Today’s blog tour is brought to you by the letter “W” and the color Grey. (Sorry, couldn’t resist) Despite the silliness, the CFBA is featuring Wedgewood Grey by John Aubrey Anderson. This is book two in The Black or White Chronicles. I reviewed book one, Abiding Darkness, on Monday, and I encourage you to read it here.

Wedgewood Grey continues the story of Mose Washington, the simple, God-fearing black man in Mississippi from the first book. He comes to the rescue of a black woman and her son, who are being attacked by a group of white teenagers. The consequences of this encounter send Mose and the boy on the run, draws the wrath of a powerful politician, and brings a FBI agent into the chase. The book turns on the theme of our choices, and the effect they have through our lives.

Many characters from Abiding Darkness are brought back into this tale. Anderson continues to delight with wonderful turns of phrase that make me grin, while simultaneously cursing him that he thought of that particular choice of words first! The FBI agent, Jeff Wagner, is an engaging new addition. The young boy rescued by Mose, Bill Prince, is a quieter character, and just isn’t as colorful as some of the others in the Chronicles so far. I was a little disappointed that Missy Parker shows up almost half-way through, and doesn’t have as big an impact in Wedgewood Grey . She was such a dynamic character before, and watching her grow up was so enjoyable, that the grown, mature Missy is a little less of a strength in this book. Also, she was so critical to book one that it is a little curious how she fades here. I am hoping there will be a satisfactory conclusion to this point!

Anderson again shines in drawing out his scenes of action and suspense, never giving us a cheap thrill, but milking it for all it is worth. He is wonderful at foreshadowing, but it is not at all obvious where he is going with it. I had to shake my head at a couple of points, thinking the author got me again!

He continues his habit of changing POV within the same passage. I can overlook this due to the stellar writing. I can also tell a little refinement from Abiding Darkness (not nearly as many characters saying, “Mmmm.”)

Overall, Wedgewood Grey is a wonderful read in its own right, even though I liked Abiding Darkness a little more. The trouble is, the third book in the series, And If I Die, doesn’t come out until August ’07!!! Arrrgh!!!

I am planning to do a little study of a couple passages out of these two books, as well as a mini-interview with John Aubrey Anderson, over the next couple of days. Please come back, check it out, and leave comments. Oh, and check out the new widget from the CFBA, the CFBA Amazon store! Now you can order books from our tours, and other recommended reading, all in one place. Kudos to Bonnie for putting it together!