ALFIE CARTER

By

BJ Mayo

Published by Skyhorse Publishing

Pages: 288

Published: January 19th, 2021

Categories: Southern Fiction / Rural Fiction / Mystery

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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.

Skyhorse Publishing

Every now and then a book will come along with a message that is fitting to the times we live in and how we should be living that life.

“..we are the world’s worst at condemning folks that we think need condemning. The man that stole the car, the people on the scourge of drugs with no way out. All of the things that can beset us if we ain’t careful. I have done it myself in my work. What right do we have to condemn them?”

This is a story of two lives intersecting at a critical time for all parties and the ending result becomes something even better than anyone expected.

When the story begins, we see Jackaleena all grown up and an attorney in this small town. However, her current court case brings back memories that she had forgotten or pushed down in her memories and it releases a floodgate of tears which the judge doesn’t quite understand until she shares her tale.

Jackaleena had a tough life in Africa. Her family and village were wiped out in the blink of an eye, but perhaps that was meant to happen. Jackaleena knew she had a bigger purpose in life and after time in an orphanage, she realized that purpose was in America and not Africa, at least not at that time. She is definitely wise beyond her years and everyone that meets her recognizes her intelligence and her passion. I loved her curiosity and determination and did not let anything stand in her way.

“Her heart was light. Her feelings of joy and gratitude were immense. She felt like Jesus Man was the only one who had ever helped her, and besides Margaret she had no one in the world.”

Alfie is a tough soul due to tragedy earlier in his life. The sections of the story that are from his point of view are rough and gritty, much like the man, but give us insight into why he acts this way. It is only when another tragic event occurs that he realizes that he is not living his life to its full potential. There is so much that he has done wrong that he needs to right, but is fearful of the reactions of those around him. But this is his journey to soften his hardened heart and find his way back to his family and God.

I enjoyed this story especially the mystery that Alfie sets out to unravel, the death of a young woman. The clues are all there for him to discover the truth and the outcome is more than I could have imagined. It is the forgiveness shown by the young woman’s family that shows that there is goodness in this world. I was touched by the outcome for all those involved. Could I have been so forgiving? I would like to think so.

“Have compassion on them, pray for them. That’s what they need, not my condemning.”

This story is also about faith and belief in a higher being or master creator. Alfie struggles with this but perhaps he isn’t as far from faith as he believes. Jackaleena has a strong faith in “Jesus Man” after meeting a young boy that brings her to safety and the teachings in the orphanage. Perhaps their journey will have an impact on the reader and they might be able to relate to either one of these characters.

“Thinking about the bible, or at least the part I read, it seemed it might be true that all animals, fish, and insects were purposely designed by a master creator. I saw it right before my eyes that each of these creatures, no matter how big or small, was given a place in the world and a way to survive.”

There are also moments of humor especially when Alfie declares that “men’s underwear is not supposed to be every color of the rainbow.”  Alfie is also introspective regarding his childhood and how it impacted his life as an adult.

I also marveled at the descriptive scenery and could picture Alfie climbing a mountain or the area where he would camp to get away from it all.

Overall this is a book that could stick with someone long after reading the words. We give this book 4 paws up.

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.

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