James R Long

The Gospel According to Slim G-ZUS James R Long

TWO NINETEEN-YEAR-OLDS-one white, one black, both lifelong comrades from the north side of Houston-risk their lives to halt a violent tragedy. Thanks to the criminal injustice system, however, their heroic act results in their being sentenced to three years in prison. Russell McCann lands on the Acirema Unit in deep south Texas, a deadly dystopian universe where the guards barely speak English, the inmates thrive on violence, and a young idealist like Russell is in last place. In this nightmare world, his one ray of hope is the beautiful Elka Salinas. Despite her own better judgment and all the rules forbidding such a relationship, she finds herself falling for the young prisoner. Can their dangerous romance survive in this brutal environment? A scathing allegorical indictment of the current state of American race relations rendered by richly diverse narrators, "The Gospel According to Slim G-Zus" asks questions about race, culture, and sexuality few novels have dared to. The answers place Russell on a collision course with reality that could cost him more than his idealistic beliefs.