The Prophets of Gentilly Terrace

by Gordon Peter Wilson

A Multilayered Story of the Tragedy, Triumph, and Peculiarity of New Orleans Amid the infection of urban decay and fatuous political causes, mischief looms in the New Orleans neighborhood of Gentilly Terrace. A newly elected tax assessor, Jerry Sonothanx, is burdened with gambling debts and childcare payments and in desperate need of cash. After receiving a tip that a family-owned Vietnamese grocery store in his district is running an illegal lottery, Jerry sees an opportunity for financial salvation and enlists the services of an opportunistic political insider to teach him the gentle art of extortion. Meanwhile, FBI Agent Margot Hoang finds herself increasingly smitten with a local police officer even as she is assigned to surveil the same lottery-running grocery store that is thriving in her childhood neighborhood. And Lecky Calloway, a henpecked middle-aged lawyer married to the wealthy scion of an old New Orleans family, determines that he’s ready to experiment with his suppressed sexuality while trying to support his daughter as she undergoes addiction recovery. The paths of these characters intersect when a tragic crime at the grocery store irrevocably alters their lives. Weaving a fascinating, complex political crime story full of keen satire, petty struggles, and crooked public servants, The Prophets of Gentilly Terrace depicts life on the gritty streets of a once-grandiose city.

312 pages, Hardcover

Published October 17, 2023

Reviews

[Aristotle · Rating 2 out of 5]

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That's what this book needed.

The furniture stood imperiously on an enormous olive-green Axminster carpet with a cream-colored center medallion of woven swans and cornucopias. The coffee table was of Chinese lacquer with blackened, fluted legs.

Pages and pages and pages of this.

The seminar tables had been arranged banquet-style in long, horizontal rows covered in shiny gold, easy-care, poly-cotton tablecloths. The rows were separated symmetrically to create a long center aisle down which attendees could walk to reach their assigned seats.

Deep breath.
Out slow.

Underneath his blue moleskin jacket, he wore an aubergine cotton shirt with contrasting inner collar that was open to the second button. It had an irregular pattern of green and gold geometric shapes that almost matched the restaurant carpeting.
There was a salad selection with the usual, unchallenging choices of Caesar, mixed-green, Greek, fresh beet to which chicken could be added at an additional charge, along with a choice of seven different dressings.

Dear God why?!

Interesting characters with an interesting plot that was bogged down with internal dialogue and bloated exposition.

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A New Orleans story as a tax assessor, who would like nothing more than to be corrupt, finds out about an illegal lottery, run by Vietnamese people. Turns out there's a lot of other people interested in this lottery, including law enforcement.

I found it a bit awkward.

[Janet Hudnall · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tough read

First, I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. Thank you to the author and Goodreads.

I tried so hard to get through the book. The storyline was extremely interesting. The author was extremely descriptive on everything, down to every house in the GentillyTerrace, the clothes people wore and how they stood. The descriptions were sometimes were sentences and paragraphs long. I tried to see if the description was integral to the story, but I just couldn't get beyond it. I am not an author so perhaps, there was a reason for this level of detailed description.

[Bob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary: A tale of petty and systemic graft interwoven with a troubled family, an FBI investigation and a budding love affair, all centered around a Vietnamese grocery in East New Orleans.

Gentilly Terrace was developed on high ground overlooking Lake Pontchartrain on the east side of New Orleans, literally on terraced blocks. Once a suburban community of Arts and Crafts bungalows built in the 1920’s, the neighborhood had declined as people moved further out. But this was the home of Jerry Sonthonax, a newly elected tax assessor for that part of New Orleans. Sonthonax lived on the edge of financial ruin, “borrowing” from client settlements and escrow accounts in his legal practice, trying to hit it big at the local racetrack. After a loss that nearly wiped him out, a racetrack buddy offered a different kind of tip. A Vietnamese grocery on the east side of his district was rumored to be running an illegal lottery, and might be a source of payoffs to maintain a low assessment.

Sonthonax goes to his mentor, Burton Clayton, assessor for the central business district, who has lined his pockets well in this way. All this goes through a middleman, Glenn Hornacek, who would present himself as a consultant who could “negotiate” lower assessments for a fee that he and Clayton would share. Sonthonax persuades the two to assist him in setting up a similar arrangement starting with the grocery.

