Leslie [Deckle Edge] [Hardcover]

Omar Tyree (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 6, 2002

FROM THE NEW YORK TIMES
BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF FLYY GIRL
AND FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY

To some she's intelligent and beautiful.
To others she's proud and dangerous.

At the historically black college of Dillard University in the lush mystical city of New Orleans, the beautiful and serious Leslie Beaudet is struggling with a dark secret of power in a world that is pulling her in many different directions.

In the eyes of her Haitian immigrant father, Leslie is a queen who deserves more than the broken dreams and carnage of poverty. To her Black Indian mother, she is a source of pride and strength, a reason for carrying on. To her younger sister, already the mother of two and a high school dropout, Leslie is the only person who cares enough to share her woes. To her brother, she is the victim he failed to protect. To her college peers and teachers, Leslie is a determined, resourceful student, most likely to succeed, yet always impenetrably private.

When a series of murders befall her New Orleans community, they increasingly point in Leslie's direction. Slowly, her friends and relatives realize they've never really known Leslie -- a complicated young woman terrified of failure, struggling with painful family secrets, praying for security that has eluded everyone around her, and craving the power to change her fate, a power that was hidden from her until now...when it's too late to stop her.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Tyree (For the Love of Money) takes the easy way out in his latest effort, subjugating the more promising elements of his story line about an intelligent, exotic Haitian co-ed to a series of lurid subplots involving voodoo, drugs and murder. Leslie Beaudet is a New Orleans college student whose beauty and depth separate her from her three girlfriends; the distance widens when she begins caring for her nieces, after her erratic sister, Laetitia, runs into boyfriend trouble. The romantic focus eventually shifts to Leslie's attempts to seduce one of her roommates' boyfriends in a bald-faced power play. The plot flirts with self-parody when the boyfriend spurns Leslie and she takes up voodoo to deal with her various enemies. Later, Tyree goes completely over the top by introducing murder and mayhem, as Leslie gets involved with a drug lord who employs her weak brother, Pierre. The violent subplots range from ineffective to downright silly, but what keeps the novel partially afloat is the entertaining cast, members of which represent diverse facets of African-American life. They can't completely offset the effect of the mysterious, ruthless Leslie, however, who remains a barely likable cipher. This could have been a fascinating novel if there were more meaningful interactions between Leslie and those around her, but the decision to turn her into a tabloid heroine makes this a forgettable book once the shock value of the plotting wears off.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Tyree, a New York Times best-selling author, has also won the NAACP Image Award for literary fiction, and his new work should have both commercial and literary appeal. A "perfect" young woman seems to be cracking under the strain; suddenly, she is a likely murder suspect.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (August 6, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743228669
• ISBN-13: 978-0743228664
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.5 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (79 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #984,468 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Omar Tyree is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, journalist, screenwriter, and public speaker. A renowned business figure, he has published seventeen books, and his articles have been published in the Washington Post, Essence, Upscale, and the Washington Times.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Leslie: A thriller more than a novel, August 15, 2002

By 

"ycatsam" (brooklyn, ny United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Leslie (Hardcover)

I have read some of Omar Tyree's books, but this one is original on its own. Here it talks about a young black woman with a terrible past yet trying to improve herself from present to future. Yet bad things happen that surrounds her and she's the one person who can end it.
The story has some self-discovery, history, and factual ideas about black women, blacks in poverty, Voodoo, and family. This book may catch a little bit of a mystery as to why Leslie would do all those things. My suggestion is that Omar Tyree should write a part two to this explaining her childhood past plus leading towards her later aftermath of the crimes that she committed. All in all, it was worth reading.

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Leslie Lacks Luster, August 6, 2002

By 

Nicole McCurty (Chesapeake, VA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leslie (Hardcover)

After reading Just Say No! (which I loved), I eagerly anticipated the release of Omar Tyree's latest novel Leslie. I have to admit that I was a little disappointed. This was the story of Leslie, a second year college student at Dillard University, Leslie's roommates and Leslie's immediate family. After a tragic incident and a family secret is revealed, Leslie begins a journey of self-discovery. Through this journey we ascertain the history of her mother, father, younger sister and older brother. Each family member has their own demons, but they all depend on Leslie to help them relieve their pain. Eventually Leslie starts to buckle under the pressure and when a string of murders start to happen all eyes, fingers and toes point to her.

I could not get enough of the Beaudet family. At times, I wished the book would have started earlier in Leslie's childhood to see the interaction between the family members. Nevertheless, I felt I had an understanding in
what made them tick. This was not the case for the roommates. They seemed to all be surface characters. What you saw is what you got. As presented, I did not really want to dig any further to find out more about them.

As the story progressed, I saw the social message that Mr. Tyree was trying to get across, however, I don't believe that Leslie's story could be used as a model for that message. Overall, Leslie held very few surprises and was very predictable including the ending. Even though my expectations were not met with this novel, I will definitely read Tyree's next one.

This book was a 3.5 on the APOOO scale.

Reviewed by Nicole
APOOO BookClub

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A WORTHWHILE LISTENING EXPERIENCE, September 2, 2002

By 

Gail Cooke (TX, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Leslie (Audio Cassette)

From Omar Tyree, the New York Times bestselling author of "Flyy Girl" and "For The Love of Money" comes "Leslie," an audio novel set in mysterious New Orleans. Voodoo, drugs and murder permeate this tale about Leslie Beaudet, a beautiful co-ed of Haitian and Black Indian descent.

Leslie is the focal point of a spectrum of dreams and expectations emanating from a cast of entertaining characters who illuminate unique facets of African-American life in the cultural melange of the Big Easy. She is resourceful and determined in her quest for success, thus surprising those who thought they knew her. Like many, Leslie is complex and driven by fears of failure and feelings of powerlessness in controlling her fate.

Healther Alicia Simms' reading adds a pleasing auditory dimension, making Leslie a worthwhile listening experience.