What a Womans Gotta Do: A Novel of Suspense - Hardcover

Coleman, Evelyn

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0684831759 ISBN 13: 9780684831756

Publisher: Simon & Schuster, 1998

Synopsis

Atlanta journalist Patricia Conley's take on men has always been in reaction to a childhood of neglect: "There is an old saying that if you love a man, let him go, and if he loves you, he'll come back to you. I say hunt him down and kill him." Just when she'd thought she found someone who accepted her for the intelligent, fiercely independent martial artist that she is, her fiance disappears. But before Patricia can get her hands on him, someone else does - or so it seems. As she sets out to uncover just why Kenneth Lawson did her wrong (and who did him in), she encounters more than what she bargained for and finds herself on a treacherous path that leads to death for anyone who dares take it.
In What a Woman's Gotta Do, Patricia, stumbles upon a plot that could devastate humanity. And if that isn't enough, she's hunted by the police for murder, by a crazed geneticist who thinks she knows too much, and by undercover cop Jeff Samuels, who claims to love her. Torn between his affection and the memory of Kenneth, Patricia awakens to realizations about what it means to be alone, and what it means to be independent.

About this title

Reviews

A journalist risks life and limb?and heartbreak?as she investigates the disappearance of her fiance in this assured thriller from first-time novelist Coleman. After Kenneth Lawson deserts African American Atlanta journalist Patricia Conley on their wedding day, she finds clues that suggest he may not have had a choice. Lawson had claimed to be a professor between positions, but the note and rare diamond ring he leaves for her indicate that his life was far more complex. So do the bloodstains in the car that took him out of her life. A fiercely self-reliant, recovering alcoholic who protects herself with a rough and ready wit, Conley gradually unearths a transcontinental genetic engineering conspiracy behind Lawson's disappearance, learns to trust again and, along the way, meditates on what it means to be a successful black woman today. Although Coleman occasionally bogs down in scientific detail, her inventive, funny debut makes it clear that she knows how to keep the pages turning. Author tour.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A children's book author turns her hand to the adult suspense novel--with mixed results. Proud African-American journalist and inveterate single woman Patricia Conley has finally found a man--a man so fine that she's supposed to be meeting him at the Fulton County Probate Court in her hometown of Decatur, Georgia, so they can get married and spend the rest of their lives together. But when Patricia shows up at their appointed time, sporting an orchid corsage she's bought herself, Kenneth Lawson is nowhere to be seen. Several hours later, Patricia has to admit the obvious, but on the way home from the courthouse she spots Kenneth in a romantic French restaurant with another woman! Worse, she's waked up the next day by a pair of detectives wanting to know the scoop behind her car--which has been found abandoned and dripping with blood. Only her love for the martial arts affords her a release of tension and anger, but the relief is temporary; soon Patricia is plunged into a mystery that leads her into a dangerous world she couldn't have imagined. Identical twins play a major role in the intricate story, but the evil goings-on are mostly a result of the myths and beliefs of the ancient tribe Dogon, from a part of Africa that is today Mali. A romance with Detective Jeff Samuels becomes a classic case of mixing business with pleasure, and events such as the disappearance of a Frenchwoman by the name of Claudette Duvet and the discovery by Patricia of a safety deposit box left to her care by Kenneth create head-spinning confusion. Skillfully written, but with a welter of incongruous elements, from black belt karate to Judgement Day, the supernatural, interracial issues, murder, astrology, and genetic engineering. -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Eugenics and race relationships in the U.S. are the centerpieces of Coleman's novel. Her heroine is a smart, sassy black newspaper reporter, an orphan who doesn't trust anybody--including the man she's about to marry. When Patricia Conley thinks she sees him holding hands with another woman, after having apparently stood her up at the altar, she launches an investigation that eventually leads her to discover the spirituality and genetic foresight of an ancient African people. Along the way, Patricia meets a fascinating cast of characters, including scientists, spiritualists, computer hackers, misogynists, and racist villains. She also meets a handsome investigator whose help she shuns. Her natural distrust has her suspecting he is not what he seems to be, all the while she's falling in love. Through her investigation, Patricia discovers that she is not as alone and unloved as she had always thought. Using her skills as a journalist, Coleman provides vivid detail and suspense in her thriller, a first adult novel by this award-winning author of six children's books. Vanessa Bush

Edition details

• Publisher: Simon & Schuster
• Publication date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0684831759
• ISBN 13: 9780684831756
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 320