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Black Rosebud: Have No Mercy II

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Racial prejudice is a part of the human psyche that produces senseless acts. It is a festering sore in a society that may never heal. All kinds of intolerance can be justified by this cruelest of human acts.

Since humans first appeared on planet earth, they have been wary of those who are different from them. It does not seem to matter that we all are the same at heart. That is, a person wanting to live in peace and harmony with the world.

Their will always be, it seems, those members of a society not prepared to allow those different from themselves to exist. In those members minds they are superior to those that they persecute. Therefore what they do to them is entirely justified and of no consequence to the law of the land.

This type of thinking is also aimed at those who are different not because of their race, but because they have a physical or mental problem. Unscrupulous people see them as easy targets, ready made to fit in with their own selfish purpose. These callous beings serve no other purpose in life other than bringing untold misery to their victims.

Darin Righter was one of those people who felt superior to those around him. He felt that Kidwell, Nebraska was below his station in life. Living on a farm in a rural community did not meet his vision of how he wanted to spend his life.

His ideal life style would be being surrounded by luxury and have others to do his bidding. To be able to achieve this ideal existence he would need to get his hands on a large amount of money. The opportunity to do just this came along at the First People's Bank of Sharpin.

He got a job as an accountant with the bank and rose to the position of Mr Dodd's assistant. This was to be the first step on his path to misery. On this journey he would destroy people's lives.

Farm Girl, a young teenager not wise in the ways of the world, would be his most innocent victim. Born into poverty and raised by a mother who wished her identity to be kept unknown. She stood little chance of seeing through Darin's devious schemes.

His elder brother Frank doted on him, yet Darin despised him. Then there was old Jefferson Welk whose skin color held him down all of his life. Both of these men were to feel the venom of the evil that flowed in Darin's blood.

Bobby and Kam Ruble have shown with this novel that they are on top of their craft. The story is a rich texture of wonderful characters that move the reader to feel their emotions. Throughout the tale there are no flat spots to detract from the intrigue of the various twists in the plot.

This is the best book of it type that I have read this year. Once started, the reader will not be able to put this book down. It is a book that I would highly recommend all lovers of good fiction to read.

Review by Warren Thurston - Boggle Books

Darin Righter knows that farm life is for those inferior to him. He plans to escape Kidwell, Nebraska and all these losers to attain a luxurious lifestyle envied by the rich and famous. Darin may have illusions of grandeur, but he understands that to achieve his objective he needs funding, which in his mind equates to stomping on people including family to gain easy money.

He begins his quest by accepting an accounting job with the First People's Bank of Sharpin that gives him insider information. Farm Girl becomes a victim followed by Darin's older brother and finally elderly Jefferson Welk. Burglaries and murder occur, but is Darin a Lady Macbeth type willing to break the law to achieve his ambition? Though the rural law chief Simmons will do his best to solve the "Neat Nick" crimes, he is a product of his society in which the color of one's skin led to a hate crime that though two generations removed still lingers in the collective memory of everyone.

BLACK ROSEBUD is a powerful crime tale that provides readers with a slice of rural Midwest. Though exciting, the shrewdly designed investigation plays a support role to the relationships between residents of the county; the audience will feel like a Cornhusker tasting the dust of Nebraska's farming community. Readers will welcome this suspenseful story that uses individual and community de facto prejudice to add depth to the tale. Those who prefer a sleek crime thriller will probably be better suited elsewhere; anyone who takes delight in a minuscule look at people in a community where crimes have happened will appreciate this book and seek its predecessor, HAVE NO MERCY.

Harriet Klausner

Black Rosebud: Have No Mercy II
Bobby and Kam Ruble
ISBN: 0972851313
561 pp.

In the farm country of Nebraska we meet Farm Girl, a young naïve mind kept from the wickedness of the world by a mother, Mama, who for her own reasons runs from a past filled with pain. They, in their search for enough to sustain their meager existence, meet a kindly older gentleman, Jefferson Welk, who although mostly distrustful of strangers, decides out of loneliness to take them in for the season.

Both Farm Girl and her mother settle in quite well on the Welk farm, dutifully performing their tasks as they build a friendship with Jefferson. And although the man doesn't wish to press his concerns as to not break the tentative bonds that grow, he does convince Mama that education of Farm Girl is necessary. So armed with a limited amount of allowed material, Farm Girl begins to learn of the world that exists beyond the wire fences.

Enter Frank Righter, an ex-marine, who after this parents death assumes the responsibility to raise his younger brother, Darin, the town prankster with a love of both money and alcohol. Fresh from college, Darin has no wish to remain on the farm that his family built and with a perfect opportunity laid before him in the Want Ads of the local paper, he knows this could be the very chance he's been waiting for in order to get out.

All looks peaceful in Cole County until the phone rings in the local police station and Chief Rusty Simmons, a longtime friend of Frank, becomes drawn into a cat and mouse game with a criminal reported in the papers as the "Neat Nick Thief".

With a plot that twists as unpredictably as the wild rose grows, Black Rosebud will entice readers with intricate characters whose veiled motivations can't be revealed until the very end. Surprising and entertaining, with both laugh-out-loud wit and emotionally gripping scenes, Black Rosebud is for anyone who enjoys a good mystery!

