Aug 11 2008
Review: Gather Together In My Name
I just finished my latest offering that I would like to place on tap for review. It is titled Gather Together in My Name and it was written by Tracy Price-Thompson. This book deals with the re-instatement of the death penalty in New York. As the story unfolds, the reader must examine his own stance on this much debated and heated topic. Are you for or against this policy? Do you believe that those who suffer from it are rightfully put to death? Is it the common cure for the worst our society has to offer or does it turn us all into the worse our society fears?The story begins with the birth of three little boys that are raised by a single mom. Her husband died during the birth of his sons. Bitter from the loss of her true love, the mother looks for someone to blame and she picks our lead character, Shyne. He was the last to be born and the first to be blamed for her heartbreak. From that moment on, she showered him with contempt and disdain while dividing her love unequally between Shug and Shadow.
The boys came into the world together, but they would not leave the world that way. Shadow dies an untimely death in childhood, for which more blame is heaped on Shyne. At that point, all the hopes and dreams of a mother’s heart are placed on Shug. The two remaining brothers are the classic example of the age old question, what makes us who we are? Is it our environment or the love and attention we receive at home?
Shyne received no love and had to cheat, fight, steal and perhaps kill for everything he ever had. His youth and early adulthood was spent incarcerated more often not. Shug was coddled and went on to college and became a man of influence in the community. As the story unfolds, he is making a bid for the New York mayor’s seat. If not for the criminal unrest of his brother, his victory would surely be an easy one.
As the final hours of his life unfold and the ticking of the clock winds down, each person that gathers to witness the execution of Shyne, a hardened criminal, gives an accounting of what brought them to the current time in place; all of them willing to be a witness to murder in order to rid the city or a vicious murderer.
However, as the plot unfolds we get a glimpse into the twisted minds of those who have determined themselves to be judge and jury over one man’s life. We see the fear, anger, and jealousy that we can’t separate from the essence of who we are. It resides within us and it always factors into decisions that we make. As all is revealed, the reader is left to question the validity of a criminal justice system that is unequally stacked against a black man and the simple human failing in us all that surely makes it impossible to be for the death penalty.
This book is definitely a piece of fiction work reading as it touches too intimately on the reality of the state of human society . . ..
