Hoochie Mama

Rating:
Summary: I Can't Wait To See The Movie!
Review: After reading the back cover of the book and learning that Hoochie Mama featured a black female detective, I was hoping that at the very least the book would be as good as some of the old 1970s blaxploitation classics featuring Pam Grier and Tamara Dobson. I thought that maybe M Gantry would be the next Sheba Shayne or Cleopatra Jones, however, she turned out to be so much more. Rather than telling a simplistic story about a two dimensional heroine defined by sex and violence, Preston Allen presents us with a multifaceted jewel in M Gantry who is continuing her development under extreme pressure. M Gantry wrestles with issues concerning sex and sexuality while hot on the trail of a serial killer leaving half-smoked Camels butts at the scene of each crime.

Preston Allen has created a masterful mystery and thriller novel with compelling characters. His words take you by the hand and lead you into very uncomfortable places -- the minds of psychos which inhabit the pages of his Freudian nightmare. Allen uses the pages of his mystery to provide us with social commentary about hoochie mamas and sadistic fathers. He demonstrates how there can be chaos in the midst of order and makes us understand that religion in the hands of psychos can be deadly. We are left to ponder why one would kiss the dead and what prevents some people from enjoying a deep sleep.

I could not believe that I was reading such a wonderfully crafted murder mystery by an unknown black writer. This is the kind of book one expects from Thomas Harris (author of The Silence Of The Lambs) or James Patterson (author of Along Came A Spider). Who is this Preston L. Allen?!? He has given us a chilling psychological suspense thriller that should become a best selling novel. When this book is made into a movie (they would be crazy if they did not make it into a movie), I think that both Pam Grier and Tamara Dobson should be given a part. However, I wonder who Mr. Allen will suggest for the role of M Gantry?

Rating:
Summary: Silence of the Lambs in the Ghetto
Review: This is a fine, fine book. Good job, Mr. Allen, and welcome to the dark, dark world of Thomas Harris.

I went through alot to get it. You cannot find it in the store and that's not fair. But when it came I read it and liked it very much. What a great plot! I was completely fooled by the end, because I thought I knew who the killer was. I was so wrong. Mr. Allen has a very unique style that makes you want to read on. The story is real dark and surprising like Silence of the Lambs was, but in the ghetto. He has so much insight into his characters, male and female, and he always reveals the truth about them, good or bad. I was very sad about M Gantry's childhood with her sister. He is not just telling a good story, he makes you completely fall in love with M Gantry, the virgin detective, who is the best female action hero I've read about ever.

I kept seeing this as a movie. I hope. I hope.

Sincerely,
Amelinda Fernandez

Rating:
Summary: Hoochie, Hoochie, Hoochie. Yo' Mama!
Review: This one is as good as his other book Bounce, but in a different way. This one is a whole book. Complete. We see what the writer Preston Allen can do with 300 pages. He is spellbinding in his description of scenes. Murder is his passion, and the solving of it. I did not see the end coming. I see the writer of Bounce in this book, too, in subtle ways, my friend. The little bit of kinky sex in the video scene, hot, hot, hot, the deep, deep, deep lesbian scene that explains M Gantry's childhood and her true feelings, and Dake the pervert is dangerous, but sexy in a manly kind of way: he likes his women old fashioned, subservient, and tied up. Okay, that's kinda weird, my friend, but this is a good book. You will not figure out the end. Preston L. Allen is a very good writer.