Three Metal Pellets oleh M.J. SIMMS-MADDOX

It is time for Priscilla to become the woman she was meant to be.

It was the fall of 1987, one year after Priscilla returned from her first time in southern Africa. She resumed her PR business in Columbus, Ohio, and waited for something substantial to come across her desk. Then, one day, she received a handwritten note: “Interested in spearheading the marketing campaign for the next president?” She didn’t even recognize the signature, so she researched the presidential hopeful.

Priscilla rekindles her secret affair with her former lover, Carlton Bernhardt, who invites her to his family’s home in Bow Lake, New Hampshire. His parents—Emerson C. Bernhardt II, called “Father,” and Lady Chelsea—along with his sister, Arvana, a socialite and cocaine addict, and his surrogate father Ramses, who serves as a head butler of sorts—form an eccentric lot. The Bernhardts hail from Lebanon, where they made their fortune in the olive oil business. Lady Chelsea is the daughter of a land-rich yet capital-poor British duke. As for Ramses, he is the son of a concierge at a hotel in Egypt often frequented by the Bernhardts and has become like family.

During Priscilla’s visit, Arvana is accused of murdering her lover, Hans Verwoerd, who is also her cocaine supplier. However, Hans is more than that; he is a member of the SANM PG who is out to kill Priscilla, “the one who got away.”

Like her work as a legislative assistant in the Ohio Senate, Priscilla’s mettle is once again tested. At each interval, she demonstrates her political acumen, which annoys the campaign manager. As many who know Priscilla say, “There’s just something about her.” Priscilla seldom sees herself the way that others do.

Priscilla’s involvement in the presidential campaign places her in the spotlight. Twice, the terrorists who failed during her abduction to southern Africa closed in on her. The second time, Priscilla’s life hangs in the balance.

In the climax, an ambitious reporter reveals a long-held secret, prompting Priscilla to pause her work on the presidential campaign and perform the PR performance of her lifetime for herself.

By the end of the series’ epic adventures, Priscilla realizes that her world and her possibilities in love and work are far greater than the circumscribed realm of Ohio politics and her traditional family and that she’s also a darn good PR consultant.

Timely. The author takes us by the hand and leads us into a world about the election of America’s first black president, whose background competes with the likes of the Rockefellers and Vanderbilts. Just like many other prominent families prime their sons to become the president, so, too, do the Hollingsworths of Alabama. A fifth-generation Barbadian American, Fleetwood Marshall Hollingsworth, engages the only remaining challenge for his family’s legacy: the American presidency! Remember, though, this is a novel, and you may have to keep telling yourself that because it seems so real. However, as each scene unfolds, you will find yourself squirming in your seat and sometimes crying tears of joy and sorrow, especially when Priscilla’s (the protagonist’s) life hangs in the balance. The author also leads us by the hand as we dare tread behind the scenes into the realms of political power, the kind that protects its own. But by the end of this rollercoaster ride, your heart will be warmly filled with joy. MICHAEL D. CONNOR, actor/writer/theater director/professor.

“Refreshing to meet the author of a series about a contemporary African American woman comparable to Walter Mosley’s Easy Rawlins and Leonid McGill,” “Finally, a black female protagonist who is not a former slave, maid, prostitute, ….” and “The intimidating cover is captivating.” [Comments from book club members at the 2019 NATIONAL BLACK BOOK FESTIVAL]