Pleasure and Power

By: Doug Brendel

Narrated by: Doug Brendel

Race, sex, and justice...

In 1950, in a world before #MeToo, charming Jake plays fast and loose with the women - until the conservative Alice stops him short. Their romance changes the rogue...or seems to.

On the other side of the tracks, a brain-damaged teen in the “crazy house” delivers a mixed-race baby. Her sister Ruby races to rescue the child - and find the white man who did this.

When the baby brings them all together, each one - Jake, Alice, and Ruby - has secrets to preserve, as they wrestle with rage and fear, doubts and suspicions.

Victims and villains merge and morph in this deeply emotional story of competing and intertwining motives.

Can racism be right? Can sexism be acceptable? Can violence be justified?

©2018 Doug Brendel (P)2018 Doug Brendel

Packs an emotional punch

This is a captivating story that grabs you right from the beginning. Brendel creates sympathetic characters and then puts them through the wringer. These people feel very real, and although this story takes place a. couple of generations ago, what they go through feels particularly relevant today.

A couple of scenes are difficult to listen to (I always have a hard time with scenes where people behave really badly towards those who can't help themselves) but fortunately, there are plenty of other scenes with characters who love each other and who go to the mat for each other, and at least one scene featuring a character getting his come-upance.... so it all balances out I guess.

The author does the narrating here and he does a fine job. He has a light touch with character voices and that makes it easy to listen to.

Bottom line, it is a truly engaging story that you won't be able to put down and there are moments that will stay with you a long time.