as the opening scene in this powerful historical novel allows readers to meet Annie Palmer known as the “White Witch.” Cruelty, abuse, hatred for her own slaves, murdered her husbands and took pride on torturing others, Annie Palmer’s spirit haunts the grounds of Rose Hall Plantation near Montego Bay. Born in Haiti to and English mother and Irish father living most of her life in Haiti. Voodoo or magic became part of her life when her parent’s dies and her nanny taught the ways of magic. Moving to Jamaica she met John Palmer who owned Rose Hall and here’s where our story gets interesting as she murdered him and her next two husbands. Almost as you hear her voice in the opening pages you can tell that she enjoyed hurting those she felt not worthy and many slaves were added to her death list. But, when Rudyard could not stand it anymore and his own child was in danger, he took matters into his own hands and killed her. Annie Palmer, did she have tendencies towards sadism or lechery?

Will Taylor is brought to Jamaica in order to help her boss Alexa Pritchard the President of a ruthless American Aluminum Company create a bauxite mine and destroy the Jamaican Rainforest. Will as head of security of this company his goal was to deal with the Maroon Nation’s people descendants of escaped slaves over 300 years ago. Global American Metals is the company and as you get to know Alexa, her treatment of those working for her you the reader will decide just how ruthless and deadly she is and what will happen if she wins.

The Maroons were escaped slaves and they ran from their Spanish-owned plantations when the British took the Caribbean island of Jamaica from Spain in 1655. Cimarrones is the Spanish word for Maroon meaning mountaineers. They ran to the mountainous areas of Jamaica where it was hard for their owners to follow and catch them creating their own independent communities as free people.

Will did not come alone but he and his team would face great resistance from the locals and the Maroons. Violence and deaths would ensue before all was said and done and the vital issue as to whether they Global will be stopped will cost lives. Rodney was a computer geek, Manny and Kaven made up the rest of the team. Alexa Pritchard was ruthless, unfeeling and wanted her staff at her beckon call. Dealing with her you wonder why Will or anyone else bothered as he rules and requirements went above and beyond corrupt as she bribed people in order to get the permits needed to create the mines and bring in her men. Arriving in Jamaica on Cudjoe day to celebrate the anniversary of the day the Maroon Chief signed the treaty with the British. If Global Medal succeeds then the rainforest will be destroyed and plant life and more won’t exist but they will rake in billions.
History relates that slaves arrived from Africa to work on the plantations increasing their population on Jamaica. When any slave dared to try and disappear and manages to find themselves in the mountains and joined the Maroon communities as long as the White Witch or Annie Palmer didn’t get to them first. Battles between the British, the Jamaican Government hoping to stop and defeat the Maroons, as they were a treat to their government. But, this war was about who owned the land and the Maroons claimed to own 150,000 acres as far as the eye can see whereas the treaty stated 1500 and Global Metal was going to fight to the finish to get their mines completed at all costs.

As we get to know Will and his team we realize that there are many who want to stop them at every turn. Kaven falls prey to an old friend who warns him that he’s in danger and should carry a gun. But, as the head of detectives Harper relates anyone found with a gun will wind up in gun court or worse. He is the chief engineer and when the Maroons begin their protests against Global Medal he is forced to helicopter to their site and hopefully reason with them but things get violent and he barely makes it out as the tensions build and the inevitable has yet to occur.

Colonel Rafael Broderick is the man in charge of the Maroon Nation and when things got out of hand and the police had to rescue Kaven what happens next would shake both the Maroon communities and the Jamaican. No one was safe from the wrath of Alexa who abused her employees with verbal insults, long hours and expecting them to adhere to her wants and needs even if they were illegal. When Kaven winds up dead and the investigation points to the Maroons things get tense and another person comes into view, Vertise Broderick who works for the local paper and has been stirring up more hype to try and stop Global but will she succeed?

Annie Palmer is thought to have been buried in on the grounds of Rose Hill. According to local lore that states her tomb was supposed to be sealed with a voodoo ritual, but it was never completed. Throughout the novel you will find that events happen that will lead you the reader to believe as some of the characters do that she rises up and roams free at Rose Hall. Added in some claim to have seen her ghost riding her horse around the plantation as if she is looking for her next victim to kill or even someone to replace the husband or slave she killed.

While Kaven’s murder is investigated someone goes after Rodney who has too much to drink and someone offer to take him to his room but his life is in danger and he winds up in critical care in the hospital. Added in Alexa could care less about him and it’s at this point that Will and Vertise join forces, more articles come out in the paper and with the help of her father they form a plan to take on Global as soon as he resigns. Alexa is ruthless, cruel and self-absorbed and not in the best health as she is told she might have been cursed by the White Witch. However, her actions speak even louder than words when Will, Vertise and the Maroon nation decide to sue Global and take her on. The matter in question is the Treaty signed by Cudjoe and the British and the fact that the amount of land is off by some zeros, the signature or X that Cudjoe signed on several documents needs to be authenticated and the fact that the treaty was never ratified seems to be the primary argument of the other side.

