Hex: A Novel of Love Spells [Paperback]

Darieck Scott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 29, 2006

Hex opens in Miami in the near future, where celebrations roil the city after the announcement of Castro's death. Amid the chaos and debauchery, two visiting graduate students, Langston and Azaril, search for a friend who suddenly goes missing — Damian, a charismatic seducer who has drawn the two of them into his orbit in the past. Frustrated in their initial attempts to trace Damian's whereabouts, the two seek help from Langston's aunt, a renowned psychic, whose cryptic warnings and unexpected hunches guide them on a quest that takes them to New Haven and New York City and entangles them in the investigation of Damian's family history — and draws the hostile attention of powerful and apparently supernatural forces.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Scott's ambitious but unwieldy second novel (after 1995's Traitor to the Race) explores black gay identity as it describes the power of the mysterious titular spellbook. At the start of the novel, Fidel Castro has just died, and amid the pandemonium of a near-future Miami, grad students Langston and Azaril search for their missing friend, Damian. Langston, struck by the odd nature of the chaos around him, visits his psychic aunt, Reginia, for help, and she gives him a hand-annotated copy of Hex, a book that belonged to Damian's father, Credence. With Damian's disappearance linked to the madness all around them, the answer lies in the powerful volume, amended by Damian's grandmother. Past and future entwine as they all search for answers that may well lie within themselves. The narrative shifts across a multitude of characters and eras, including New Orleans of 1953 and Los Angeles of 1971. Scott evokes an eternal present marked by strange, meaningful connections that defy the notion of coincidence.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About the Author

Darieck Scott is the author of the novel Traitor to the Race. His short fiction has appeared in the anthologies Freedom in This Village, Black Like Us, Shade, and Giant Steps, among others. He is assistant professor of English at the University of California at Santa Barbara, where he teaches African American literature and creative writing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf (December 29, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786717645
• ISBN-13: 978-0786717644
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,236,034 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A very strong second novel, November 23, 2007

By 

BrooklynBen "brooklynben" (Brooklyn, NY USA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Hex: A Novel of Love Spells (Paperback)

I loved Scott's first book -- Traitor to the Race. I eagerly bought this second work and I'm very impressed. It is a long work and I'll need to digest it more before writing a thoughtful review. But I appreciate the fact that he wasn't hamstrung by any particular genre. It isn't necessarily a work of black fiction or gay fiction or magical realism or a historical novel. It is just a terrific novel.