The Ballad of Black Tom by Victor LaValle

[King Bob]

This is a novella based on The Horror at Red Hook by Lovecraft, but focused on a black hustler/musician instead of the detective. It was a quick read and flowed nicely, and in general well-done, but I thought a bit too obvious with a social justice (cops killing black men) theme. I kind of felt that while that might be appropriate to the 1920s setting, to me it implicitly argues that nothing has changed and that things are no better, which is obviously absurd. Plus he added a new detail not in Lovecraft's story which seemed implausible and merely there to be gory.

I guess the more I think about it the slighter this book was.