Simon Says : A Novel of Intrigue, Betrayal...and Murder

Rating:
Summary: Breaking Barriers
Review: Alex Baxter is no stranger to tragedy. While he was still a very young child his mother, a civil rights activist, was killed in the South under suspicious circumstances. Devastated by his wife's death, Alex's father focuses all his affection on his athletic older son, Ivan, and has little to do with "book wormish" Alex, who presumably reminds him of his deceased wife.

Alex's existence as an inner city youth exposes him to many shocking incidences of violent crime, but none more disturbing than the night he witnesses the brutal drive-by shooting of his brother, an aspiring basketball star. His brother was the only bright spot in his life and after his death, Alex finds himself alone with an emotionally decimated father who completely withdraws from life. Alex realizes that education is his only way out of his torturous environment, so he applies himself in school and graduates as class valedictorian with a full scholarship to a prestigious black college.

College life finds an ambitious Alex applying himself rigorously in hopes of changing his fortune. When he unwittingly intervenes during an attack on the mayor's daughter, he somehow emerges as a hero and suddenly finds himself a campus celebrity. The mayor expresses his gratitude by taking up Alex's cause and starts backing him financially and Alex finds his long awaited avenue into the world of the privileged. But the mayor is leading a double life, which plunges an unsuspecting Alex into a nightmarish world of danger and deception.

Collen Dixon's new novel is a disturbing commentary on the social infrastructure of the urban ghetto and gives insight into what motivates some inner-city youth to rise above their circumstance and break down the socioeconomic barriers imposed on them by an unforgiving society. SIMON SAYS tends to be a bit predictable in spots, but nonetheless is an intriguing, well written whodunit which will keep the reader interested from its very somber beginning to its extremely bizarre ending.

Reviewed by Autumn
of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Rating:
Summary: Finally!
Review: I love John Grisham novels. But none of his novels ever featured African Americans in a lead role. Simon Says can stack up against any John Grisham novel. Colleen Dixon went all the way out in writing this intriguing story. I liked the way she spared no detail in mapping out Alex's background and giving the reader a taste of what his life was like growing up in the ghetto of Washington DC. Some readers may find this part drawn out, but when you read on, it all ties in. The writer then maps out Alex's college years and finally his professional life after graduation, where things really begin to heat up. The "good" mayor of Washington DC turned out to be a great villian. I don't normally cheer for the bad guys, but this villian is a villian's villian. Great job, Colleen!