Price's narrative, which alternates between Ray's story and Nerese's ongoing investigation, gains momentum as the mystery nears resolution. Samaritan falters, though, in its awkward attempts at timeliness and, more acutely, its underdevelopment. The selfish, people-pleasing Ray is a multifaceted character, but he fails to inspire sympathy, while the savvy Nerese never escapes two-dimensional limbo. Price brings the streets of Dempsy to life, however, with informed, realistic descriptions and inner-city survivors like junkie-turned-independent-social-worker White Tom Potenza, who still "couldn't pass a pay phone without flicking the coin return, still stopped dead in his tracks at the sight of salvageable debris." While the plot will keep readers engaged, it's the world into which they're drawn that makes Samaritan a worthwhile visit. --Ross Doll

Alabi's World relates the history of a nation founded by escaped slaves deep in the Latin American rain forest. It tells of the black men and women's bloody battles for independence, their uneasy truce with the colonial government, and the attempt of their great leader, Alabi, to reconcile his people with white law and a white God. In a unique historical experiment, Richard Price presents this history by weaving together four voices: the vivid historical accounts related by the slaves' descendants, largely those of Alabi's own villagers, the Saramaka; the reports of the often exasperated colonial officials sent to control the slave communities; the otherworldly diaries of the German Moravian missionaries determined to convert the heathen masses; and the historian's own, mediating voice.

The Saramaka voices in these pages recall a world of powerful spirits--called obia's--and renowned heroes, great celebrations and fierce blood-feuds. They also recall, with unconcealed relish, successes in confounding the colonial officials and in bending the treaty to the benefit of their own people. From the opposite side of the negotiations, the colonial Postholders speak of the futility of trying to hold the village leaders to their vow to return any further runaway slaves. Equally frustrated, the Moravian missionaries describe the rigors of their proselytising efforts in the black villages--places of licentiousness and idol-worship that seemed to be "a foretaste of what hell must be like." Among their only zealous converts was Alabi, who stood nearly alone in his attempts to bridge the cultural gap between black and white--defiantly working to lead his people on the path toward harmony with their former enemies.

From the confluence of these voices--set throughout the book in four different typefaces--Price creates a fully nuanced portrait of the collision of cultures. It is a confrontation, he suggests, that was enacted thousands of times across the slaveholding Americas as white men strained to suppress black culture and blacks resisted-- determined to preserve their heritage and beliefs.

In this full-color work, lavishly illustrated with 130 Bearden paintings as well as many photos of him and his friends in St. Martin, distinguished scholars Sally Price and Richard Price explore Bearden's Caribbean experience with an insider's eye. Friends of Bearden, such as poet Derek Walcott and writer Albert Murray, contribute their critical assessments of Bearden's legacy, through interviews with the authors. Commentary by others, such as James Baldwin, Alvin Ailey, and Ralph Ellison, help round out the picture.

The book focuses on several themes that Bearden treated in his Caribbean work. In his "enchanted places," a lush forest provides the setting for sensuous female nudes. His "Obeah series" explores the mysteries of local religious life, depicting a variety of ritual specialists in trance. And his "Carnival series" bursts with the energy of that quintessential Caribbean celebration.

In this book, the Prices reassess Bearden's Caribbean experience, locating it at the very center of his artistic legacy.