Author Larry Thompson shares the history of the battles, the Second Maroon War and the 300 Maroons in Trelawney Town that held out against 1500 troops and 3000 local volunteer troops. The fighting lasted five months and the Maroons were undefeated and that is when they were offered a treaty. This was not over and the Maroons were arrested against the peace agreement they accepted and sent to Nova Scotia and then to Sierra Leone, West Africa. As in the book Leonard Parkinson was one of the leaders of the Maroons and the local police put a price on his head dead or alive. At this time he was known as the Captain of the Maroons.

Getting to know Broderick and Vertise we learn more about the history of the Maroons, the treaty and the fact that they hired Matilda Massengale a tough lawyer born and bred in Jamaica to take on Global Metal. The pretrial generated a lot of publicity but when Colonel Broderick was killed by a sniper things get more intense and just who was behind the death you can only predict. Thinking it was over and that since he was the custodian of the treaty, Alexa thought she won but never underestimate Vertise as her father took care of that and she would be the new custodian of the treaty and take on the role of being in charge of the Maroon Nation.

The trial of the century you might say as Matilda enters the courtroom and Justice will be done she says. Colonel Broderick is an imposing figure but when he’s gone and Vertise takes over the reigns Pritchard goes full blast with Thomas and Henderson thinking she has brought in the big guns until they get to know Matilda. She is strong, does not falter, waver and her questioning skills are better than most lawyers that you deal with today as author Larry Thompson brings his expertise as a lawyer into play and the questions and courtroom scenes are vibrant, vital and interesting. The judge on the case is fair-minded, listens to both sides and definitely no nonsense.

Judge Lancaster listened as evidence was presented that the treaty only allotted the Maroons 1500 acres but the Henderson tried to prove that the documents did not deed them this amount and the witness’s comments about Cudjoe indicating there are several typos in the treaty but it was probably 100 years before there was a custodian who could read or write. Cudjoe could do neither. But, this took place before Broderick was killed and while he testified. Randy Bailey was the expert that appeared and defused everything the other side said about the treaty and was able to authenticate each part and each document even though Henderson and Thomas thought their witness would change it all. Just what the outcome is and the startling verdict as author Larry Thompson takes us deep inside the anger, minds and revenge that the Maroons wanted to inflict on Alexa Pritchard win or lose. Just who was responsible for all of the deaths, the destruction and the equipment falling over the cliff and a train blowing up? Was it Global, the Maroons or both? The ending takes Vertise inside the mind of the White Witch as the final dagger is in question and the end result of where it winds up will shock you. Remember Kavan died at the hand of one dagger and someone else the second. When Vertise decides with some of the Maroons to take matters in her own hands where the Third Dagger winds up with its gleaming ruby eyes you won’t believe. Who is the reincarnation of the White Witch? The finale is vividly described, the traitors are revealed as one side wins and the other side learns the power of Annie Palmer, Vertise Broderick and the Maroon Nation: Which side? Find out when you read White Witch but beware: Annie is watching your every move!

Fran Lewis: Just reviews/MJ magazine

MJ Magazine Reviews Michael A. Simpson's "Sons of My Fathers"

Sons of My Father: Michael Simpson: Reminding Us of our country

 

Within the pages of this book you will meet members of the Simpson family within two distinct time periods. Both stories will come full circle and are told in separate narrative forms by one of the characters relating their struggles, joys and high jinks that were indicative of the Simpson family. This journey will introduce you the reader to the many generations of this family and give you a close profile of the author. In the past during the time of the Civil War you will meet Ulysses Simpson who along with his father Baylis and Uncle Eon join forces bent on revenge that will place them in danger with the Confederate Army, other soldiers as they forge ahead on many unknown territory with a wagon with feeble horses pulling them hoping to find the right burial ground for the men they are hauling in the back of their wagon. In the present we meet Ron Simpson who enlists in the Army following his father’s path. His father was as you will see in one of the pictures shared in the book was a WWII Marine Corps combat veteran. He was one of the legendary fighting forces combat veteran and one of the of elite instructors as noted on the back page during the Korean War.

In the present we get to know Ron, Michael and their close friend Alex Granger who along with Ron is somewhat of an upstart you might say. Loyal to Ron but yet never surprising readers with his pranks, strong armed ways and of course at times making Michael feel out of place. Their antics become well known, their trouble they get into while in the armed forces at times might get them in the brig or with some type of court martial yet when Michael is attacked at a dance when he innocently asked Diane, who he likes to dance, they rally around him making sure the bullies meet with their just desserts. Diane broke up with Chuck and even though he has a new girlfriend he seems bent on destroying Michael’s interest in her any violent way he can. Michael is the head lifeguard at the beach and Diane is one of the guards.

In the past we meet Baylis, Ulysses and Milton who takes along with them. He’s a teacher and has lost his job. As they travel together they realize they might be from different worlds but have much in common. 

