About the book, Alfie Carter
- Published by Skyhorse Publishing
- Pages: 288
- Published: January 19th, 2021
- Categories: Southern Fiction / Rural Fiction / Mystery
- Scroll down for Giveaway!
The seemingly never-ending Cabinda War (1975—) has left multitudes dead in its wake and thousands of children homeless and orphaned.
Jackaleena N’denga, a young Angolan girl, has become the sole survivor of one specifically brutal village massacre carried out by a band of guerrilla boy-soldiers.
Jackaleena’s resilience leads her to an orphanage on the west coast of Africa, known as Benguela by the Sea, where she and other children are taken in and protected. Her brilliant mind and endless questions capture the heart of her mentor, Margaret, who ensures her that her survival thus far—especially being the survivor from her village—must mean she has big things ahead of her. When the opportunity arises, she must find her purpose.
Not without a plan, Jackaleena stows away on a mercy ship that has made its yearly visit to the orphanage and is now preparing to return to America. Her journey takes her across the ocean, into the arms of New York City’s customs officials, and finally into placement in a temporary foster home in Texas.
Enter Alfie Carter—a workaholic, small-town detective who is also battling memories of his past. His life is forever changed when he meets a young African girl looking for her higher purpose.
Buy, read, and discuss this book:
Skyhorse Publishing | Goodreads
About the author, BJ Mayo
BJ Mayo was born in an oil field town in Texas. He spent the first few years of his life living in a company field camp twenty-five miles from the closest town. His career in the energy industry took him to various points in Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Louisiana, Bangladesh, Australia, and Angola West Africa. He and his wife were high school sweethearts and have been married for forty-six years with two grown children. They live on a working farm near San Angelo, Texas.
Connect with BJ:
My Thoughts
Alfie Carter is one of those novels that should be on everyone’s reading list, because it’s such a well-crafted, compelling story. Actually, it’s two stories that become entangled at the end of the book, but even though Jackaleena’s story begins in Africa and involves some horrific scenes of the type typically only seen in 30-second clips on CNN, and Alfie’s begins with him climbing a mountain to spend some time camping in order to get out of his own head, the themes are the same: identity, purpose, and faith.
As we open, both characters are adults. Jackaleena is an attorney known for her toughness. Alfie is a gritty detective. But the narrative very quickly goes back in time to give us the history of these two powerful characters, and author BJ Mayo handles the time changes and perspective changes with a deft hand. Interestingly, he chose not to begin the novel from the title character’s point of view. Readers don’t encounter him until slightly later. But the reality is that it might be Alfie Carter’s name in the title, but this story really has dual leads.
What I loved about this book was the specific use of language. When Jackaleena is a child in Africa, her thought processes and speech are young, and even though there’s no written dialect, it’s obvious that this isn’t a kid whose first language is English. The rhythm and cadence of her words is different than it is years later when she has largely assimilated into American culture.
Similarly, Alfie Carter feels exactly the way one expects a lifelong Texan to be – I felt like I could hear a rough voice with a slight drawl even when what I was reading were his thoughts and observations.
At times a difficult read, especially because of Jackaleena’s childhood experiences (though Alfie is certainly no stranger to rough times), this novel is one that is grounded in the individual faith of both main characters. It’s never preachy, and there are moments of humor to break up the serious nature of the main story, but that faith, and each characters relationship with it, helps drive the story and should not be overlooked as an integral element of the novel.
Overall, Alfie Carter is the kind of novel that sticks with you long after you’ve finished it, and makes you think about your own reactions, beliefs, and assumptions.
Goes well with: steak cooked over an open fire and a slug of whiskey.
Giveaway
THREE WINNERS each receive an
autographed copy of ALFIE CARTER.
US only. Ends midnight, CST, March 5, 2021.
Check Out the Other Great Blogs on This Tour
And don’t forget to visit the page for this tour at Lone Star Literary Life.
| 2/23/21 | Review | Reading by Moonlight |
| 2/23/21 | BONUS Promo | All the Ups and Downs |
| 2/23/21 | BONUS Promo | LSBBT Blog |
| 2/24/21 | Review | Missus Gonzo |
| 2/24/21 | Review | The Clueless Gent |
| 2/25/21 | Review | StoreyBook Reviews |
| 2/25/21 | BONUS Promo | Hall Ways Blog |
| 2/26/21 | Review | Jennie Reads |
| 2/26/21 | Review | Jennifer Silverwood |
| 2/27/21 | Review | Bibliotica |
| 2/28/21 | Review | Carpe Diem Chronicles |
| 3/1/21 | Review | Book Fidelity |
| 3/1/21 | Review | That’s What She’s Reading |
| 3/2/21 | Review | The Adventures of a Travelers Wife |
| 3/3/21 | Review | Forgotten Winds |
| 3/3/21 | Review | Librariel Book Adventures |
| 3/4/21 | Review | It’s Not All Gravy |
| 3/4/21 | Review | The Plain-Spoken Pen |
Jodie ‘Nosey’ Parker is back!
Fiona Leitch is a writer with a checkered past. She’s written for football and motoring magazines, DJ’ed at illegal raves and is a stalwart of the low budget TV commercial, even appearing as the Australasian face of a cleaning product called ‘Sod Off’. Her debut novel ‘Dead in Venice’ was published by Audible in 2018 as one of their Crime Grant finalists. After living in London, Hastings and Cornwall she’s finally settled in sunny New Zealand, where she enjoys scaring her cats by trying out dialogue on them. She spends her days dreaming of retiring to a crumbling Venetian palazzo, walking on the windswept beaches of West Auckland, and writing funny, flawed but awesome female characters.
The first book in a NEW cozy mystery series!
Brooke Anderson never pictured herself as a divorcee at twenty-eight. But when she mentions getting a post-nup to her husband Garrett after one deliciously sex-filled year, he promptly serves her with divorce papers. Admittedly, she could’ve told him about how her father left her and her mother homeless when she was young, and how she’s never been wired to trust anyone. Especially those closest to her. Now, all she wants to do is avoid anywhere he might be so she won’t have to face him again.
About the author, Candace Hutton
About the author, Kimberly Fish
Zuleikha arrives in the US from Lahore, Pakistan, by marriage, having trained as a pianist without ever owning a real piano. Now she finally has one-a wedding present from her husband-but nevertheless finds it difficult to get used to her new role of a suburban middle-class housewife who has an abundance of time to play it.
About the author, Suman Mallick
“And through these ages untold, the river did act as the lifeblood of all those things alongside it.
James Wade lives and writes in Austin, Texas, with his wife, Jordan. He has had twenty short stories published in various literary magazines and journals. He is the winner of the Writers’ League of Texas Manuscript Contest and a finalist of the Tethered by Letters Short Fiction Contest. All Things Left Wild is his debut novel.
About the book, Christmas at the Marshmallow Cafe
About the book, Christmas in Cockleberry Bay 
