Solon Economou

"Master of the Delta" is a great late night book

I've discovered a second Cape Cod writer par excellence whose latest book, Master of the Delta,  will complement your daytime beach reading of  A Summer with Socrates.    Its aura of incipient darkness pervading the lives of the Mississippi Delta residents with which it's concerned makes it better suited for nighttime reading.

Thomas H. Cook is also the author of The Chatham School Affair, with which some of you may be familiar.

In Master, an exceptionally well written story of suspense and tragedy, Jack Branch, scion of the family Delta estate, Great Oaks, comes home to teach at the local high school.  He discovers one of his students, Eddie, is the son of the Coed Killer, a man who brutally murdered a young girl years ago.  In an ultimately wrong-headed effort to free the boy of the guilt and stigma of his background, Jack assigns him to research and write about his father, a task he sees as somewhat of a catharsis.

Eddie, in perfect innocence, runs afoul of some of the local rowdies, gets the small-town Delta sheriff barking up several wrong trees, and befriends Jack's father, raising questions in Jack's minds about Eddie and his real motives, in addition to suspicion and jealousy over the mysterious relationship.

All the events inexorably lead to tragedy in this story, narrated by Jack, who, in his old age,  ponders the effects and consequences of his actions.  There is a surprising twist at the end, so unexpected and perfectly crafted, that it will catch you unawares and tug at you long after you've finished the book.

Master of the Delta is available at Amazon and also at your local free public library.

Enjoy it.