In the three books preceding Donna Hill's new novel, Getting Hers, the author set herself a successfully higher standard and pulled it off each time. But this new work takes her into new realms of storytelling -- murder, mayhem and mischief. It's no disappointment in light of the fact that four books isn't a lot on which to build such a stellar reputation in the crowded and talented field of mainstream African-American novelists. It usually entail going beyond your strengths to carve niches to set other standards in your writing style. That's what Donna Hill has done. Each book has been a little better than the last, and it has been fun to watch the maturation of her writing ability as she endeavors to write more across the board. Interestingly enough in my opinion, her new novel is the best since Rhythms.
The author crafts a fine balance between individual elements of the story, while steering an intriguing mystery plot utilizing three distinct voices to illuminate one common objective -- retribution. I liked the fact that the story wasn't too burdened with unnecessary complexity as some murder mysteries tend to be. There's the basic good vs. evil battle between distinct adversarial entities as the characters are given space to truly define alternatively why revenge is so important to the gist of their goals. Not surprisingly, the greatest reward is in the balance achieved between a plot-driven and character-driven story. For those who know this author from her romance writing days of yore, will appreciate excellent metaphor, and a penchant to describe a scene to demonstrate dazzle without a lot of fluff. Along the way people are killed, dreams are deferred, secrets uncovered, and choices are made that can be as lethal as carrying out the act itself.
Let me introduce to you the characters of this story: Tess McDonald is an opportunist with a plan…a successful whore who learned the business from the ground up to parlay it into the riches that epitomizes the advantages of using that natural ‘money maker’ to give a different meaning to Pandora’s Box. Kimberly Sheppard-Benning is a spoiled corporate-type, envious to many who feel that success should only be chauvinistic. Nicole Perez, is a tough street-smart woman who felt wronged by her boyfriend for taking the rap unnecessarily in being sentenced to a prison term. What sets these three women apart, but yet interestingly keeps them together is a plot hatched by Tess to allow them a threshold for a new lease on life. Check out Tess’ way of thinking on this: “We’re intelligent women. We wouldn’t have gotten to where we are otherwise. So there has to be a way for the three of us to put our differences aside and concentrate on the common denominator - retribution. We all want the same thing”.
What are the actual revenge factors that tie them together? The final twist leads more to imaginative wonderings as the author seems to have left hanging the speculative aura of a 'what if' train of thought. Have Tess, Nicole and Kim learned enough from going to extremes to satisfy those innate feelings of revenge? Surely there are questions to be answered and answers to be rectified...sounds like a sequel to me, and I will anxiously await the next installment to this intriguing and thrilling tale. Could more have been added for extra flavor? This depends on what you’re looking for in this type of story. I feel that the storyline didn’t suffer at all. What was given sufficiently gave readers something to look forward to in the future. Getting Hers firmly establishes Donna Hill entrance into the world of mystery, intrigue and suspense where new challenges qualify her for serious literature. Get yours by buying this book!
