rick malone

“An impressive novel about the subtle prejudice and blatant bigotry faced by black men and women in this country.” ─ Kirkus Reviews

Reminiscent of Invisible Man, Ralph Ellison's immortal classic, Violet of a Deeper Blue chronicles the journey of a young black man from innocence to maturity in an unwelcoming and often hostile white world. This journey takes him from the board rooms of corporate America to the crime-ridden streets of the inner city. Go with him as he transforms into a new man by reaching back to discover his heritage, a heritage that gives him the inner strength and courage to persevere.

Brandon Northcross, the main character in Violet of a Deeper Blue, was going places. A recent Ivy League graduate with an MBA, he had all the right stuff. He was bright, young, handsome and ambitious. Nothing was going to stand in his way of going to the top. Had he remained in the sheltered confines of New Hampshire, where he'd lived his entire life, perhaps the fact that he was black would never have mattered. But as fate would have it, he would journey south for the first time to take a job in the nation's capitol. What awaits him is anything but the color-blind world he'd been led to expect. Instead, he soon discovers what it really means to be a black man in America.

Set in the late 1980s, Violet of a Deeper Blue takes an uncensored and disturbing look at what has been called America's dirty little secret—its neurotic obsession with race. This epic coming-of-age odyssey offers convincing witness that no black person, no matter how successful, ever really escapes the long shadow of racism.

Part autobiographical, Violet of a Deeper Blue is a must-read for anyone interested in getting a hard-boiled look at what it's really like to be a black man in America and in understanding the racial dynamics that continue to shape the lives of both black men and black women in this country.