Title: Labyrinth: Volume 2
Author: Edward Palmore
Publisher: Toplink Publishing, LLC
ISBN: 9781949169126
Pages: 582
Genre: Fiction
Reviewed by: Susan Milam
Hollywood Book Reviews
In Labyrinth: Volume 2, Dr. Edward Palmore returns to the story of Mark Hope, a young black man sentenced to ten years in prison after being set-up by a former girlfriend. The book is one of many that Dr. Palmore has written while serving eighteen years behind bars in the Georgia prison system. In the second leg of Mark’s journey, he rebuilds his life outside of prison while coming to terms with the consequences of his decisions prior to his incarceration. In addition, Mark continues exploring his sexuality.
Six years into his ten-year sentence, Mark suffers a vicious beating at the hands of other inmates who mistakenly believe him to be involved with a man who purposely spread the AIDS virus to numerous prisoners. After being returned to the general population, a negligent guard leaves Mark alone with a convict who stabs Mark and leaves him near death. Fearing an undefendable lawsuit, the prison quickly paroles Mark, and he goes to live with Ernestine, the daughter of a woman with whom Mark lived as a child.
At about the same time, Rodney “Rusty” McPherson is released from prison after a successful habeas petition. Born into a rich white family, Rusty is the son of a district attorney and the grandson of a judge. The judge’s sideline is the production and sale of crystal meth. Rusty becomes part of the judge’s business in high school. Before the accident that sends him to prison, Rusty studied at Harvard while keeping his hand in the judge’s meth business. Upon returning home from his incarceration, Rusty picks up where he left off in both in the meth business and at Harvard. Rusty and Mark cross paths while in prison, and Rusty knows that a smart, good-looking young black man like Mark will have access to communities that Rusty doesn’t have. So, he contacts Mark and enlists him as a senior member of the McPherson crystal meth enterprise.
In Labyrinth: Volume 1, Mark’s story and Rusty’s story develop somewhat in parallel, although their paths sometimes cross and they share many of the same acquaintances, friends and enemies. During the first hundred or so pages of Labyrinth: Volume 2, their journeys increasingly move toward a shared road. Readers who come to Labyrinth: Volume 2 after reading Labyrinth, Volume 1 may be surprised that Rusty takes on a leading role in the second book. However, Dr. Palmore brings the two storylines together in a way which makes the shared storyline appear organic. Mark’s inability to get a mainstream job given his prison record underscores the difficulty former inmates face when trying to stay on the straight and narrow after their incarcerations. Thus, his alliance with Rusty seems to be a natural step for him to take.
The second installment of Mark’s story continues Mark’s exploration of his sexuality, which is complicated by the news that he has a son from a pre-prison heterosexual relationship. As in Labyrinth, Volume 1, Mark’s friendships – both platonic and sexual – deepen his understanding of his gender orientation and the various ways in which people love one another. Alongside these important themes, the book delves into the mystery surrounding the horrendous murder of Mark’s mother when he was a child. As with the previous book, Dr. Palmore moves easily among several worlds, including prison, life as a member of a well-connected rich white family and the church-centered community to which Mark’s friend Ernestine belongs. In each environment, his characters act and speak in ways that feel authentic to their origins and lifestyles.
Caution: This book contains profanity, graphic heterosexual and homosexual sexual activity and violence including rape.
Labyrinth, Volume 2 picks up where Volume 1 ended but Dr. Palmore revisits the events that occurred in the final pages of the first book, so the second installment can be read without having read the first. However, reading both books gives readers more insights into the horrific conditions within the penal system. Additionally, the relationship between Mark and Rusty – two men who are seemingly so different – is more understandable to those who know the prison experiences of both men. As with Volume 1, the violence and sexual content found in Volume 2 immediately cull the audience for the book. Still, anything less than an accurate picture of the conditions in prison, in homosexual relationships and in the lives of inmates post-prison would undermine Dr. Palmore’s goals. He wants people to understand prison life, and he wants them to understand Mark’s journey toward acceptance of his homosexuality. Many readers will feel that he has achieved both ambitions.