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The book is set in 1969 in Brooklyn. The plot itself swirls around how a community is affected by a single shooting. Sportcoat (or Deacon King Kong) shoots a young drug dealer, who he used to coach in baseball, for apparently no reason. The time, history, and more importantly the relationships of the its community, police, mobsters and church-goers all work together or against each other in a book that shows the vitality and fragility of that community.
Now, to be honest, I found this book slow in the beginning; but I did feel like it picked up for me after the first few chapters. The style of writing is very lyrical, and that may be why I found it a little slower (particularly since I just came from a Patterson novel where the pace is much faster). However, the characters felt well-rounded and the way McBride intersperses moments of humour with hardship and each character's fate and faith was well done.
I can see why his book one prizes, like the Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence. However, I would suggest that this book is for readers who prefer character-driven and dialogue-driven books as plot and action is second place in this novel.
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This title is a biography of James Brown
