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In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, greed and corruption plague New Orleans... As 2007 begins, New Orleans is past due to begin its recovery from the devastation of the storm. A proposed real estate project in an impoverished minority neighborhood known as Bacauptown could ignite the City's recovery. The conflicting agendas of three resolute men clash as their paths intersect in this project. Clint Johnson, Louisiana native and successful Baltimore banker, is beset by financial and marital problems from the stress of a severely autistic daughter. He commits a reckless act, and to redeem his career and troubled family life, he must go down a path of undercover intrigue in Louisiana. His work will bring him into a relationship with a beautiful Creole woman and into the crosshairs of a mob hitman. Joseph Pacello, a self-made real estate developer, borrowed mob money to keep his business afloat after the hurricane and now must close the Bacauptown financing to pay it back. As the wizard behind the deal, he must orchestrate all the bribes, bogus contracts, and political contributions necessary to grease the skids for a closing. Reverend Clarence Washington, the charismatic black minister who conceived the Bacauptown project, must contend with racism in the white community and fend off the greed of the black mayor and others who want to enrich themselves at the expense of the neighborhood and people his God-given vision will help. Aftermath is the engrossing tale of three men-aided or impeded by a cast of vivid characters-whose paths become entangled in a complex and dangerous series of events.
Charles Williams (1909–1975) was one of the preeminent authors of American crime fiction. Born in Texas, he dropped out of high school to enlist in the US Merchant Marine, serving for ten years before leaving to work in the electronics industry. At the end of World War II, Williams began writing fiction while living in San Francisco. The success of his backwoods noir Hill Girl (1951) allowed him to quit his job and write fulltime. Williams’s clean and somewhat casual narrative style distinguishes his novels—which range from hard-boiled, small-town noir to suspense thrillers set at sea and in the Deep South. Although originally published by pulp fiction houses, his work won great critical acclaim, with Hell Hath No Fury (1953) becoming the first paperback original to be reviewed by legendary New York Times critic Anthony Boucher. Many of his novels were adapted for the screen, such as Dead Calm (published in 1963) and Don’t Just Stand There! (published in 1966), for which Williams wrote the screenplay. Williams died in California in 1975.
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