October - December 2003
 For Every Black Eye
by C.F. Hawthorne
C.F. Hawthorne's latest novel, For Every Black Eye, is a well-written and tightly depicted book on some subjects that are considered taboo to address in fiction. However, such a thought is slowly changing and fiction is very closely imitating life. Today’s novels are more realistic than ever and even contain much-needed messages embedded in the story. This story moves quickly and explores domestic violence in an interesting new way without hitting readers over the head, or being too preachy. It has subtle messages and manages to give realism to the implied issues as seen through the eyes of the heroine, Anne Marie Scott and her alter ego, Febe.
Witness the abuse Anne Marie is subjected to, and what is done to combat and elicit a winning formula, and you get a taste of why this author has written such a poignant expose of domestic violence. In this case, there comes a time when or protagonist, Anne Marie takes one beating too many as the author shows a gradual depiction of her change of attitude toward her abuser and the abuse she experiences. What price revenge…and how can Anne Marie exact some measure of atonement? That’s when her strong, able, and confident accomplice enters the scene. For Every Black Eye is a fine first effort from this new author incorporating combinations of mainstream, mystery, and thriller adjectives to describe levels of enactment.
The characters are three-dimensional, well-drawn and believable. JayR, the ex-marine brother of Febe’s best friend who died at the hand of her abuser, showed phenomenal strength, but was gentle enough to genuinely care about Anne Marie. There’s a hint of love of in this book and that adds the lightness needed to make the book balanced. Hawthorne has a wild and wooly imagination to come up with some of the revenge tactics that Febe and JayR put the abusers through. Quite graphic, it is guaranteed that readers will cheer while reading those scenes. Overall, this is a fabulous book that will have readers riveted, shocked, and fired up to get back at every abuser they know. Readers are sure to enjoy this book and will certainly look forward to more works by C.F. Hawthorne in the future.
Reviewed by Nathasha Brooks-Harris,
The Romer Review Contributing Writer
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