Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson

National Public Radio commended Johnson for transcending 'the classic noir tale of an assassin desperate to be done with the life', but critiqued her portrayal of characters who were neither black nor white, asking 'how much that part of their identity ( Walter is Native American and Dev is Indian) was being treated more as window dressing than being Black or white was, for Black and white characters.' Publishers Weekly found it to 'challenging diverse', and a 'literary firecracker' with 'dynamic characters' and 'style to spare', but faulted the plot as 'overstuffed'. Kirkus Reviews praised it as a 'nuanced portrait of racism in all of its poisonous flavors' which explores 'the incredibly fraught, liminal space of being a light-skinned person of color', extolling Johnson's 'musical prose' and 'passionate and painful depictions of the love expressed in romance and friendship '. Trouble the Saints won the 2021 World Fantasy Award-Novel. When her boyfriend Dev Patil - who can magically foresee threats - tells her of upcoming dangers, they flee the city together, and their lives become much more complicated. In an alternate New York City in the early 1940s, Phyllis LeBlanc works for Victor the crime boss, passing for white as she uses her 'saints' hands' - a supernatural skill with throwing knives - to kill people who Victor has told her are evil. It was first published by Tor Books/ Macmillan Publishers. Trouble the Saints is a 2020 historical fantasy novel by Alaya Dawn Johnson.

Trouble the Saints by Alaya Dawn Johnson