“Gaines knows how to tell a story.… [He writes] with humor, a strong sense of drama and a compassionate understanding of people who find themselves in opposing positions.”
—Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post
“A fine novel … there is a denouement that will shock and move readers as much as it does the characters, and a multiplicity of themes that raises a simple tale to grand significance.”
—David Bradley, Philadelphia Inquirer
“Riveting … it takes off like a shot and keeps your heart pounding right through the final climax.”
—Patricia Holt, San Francisco Chronicle
“Poignant, powerful, earthy … a novel of Southern racial confrontation in which a group of elderly black men band together against whites who seek vengeance for the murder of one of their own.”
—Booklist
“Gaines’s people talk real talk and walk real streets.”
—Kirkus Reviews