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The Scheme of Things
By R. Barri Flowers
Sadorian Publications
Reviewed by: Rob Holden
R. Barri Flowers' haunting, suspenseful drama The Scheme of Things sets up a web of intrigue that casts the shadow of suspicion on each character leaving the reader wondering "do we really know what anyone is capable of?" Under the guise of an upper middle class life of educated, affluent African American business people living their eclectic, privileged urbane lives in the city of Detroit, we are drawn into the deep "caramel ice cream complexion and liquid sable eyes" of a young homeless woman whom the main character, Dwayne Bradford, meets on the street one Saturday afternoon shopping with his wife of nearly 10 years. From that first enigmatic encounter, not uncommon in many of our cities, we are haunted with Dwayne by her mysterious apparitions into his world of reality.
"I watched as she ran off, and felt as if Evelyn had exposed my darker side for all the world to see. Or at least, my immediate world. The side that was capable of raw sexual needs. Infidelity. Dishonesty. Obsessive jealousy. Even murder."
As her identity and presence in Dwayne's life becomes tangible, his already tense relationship with his wife, Surecka, begins to unravel as both women revolve in a circle dance as lovers of two visceral rivals - Dwayne and his blackmailing/wife-stealing coworker, Lincoln. The twists and turns of the plot as identities are ripped away like layered masks, kept this reader on the edge of his seat. Like watching a Hitchcock movie and being compelled to yell out at the character that the killer is in the room behind him, I found myself frustrated and angry with Dwayne for failing to see the slippery slope as he continually makes one bad decision of deceit after the next until he is perilously dragged into the depths of murder that he would not/could not commit but nonetheless for which he is charged and arrested. And so, the reader is thrown back into the spiral of suspense as the psycho-sexual drama becomes a "whodunit". No one is to be trusted.
Mr. Flowers has expertly established a world and culture that while uniquely African American is refreshingly non-stereotypical. Unlike Hollywood, R. Barri does not need to reflect a subculture of drug addicts or criminals to make the characters "feel" ethnic, but a true-to-life characterization of people - whatever their ethnicity - where CEO's of multi-million dollar corporations, 6-figure executives with stay-at-home wives, police detectives, and lawyers are African American. His primary female characters are strong black "sistas" with seductive layers of intelligence, independence, strength, and boiling hot sexuality rooted in dishonesty and deception. The constant yin and yang of their expectations and desires of life contribute to the palpable conflict of good and evil that runs throughout the novel.
Dwayne Bradford represents the quintessential modern-day tragic figure - contentedly on the "right" path to the American Dream: beautiful wife, successful career, perched to take over the firm in two years, the distant plan for children, a bigger house, etc. etc. - who risks everything, and loses. He is the sole proprietor of his misfortune and the sole proprietor of his salvation. His repressed heartbreak and regret over his dead sister who had been lost to homelessness proves to be the force that drives him in his destructive relationships with the women in his life as well as himself. He accepts the consequences of his actions and sets out in a frenzied attempt to crawl back out of the depths of depravity and regain his dignity. In rapid pace reparation, Mr. Flowers manages to knit together the fragmented plots and subplots of murder, deception, embezzlement, violence, sexual exploitation, and injustice that leaves no loose ends hanging.
According to his biography, R. Barri Flowers "is the prolific author of thirty novels and nonfiction books". The Scheme of Things is my first read penned by Mr. Flowers, but after finishing this nail-biter, it will definitely not be my last.
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