Blood Harvest
Brant Randall

Reviewed by Barb Radmore

Blood Harvest is another unique entry from the Capital Crime Press. It lives up to and surpasses the high bar set by the previous publications of this stellar press.

Jackie Sue MacKay is a thirteen year old girl with dreams of being older. Her cousins find her acting way past her age when at a picnic they find her in the bushes with her hands down the pants of a strange boy. Unfortunately for all the stranger is Angus DeCosta, the son of a couple who were run out of town years ago. His mother is the former Mary Elizabeth McCay who was disowned by her family for marrying Nick DeCosta. Nick had two major strikes against him for the MacKay clan- he is a rival moonshiner and he is, gulp, an Italian Catholic. In small town New England in 1916 that is not acceptable in a son in law.  The KKK is alive and well and ready to take care of the situation. Mary Elizabeth, pregnant with Angus, and Nick escape across the river, never to return. Never that is until their son finds himself tangled with his MacKay cousins who, after giving him a terrific beating, throw him in the same river his parents crossed years before. His father, the hated Nick, arrives in time to fill the MacKay boys with buckshot and allow his son to escape. The ensuing trials of both sides are an event no one in town will miss, the main show of the circus that evolves from the crimes. But the trials become moot when the inevitable happens. Nick is taken from his jail cell during the night and hung.

The most noteworthy aspect of Blood Harvest is the point of views from which it is told. Each chapter is told through the words of a different character, including the dog. This is the stoke of genius that sets this book way beyond others of its genre. It is not an easy task but it is beautifully done. The story is clearly told but it is the vivid voices of the characters that bring it to life. The characters are so well done- they are both caricatures and real, an interesting combination. Only an author with the skill of Randall could pull it off as smoothly and completely as he has been able to in this book.

Bruce, I mean Brant, has infused this tale with serious humor. The story is somber, a glimpse of times and attitudes that we wish were gone from America (but are still alive and well in some places), the KKK and bigotry. But it is written with an ear for the absurd, for that which makes people become and act the way they do. He may seem to poke a bit of fun at his small town characters (seriously- a officer named Marshall Lawe?) but he gives them the depth that they need.

This book makes the list of this year's 'do not miss.'  It should be read to appreciate both the story with the history behind it and  talent of the author.