Nick Stone's Mr. Clarinet

Crime fiction writer Nick Stone, son of a Haitian mother and Scottish historian, Norman Stone, has written quite the thriller. Mr. Clarinet at its best moments is as suspenseful and engaging as Walter Mosley's writings, meaning that it's impossible to put down. Nonetheless, I am quite disappointed that a writer of Haitian descent, who has spent years in his mother's home, would write a novel full of so many stereotypes, concocted tales of superstition, rumors and savagery. Nick Stone obviously knows Haiti well enough to write about a missing child case without delving so deep into the occult and completely made up claims regarding Haitian history, but hey, that's what sells. Write a book about Haiti, throw in zombies, black magic, child sacrifice, 'voodoo,' and exceptional violence.

At the novel's conclusion, the occult is revealed to not have the role one thinks, and the novel plays on the 'superstition.' The protagonist grows on the reader, too, although only because the mystery at the heart of the novel compels the reader to finish. I originally intended to read the next Max Mingus thriller, which is about the past investigation into Boukman in Miami, but I think I have read enough tales about child sacrifice by Haitians.