Product Description

Summer, 1952. Twenty powerful men gather in secret and devise a plot to manipulate the President of the United States. Soon after, writer Eddie Wesley leaves a party hosted by affluent and influential members of black society, and discovers a body. The murdered man had an unusual gold cross gripped between his hands and Eddie is determined to find out why he was killed and what the cross signifies. But then Eddie's sister Junie becomes entangled in an underground movement and vanishes...Is her disappearance connected to the conspiracy to control the President of the United States?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #91362 in Books
• Published on: 2009-04-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

Independent, Boyd Tonkin
`richly involving'

Literary Review, Jessica Mann
`A brilliant literary thriller, packed with insight, intelligence and ideas. Eye-opening and absorbing: I really couldn't put it down'

Times, Rev'd Peter Millar
`Insights into a realm little known in the UK'

Customer Reviews

Very clever novel
Palace Council is set over a period of 20 years, between 1952 and 1975, it contains a mix of fictional characters and recognisable political characters and events from that period. The plot is complex and at times I found that I had to check over passages that I had previously read but this did not detract from the fact that I found it an engrossing read and hardly noticed that it was over 500 pages long.

Carter does comment in his notes at the end of the novel that he has altered some facts to fit in with his novel, although previous reviewers have seen this as a negative I feel the reverse. This shows how well researched the novel is but also emphasises that it is a work of fiction and that Carter has been allowed some artistic license.

If you want a novel that is a serious read and that you can really get your teeth into then I can highly recommend this.

Absorbing tale
Do not be put off by the other reviewer (as at June 2009). This is an intelligent and well written thriller that does not conform to the mainstream stereotypical (pulp) thriller that adorns airport book kiosks. If you want an absorbing read then this book hits the right buttons. Harlem is brought to life wonderfully and the story unfolds over years rather than days, weeks or months which makes a nice change. Some may find the pace at which the novel unfolds too slow and this is true when compared to pulp thrillers but I enjoyed every page. Characters are developed and do not act simply as ciphers for action and plot twists as in many other novels in this genre.

Disappointing
The author has a nice style but this book is let down by the storyline and the expectations set by the back cover and the book's advertising. The book is positioned as a political conspiracy but almost all the action occurs outside the narrative. The main character just follows the aftermath of each step of the conspiracy, not being sure what has happened, and neither was I as the reader. The historical detail was interesting although this is undermined by the author's notes at the end that state the numerous changes he made to ensure history fitted around his story.