The White League

( 3 )

Overview

Paul Blanchard's comfortable world is turned upside down when his old frat brother, Mark Morvant, threatens to expose the secret Paul has been harboring for twenty years unless he bankrolls Morvant's bid for governor. Morvant also demands that Paul secure for him the backing of an organization called The White League, a group that he maintains has long been the real power in New Orleans. Despite Paul's avowed belief that the group no longer exists, he is given just three weeks to get the League's backing, or ...
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More About This Book

Overview

Paul Blanchard's comfortable world is turned upside down when his old frat brother, Mark Morvant, threatens to expose the secret Paul has been harboring for twenty years unless he bankrolls Morvant's bid for governor. Morvant also demands that Paul secure for him the backing of an organization called The White League, a group that he maintains has long been the real power in New Orleans. Despite Paul's avowed belief that the group no longer exists, he is given just three weeks to get the League's backing, or Morvant will destroy him. Blanchard's desperate pursuit of the truth uncovers family secrets, historical intrigue, and the underworld machinations of a dangerous group that has no qualms about using murder to achieve its goals.
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Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly
Zigal, author of the Colorado sheriff Kurt Muller series, sets this gripping novel of racism, justice denied, retribution and redemption in the upper-class environs of New Orleans circa 1990. Paul Blanchard is CEO of the Blanchard coffee company, a family business that allows him to live a life of genteel ease. This pleasant existence is shattered when Paul's old college roommate, racist Mark Morvant, shows up and announces that he's running for governor, demanding not only that Paul bankroll his campaign effort but that he get the wealthy businessmen from the White League, a sinister secret society, to back him as well. Paul, a progressive Southerner, tries to resist, but Morvant threatens to reveal the dark secret Paul has been harboring-his black girlfriend in college died of a heroin overdose, and Morvant helped him dispose of the body in a bayou. To complicate matters, Paul's childhood friend, Jaren Jarboe, son of beloved Blanchard family retainer Rosetta Jarboe, took the fall for the death. As in any good Southern novel, present events are dictated by the past, and colorful characters from all stations of life perform both honorable and despicable acts. There's plenty of New Orleans lore and even a swipe at a JFK assassination connection in this solidly written, adroitly plotted and satisfyingly ethics-driven tale. (Feb.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
Moving away from his Colorado police procedural series (Pariah, 1999, etc.), Zigal offers a slow-moving, literate thriller examining the roots of racism in New Orleans. For nearly 150 years, the Blanchard family has roasted New Orleans' best cup of coffee. Though he's bored with the family business, fortysomething company head Paul Blanchard is comfortably wealthy and well-known in the city's highest social and power circles, when the repugnant, blatantly racist state Congressman Mike Morvant, Blanchard's former Tulane University "frat buddy," demands that Blanchard finance his gubernatorial run and talk Morvant up among the city's elite. If he doesn't, Morvant will reveal how he helped Blanchard cover up a terribly embarrassing situation from Blanchard's wild and crazy years. Blanchard, a liberal Catholic married to a Jewish woman, is closer to his black housekeeper (and her son, currently serving a 30-year-sentence for murder) than he is to the members of his own dysfunctional family. He despises Morvant, though he's intrigued when Morvant also demands that Blanchard secure the support of the White League, a secret society of upper-crust racists whose origins predate the Ku Klux Klan. Blanchard's great-grandfather was a society member, way back during Reconstruction, and though it was thought to have died out, Blanchard's gay, older brother has evidence that their late father was aware of it. Thus begins a rather windy, extravagantly detailed look at the Blanchard family's problematic past, as well as the seamy origins of the city's high society and, predictably, the convoluted ties that bind blacks, whites, Christians, Jews, Creoles, Cajuns in a simmering stew that differs from JamesLee Burke's gumbo in that it is told from the top down-as Blanchard, a child of privilege burdened by guilt, an unraveling marriage, and a daughter about to enter her own wild and crazy years, reexamines his roots and makes some risky decisions. A contrived, deliciously complicated study of racism and what must be done to end it. Agent: Bill Contardi/Brandt & Hochman
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Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9781592641154
  • Publisher: Toby Press LLC, The
  • Publication date: 2/1/2005
  • Pages: 500
  • Product dimensions: 5.84 (w) x 8.78 (h) x 1.31 (d)

Customer Reviews

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Sort by: Showing all of 3 Customer Reviews

  • Anonymous

    Posted March 22, 2005

    Great New Orleans Tale

    I am a New Orleans native and thoroughly enjoyed this book. Zigal is right on with so many descriptions of local flavor. A great read. Wonderful blend of historical fact and fiction.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted February 21, 2005

    as good as it gets

    This is an exceptionally well written and thought provoking thriller involving a flawed protagonist. Impossible to put down and a realistic ending.

    Was this review helpful? Yes  NoThank you for your feedback.   Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.

  • Anonymous

    Posted November 3, 2009

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