SLAVE GRAVES: A NOVEL
THOMAS HOLLYDAY, Happy Bird Corporation, Weston, MA, paperback, (285p)
ISBN: 0-9741287-0-8
BookWire Review
November 24, 2004
Thomas Hollyday writes this novel against a modern setting. Dr. Frank Light, a famous archaeologist, is called to give his opinion on a shipwreck site at River Sunday in Maryland, over which Jake Terment, a rich businessman wants to build a bridge. Jake is a suave but unscrupulous person who wants Dr. Light to merely look at it as a formality, and he intends to go ahead with his plan regardless of the outcome of the survey.
Assisting Dr. Light are Maggie Davis, the state Archaeologist and a Pastor Jefferson, a black preacher. These two care about the site and Dr. Light also begins to share their convictions and the sense of responsibility towards the historical significance of the place.
What they discover is the most shocking part of the book and to reveal it would be to ruin it. However, Jake Terment wants to proceed with his construction, against Dr. Light & Co’s wishes, and amidst protests from a nature conservation group headed by Birdey Pond.
The climax of the story is how Jake Terment tries to go ahead and the ironic manner in which he meets his end.
A book worth reading for its vivid imagery and value system; it is hard to think that all of it is mere fiction, and it makes you want to actually visit the intriguing site.