Review by Joan Moore Lewis, author of Southern Fiction

Bobby and Kam Ruble have a winner in "Black Rosebud: Have No Mercy II." They have that special talent of holding the reader's attention as the characters in their story wind down roads of the past and present.

Jefferson Welk was a product of an area filled with hatred and prejudice against blacks. He was afraid to venture away from his farm. Farm Girl and her mother traveled the countryside, working at various farms. When they started working on the Welk farm, Jefferson felt as though he had found a family of his own. Color made no difference to them. Although the uneducated Farm Girl lived a life sheltered by her mother, Jefferson taught her to read and write. He had no way of knowing that her ambition was to get away from the farm.

Frank was a good man in heart and spirit. He loved his farm and had no intention of ever leaving it. But his younger brother, Darin, hated the farm and did everything in his power to get away. When Darin was not partying, he was working and accumulating money to make his getaway. Darin's manipulations were like an intricately woven spider web that drew all the other characters into his scheme.

Just as you think the plot has thickened, turn a page, and it thickens again.

I place "Have No Mercy" and "Black Rosebud: Have No Mercy II" on my list of number one suspense novels. "Black Rosebud" is not a sequel, so either book can be read first. I can't wait for "Black Lily: Have No Mercy III" to be published in 2004.

"As days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months, the pages of calendars seemed to change with the blink of an eye. With each passing day, tomorrow suddenly became yesterday." (Page 470)

The above quote comes from deep within this detailed and interesting novel. Not only does it sum up the story to that point, it actually also sums up this novel which, despite the title, is not a sequel to the first novel "Have No Mercy." However, like the namesake, this novel features detailed characters and the tragic results of years of deceit, ignorance and greed.

There are two primary storylines in this 561-page novel and for the most part, each exists independent of the other until the twisting, shocking conclusion. One storyline involves Mama and her daughter known as "Farm Girl." Educationally and financially impoverished, they drift from place to place on Mama's whim as she does farm chores in exchange for food, a place to sleep, and a little money. They wind up on the Welk farm and end up staying for far longer than they planned as an emotional bond is made between them and the elderly Jefferson Welk.

"For Mama there was an instant bond with Jefferson. Quite unlike most of the farmers treated her in the past, Jefferson didn't talk down to her, like he was better than she was. His gentle way of speaking was comforting. She could find no argument in doing household tasks and cooking, or in finally teaching her daughter how to manage inside domestic chores." (Page 17)

The other storyline involves Darrin George Righter who lives with his much older brother, Frank, on the family farm in rural Nebraska. As a teenager, Darin caused problems and didn't seem to have inherited Frank's love for the farm, work ethic, or ability to act responsibly. After graduating from College, a lack of resources and a lack of employment forced Darin back to the family farm he hated so much.

"For a short time, unemployed Darin was either out and about town, drinking and carousing, or sitting around the house drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. He never bothered to lift a hand to help Frank. Easy going Frank didn't mind. Money was never an issue." (Page 27)

Eventually, Darrin gets a job at a local bank and before long hatches a devious plan to begin stealing from bank customers. At roughly the same time, Jefferson begins to teach Farm Girl the basics as best as he can while they all become closer and closer. As months pass, Darin temporarily crosses paths with Jefferson and Farm Girl, setting into motion further tragic events, before his own storyline splits off again.

As in "Have No Mercy," these characters and their actions are described in exhausting detail. Along with finding the occasional typos, a good editor would have been able to streamline this every expansive work somewhat by cutting down some of the dialogue, back story and overall details. Many areas of this novel could have been cut considerably without altering the overall story.

However, while it is excessively wordy, the overall story is complex, interesting, and keeps the reader involved. Things and events are planned out very well and fully described as the novel moves very slowly forward. There is a logical progression both in terms of character development as well as in the storyline and all questions are answered. Nothing is left hanging and open to reader interpretation as everything is fully and completely explained. The reader is left with an interesting and complex as well as overall enjoyable tale full of deceit and greed along with the usual warning from mother's everywhere-be careful what you wish for.

Book Facts:

Black Rosebud: Have No Mercy II

By Bobby and Kam Ruble

Global Authors Publications

www.globalauthorspublications.com

2003

ISBN # 0-97285131-3

Large Trade Paperback

Her name is Farm Girl and she's no typical child. Raised by a mama intent on protecting her from the world, Farm Girl only knows and believes what Mama allows. It's hard to imagine anyone in today's world being so naïve and protected, but the writing within these pages will make anyone believe and fall in love with the characters through their struggles and pain. Unbeknownst to both Mama and Farm Girl, they become swept up in a world of deceit where innocence can be deadly.

From the very beginning, Black Rosebud introduces memorable characters who will leave an impression forever in the hearts of readers. Bobby and Kam Ruble expertly intertwine each character to create a tale that keeps readers guessing and wondering until the end.

I found humor sprinkled among the pages as well as passages powerful enough to pull tears to the surface. Even after the final page is turned, lasting thoughts of this tale will fill your mind and maybe even make you wonder a little about your own life.

Reviewed by T.C. McMullen, author of "Gone Before Dawn" and "Whispers of Insanity"