Howard wields his power with disgusting certainty and cruelty. Suydam is so hungry for it that he is willing to sacrifice everything for it. Suydam invites Tommy to his house to play his guitar for some guests, and opens up a malicious new world to Tommy. This action, earns him the (unwanted attention) of the rich and white Robert Suydam, a private investigator Howard, and a cop, Malone. Set in Harlem in 1924, the book begins with Tommy Tester delivering a strange book to a mysterious old woman in Queens. I found a darker, scarier and much more troubling read. On reading it, I found it to be very different from what I was expecting. On reading the description of the book, I expected it to be one thing. I am not sure to what extent not reading it has affected how I see The Ballad of Black Tom, but my review below is of the book as I read it –a book without the history I later found it had. I was not aware, until I finished The Ballad of Black Tom, that it was a critique of one of Lovecraft’s most racist stories, The Horror At Red Hook. Even after I found out, I did not want to read Lovecraft’s version, and only familiarized myself with the plot through Wikipedia. “Indifference would be such a relief,” Tommy said. (…) What was indifference compared to malice? A fear of cosmic indifference suddenly seemed comical, or downright naive.
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