Harry Jacobsen is a disgraced failure of a foreign correspondent. Fired from a respected New York City paper, he takes refuge as editor for a small weekly in a quiet town on the Chesapeake. It’s not quiet for long. A trio of children come across the sunken hulk of a black man’s racing boat, lost thirty years ago. The captain, Walker John Douglas, had crashed his vessel after killing two white women and burning down half the town in a period of racial unrest.
Harry knows black lives matter. His investigative reporter instincts kick in, and he begins to delve into the history of Walker and the infamous inferno. River Sunday, evenly split between black and white, roils in chaos at his front page headlines. Half the town welcomes the fresh exploration of the civil rights actions, while the other half would rather leave the past alone. The streets are also flooding with tourists as the largest event of the season – a nationally acclaimed powerboat race festival – swells the discussion with high profile personalities and racers who remember Walker’s racially charged legacy.
As Harry unravels the threads of time and reveals the truth of what happened during the racial clashes of the Sixties, the heat levels rise in the once peaceful town. Passionate emotions threaten to spark a fresh wave of riots the likes of which River Sunday had not seen in decades. Harry races to discover the full story in time to save lives – and to save the town from burning anew.
Powerboat Racer is the fourth book of the acclaimed River Sunday Romance Mystery series by Thomas Hollyday. The author’s unique Chesapeake voice once again gives us an exciting read about the people, their beliefs and legends, and the grasping mud and black water wetlands of this mysterious American region. His other critically acclaimed novels include Slave Graves, Gold, Magnolia Gods, Terror Flower, China Jewel, and Easter Sunday.
Each book, introducing new memorable characters, retains the simple and beautiful lifestyle, history and beauty of the Eastern Shore of the Chesapeake Bay. Powerful subjects such as freedom, atomic war, racism, religion, terror, sailing, and family love, are approached. Stories are insightful and well researched with technical expertise, humor, and fast moving action.
River Sunday Romance Mysteries are suitable for teen and older readers. They have no strong language and romantic descriptions are clean and suitable for family reading and enjoyment.
Thomas Hollyday has spent years working for animals rights. Part of the proceeds of his books goes to financing the research and maintenance of fresh drinking water resources for wildlife.