When they finally reach their destination Ulysses and Baylis ask to rejoin their regiments to fight and Milton decides to become a missionary of some sort to help the people who have lost families and loved ones. But, when a guard starts to kill and maim those he feels are deserters, the Captain who Milton knows along with Baylis and Ulysses make their point in a very graphic and poignant way.

In the present we learn more about Ron and his stint in the army trying to learn to fly a specific type of plane. He wants to fly unarmed medavac helicopters during combat. These type of missions and helicopter flights have a high mortality rate but instead Ron finds himself flying a Huey gunship. Both Michael and Ron seem to be fighting personal wars within themselves as each one tries to find a place where he will be recognized in their own way. Remembering the past and what happened to the girl that wound up dead will this ever come out? Michael relished his role as head lifeguard until something happened to change it all.

When Julie Lacey drowned and his friend Kenny froze he tried to save the young girl but blamed himself for the failure. Helping a woman come into the club he realized that his boss was prejudice and quit. As Ron realizes that he would fly a Huey Gunship and was being sent along with his friend Alex to Vietnam. Haunted by what he sees on television and the deaths he witnesses himself, Ron is plagued with nightmares that never seem to go away. Alex finds it different and is more hardened to what happens during this war. Michael and Diane seem close for a time as Ron realizes that his enlistment was not what he expected and something snaps within him and goes back in time to his family’s past and might lose everything in the present.

Baylis and Ulysses and Milton bond in the past and then returning to face the Confederates and hoping to make it home to his family alive. As the rape of his daughter and the murder of his niece as too haunt Baylis the book begins with this incident and the burial of Melissa. Can a soldier find himself questioning is service? “Soldier’s of conscience” who would want that title and want to be called that would Ron?

The Civil War and the Vietnam War should be thought of as Civil Wars as both our nation and that of South and North Vietnam were torn apart. As in the past Baylis and Ulysses fought for the North hoping to defeat the South and the present the Vietnam War that most still feel should not have involved our country at all.

There are many issues that are brought to light within this true story and drama as the family is torn apart at the start and fights to find those who killed his loved ones, family loyalties, star crossed lovers, sense of obligation to your role in the army as opposed to patriotism, and conscience in war and a family secret that has been buried for years.

Two wars fought during two different time periods as Baylis and his son fight a war within the confines of their own country and Alex finds the battles terrifying and the end result if tragic for everyone. Ron realizes that he has found God and can no longer justify fighting in a war and killing people. His actions might cost him more than he is willing to give up as he decides to go AWOL. His family is alerted about this desertion but what will the final outcome be? Will he go across the Canadian border or will he return and face the consequences? Baylis too finds a new meaning in God but no one understands why he would let this carnage happen during both time periods.

Listening to Ron’s plight and meeting Vicki who changes his life will he come home when he learns his mother is ill and in the hospital? While Michael and his family are struggling with cold shoulders and being shunned by friends because of his desertion, Harold his own father loses his and things take on more of a tragic turn. While in the past you can smell the cannonballs, the fire, the death and the stench from the holes that many soldiers find themselves hiding in and taken prisoner.

Author Michael Simpson paints a grim picture but a realistic and true picture of two wars fought by his family members each one a civil war among people that wanted their own type of freedoms. The Bluecoats were dangerous and knowing they wanted to blow up Baylis’s regiment and his men would they be able to stop it before more men died? Alex’s death destroyed Ron in many ways and his mother Ginger seemed to withdraw from life while his mother Carlotta faced a different if not more powerful grief.

Baylis faces the soldiers and those that are captured will be sent to prison until the end of the war but General Sherman shows up and demands that one man be executed. The injustices are many and the fact that his men go along with it makes you understand the cruelties of war first hand as one man takes the bullets for the rest accusing himself of being guilty of a crime that was anything but one. In the present Ron comes home but will he be placed in jail or court marshaled?

Some endings prove to revert back to the beginning as the time line of events in each time periods brings to a close the dramatic end to both wars and what happens to Baylis and his son and then Michael and his family as lives end but some start over but how and where?

There are different ways we honor our country and Ron decided that his was to fly the medvac planes that were unarmed. His decision to state he was a conscientious objector caused him to be denied the right and he left to cross the border to Canada. The ending will explain his fate and Baylis’s convictions that he learned when he did a favor of a Confederate soldier who granted him his freedom in a way he would never forget. The ending brings us full circle to the beginning when Ron, Michael and Alex were best buds and got into all sorts of trouble as they relate the story to someone. “ I do solemnly swear in the presence of the Almighty God that I will henceforth and forever faithfully support, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the Union of States thereunder…” as Baylis made his sons take it to understand the meaning of loyalty to your country. This is a great reminder of what everyone needs to remember today. The documents added, the letters at the end and the pictures bring the story full circle and to life thanks to author Michael Simpsons and the Sons of My Father. As Ron explains the rationale behind the Vietnam War and is feelings about why it was about time to end it and go home. A true story of two wars that cost too many lives.

Fran Lewis: Just reviews/MJ magazine