The
Last Integrationist is a first novel of extraordinary
power, a compelling story with wonderful characters
that explores aspects of race relations that most Americans
are afraid to discuss.
Jake
Lamar sets his story in the near future -- a time close
at hand. America's war against drugs and crime has resulted
in harsh restrictions and public executions. The prime
mover in this war is Attorney General Melvin Hutchinson,
a brilliant black lawyer and staunch conservative who
as a judge was dubbed "Hang 'Em High Hutch."
Melvin Hutchinson is on the fast track to a vice-presidential
nomination, but he has a potentially explosive secret.
And
then there is Emma Person, a talented photographer who
is having a difficult time understanding her Jewish
boyfriend's insensitivity and his mother's hatred. Emma's
black friends place demands on her that she struggles
against, finding herself trapped between two warring
camps -- white and black -- instinctively resisting
the rigid definitions of both.
Emma's
story and Melvin's are told against the background of
a country roiled by anger and hatred, a country that
seems to have lost its soul while blacks and whites
try to find a way to live together or apart.
Reviews:
 "A
fearless young talent to keep your eye on."
--
Entertainment Weekly
"An
epic tale about America and its hideously disfigured
notions on race. Set in the near future and peopled
by a vast yet intimately drawn cast of characters, The
Last Integrationist is by turns boldly inventive,
darkly prophetic, wildly funny, and, in the end, deeply
moving -- a meditation on the human heart's struggle
to overcome the forces that would divide us. Like Dr.
Strangelove, it feels visionary, and lingers in the
mind like a haunting, unforgettable dream."
--
Darcy Frey, author of The Last Shot
"The
Last Integrationist hurls you into the funny and
frightening Twilight Zone of reading next week's
headlines today."
--
Trey Ellis, author of Platitudes and Home Repairs
"A
compelling, controversial political thriller, part A
Clockwork Orange, part The Manchurian Candidate."
--
Kirkus Reviews
"A
crackling page-turner...Jake Lamar has produced a thriller
of ideas.... A kind of racial 1984."
--
Jacob Weisberg, Vogue Magazine
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