Double Edged Sword
by David C. Williams

Reviewed by: Cherri Millard

Get introduced to Jason Philips, a young, conscious, African-American male who embarks on a mission to restore the village-like community he once knew—before he went off to college—to its original state during the 1960’s.

In the beginning Jason seems to be a good kid who is serious about his education and has the utmost respect for his mother; he puts trust in his friends and takes the wisdom and advice he receives from the “old heads” in the community. After a brief run-in with Jeff, a white boy the same age as himself, he finds out that he hasn’t been exposed to much, as far as worldly knowledge is concerned. After a quick review of the text books Jeff is carrying with him, it’s evident that Jason’s education has been neglected. With a smack back into reality on education, Jason becomes concerned with his learning and sets out to learn and absorb everything he can get his hands on. In order to advance himself, he isolates himself and sees less of his buddies in order to devote time to his studies and build a foundation to understand many things. With this new attitude and outlook, he obtains a full scholarship for college. Just before he goes off to school, he is honored for serving as captain of the debate team and is asked to speak on behalf of his high school at his graduation. On the very first day of his departure for college, Jason gets into an unlikely situation in a local town full of racist white folks that puts his scholarship in jeopardy.

When Jason arrives back to his hometown, he finds everything he once was proud of in shambles, with rampant drug use along with dilapidated housing conditions and several other issues. What brings about this sudden change is a new drug that is purposely placed into the African-American communities called “crack.” The drug rapidly spreads throughout the town, destroying everything in its path. Jason plans to restore the state of his community; his plan is extensive, organized, and does not involve any violence. All that is involved is overthrowing the individuals responsible for the conditions of the population. Jason recruits some of his childhood buddies to help him with his plan. 

David C. Williams creates a solid fictional tale in which he injects tons of morals and values. He isn’t afraid to tackle the racial issues that are evident in the United States. Subliminal messages are scattered all over the plot, referencing how conglomerates control and monopolizes everything not nailed down to the ground. The writing is crisp and clear with little to very few errors. The usage of old dialect places you right into the 1960’s. The characters are somewhat underdeveloped, while they are all positive images.

What did you like best about this book?
The story was filled with morals, values, and messages. It’s not often you witness non-violent problem-solving and I appreciated that author David C. Williams used this method in his book.

What did you dislike about this book?
Some of the preparations that the main character went through, before going on his mission of restoring the community, were not believable within the inner-city setting; the dialogue was choppy in some instances; the characters used the word “brother” in the dialogue extensively throughout the book.

How can the author improve this book?
I would recommend a new book cover, one that will attract a reader to this book. The story overpowers the book cover, however, the book cover needs to support the text inside. Also, I would use contractions within the dialogue (They are vs. They’re). Other than that, the book is powerful and deserves to be read by lovers of fiction.

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suzyq :

Posted 87 days ago

While I enjoyed the book and would reccommend it topeople who enjoy fiction. I like the imagination of the author and look forward to more writings of this nature. I didn't feel that the book cover had any magnatism that draws a reader, nevertheless I was not put off by it. There was a lot of imagination, wishful thinking, undeveloped characters nevertheless it was enjoyable. Looking forward to less slang, more developed characters and more realism in the overall story.

Newton1 :

Posted 101 days ago

This book was very powerful indeed , with solid fiction that most african american's can relate to on a day to day basis. For our younger generation this could be an eye opener for the substitute for voilence and self destuction.

Cherri Millard :

Posted 107 days ago

Okay, I missed this. I'll be back with my reply...:)

2Savory :

Posted 114 days ago

I concur that this is an insightful book. It causes one to contemplate the many inequties in our communities and what can be done by us to create more equity. The author uses a young black male's internal struggles, his quest for knowlege and his desire for understanding to develop this story. For those who are not aware, the character's adventures bring many issues to light. For those who are already aware of the issues, it reminds them of how long ago our issues started and they have only gotten worse over the years and finally, how one young man dealt with the problem. As stated by the reviewer, some of the fictional things done in the book may be unrealistic; however, it should cause the reader to start some internal and external dialogue about how we can make changes, starting with ourselves. Then, each ONE, reach ONE and teach ONE. I agree also that the author could have done something different with the cover; however, the message that a double edged sword sends is that it can be used more than one way. You get to choose. Do you use that sword to cut (violence) or hold it up high in all of its shiny glory to show that its beauty, strength and power can also cause pause to everyone who observes it, to behold its beauty without using it to cut a single thing (non violent). This book is ideal to stimulate dialogue with young people especially, boys above the age of 10, either indvidually or in a group setting.

Indigo 6 :

Posted 115 days ago

I enjoyed this book, and while it's not often that I agree with everything a critic says about something, I agree almost whole-heartedly with this review.
There are a lot of take-it-to-heart messages in this book. Some are subtle, but many others are direct and point blank.
The jargon in this book at times didn't seem genuine enough for me. While it's not required to butcher words phonetically to make them seem more authentic to the reader, some of the dialogue at times is so gramatically correct, that it doesn't seem to fit with certain characters who may be speaking it. It doesn't deter from the meat of the story, but readers with a strong attention to detail will pick up on such nuances.
I'd suggest to the author as well, if he has the means to re-release the book, update the cover with something more relevant to the story. Broadswords are great, but visually there could have been a more clever or artistic way to give insight to the details in this book.
At the end of the day, I still liked it.

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