Unbeknownst to them, FBI agent Magot Hoang is surveilling the grocery, using her Vietnamese language sills to translate the wiretaps. In the process, she hears the owner’s daughter trying to complain about an outrageous assessment increase, bringing Sonthonax name across her radar. Meanwhile, she has fallen in love with a local police officer, one who does off-duty security.

Lecky and Hildy Calloway are New Orleans socialites mostly by virtue of Hildy and her family’s wealth, which Lecky lives off of, while handling legal settlements for insurance companies. It’s a troubled family. Daughter Caroline has had substance abuse problems and is sent off to a residential facility, where she becomes involved with her counselor, arriving home pregnant until getting an abortion. Lecky is a hen-pecked husband increasing aware that he is gay and is starting to explore New Orleans gay life, including a one off with a salesclerk name Peterbilt, who keeps turning up, and also happens to be Caroline’s drug dealer, and the plaintiff in an insurance case Lecky is asked to handle for a minor head injury from a fallen sign at–you guessed it–the Vietnamese grocery.

And, if you hadn’t guessed it, the grocery is the scene of the story’s climax, and everyone except Clayton is there. For me, it was the predictability of this novel that made it ho-hum. The descriptions of this area of New Orleans are lush. At the same time, the description of the life of Gentilly Terrace, after the beginning of the story, was non-existent as the action of the story shifts to this store on its edges. Even the Vietnamese enclave might have been treated with greater depth. This work, a second novel, strikes me as the work of someone developing his craft, following a John Grisham-type path after a law career. I found the parts that connected to the cultural life of a part of New Orleans about which I knew nothing to be fascinating and wonder if a more skillful weaving of setting and plot may have made this a more interesting work.

____________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received a complimentary copy of this book for review from the publisher through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers program.

[Shell · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 or more storylines come together with a surprise ending. Gentilly Terrace is a neighborhood in New Orleans that was originally planned as an upscale development in the early 60's, but has since become more of a lower class area. Mostly blacks with some whites who think they are trying to make a difference even though they aren't wanted there. The neighborhood is somewhat of a focal point for the story, but not much. The characters are extremely well written and are very diverse. Blacks, whites, Vietnamese, rich, poor, young, old. The book started off being written at a very high educational level, using words some folks may need to look up to understand, but then leveled out to a usual reader level. Very confusing, almost as if there were 2 different authors. It was a good read, just not my cup of tea. # GoodreadsGiveaway

[⚫㊐✨Heather Mc Erlean❦㈦㊏ · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Prophets of Gentilly Terrace," was a well-written and intricately woven story about New Orleans and its people. Gordon Peter Wilson did a wonderful job of bringing so many characters to life. Wilson created a story that reminds me of the interconnectedness of all things, of all people. I am happy and thankful that I won this book in a Goodreads contest. I was definitely intrigued because of NOLA and seeing a family involved that was Calloways, as my maiden name was "Callaway," though I think I would have preferred my family over the book family any day.

The book reads like it could have been a true story and I love that too. If you like reading about corruption, crime, politics, family drama, love interests, and historical places, then this is the book for you.

[Ella Droste · Rating 3 out of 5]

Diving in, you're hit with a swirl of corruption, crime, and tangled lives that might leave you disoriented. The plot thickens with each page turn, but the story suffers from too much detail and scattered subplots. The characters, while diverse, often feel lost in their own stories, and the narrative stumbles through its twists.

While New Orleans adds color, the story's execution left me wanting more cohesion and less confusion. Wilson's attempt at a Grisham-esque legal thriller meets cultural exploration misses the mark for this reader.

I'd like to express my gratitude for having received an online copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

[Texas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting but wordy.

The Prophets of Gentilly Terrace -An interesting story with boring parts dispersed throughout. Mainly due to the wordy precise details of everybody and everything. I appreciate the upscale vocabulary, which fits the story. This story is clean even with all the topics covered. Reader's Digest editing needs aside, this is a well written book with a variety of characters and story lines. NOLA with her charms and her corruption is always interesting. Source: Won a GoodReads giveaway. 4*

[Rachelle LeBlanc · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Prophets of Gentilly Terrace was an interesting historical fiction. I enjoy reading books set in Louisiana especially historical fiction because I am from Louisiana.

It took a while for me to be able to get into the book. I am not sure if it was the writing style or the subject matter. If you like historical fiction and literary fiction, you will possibly enjoy The Prophets of Gentilly Terrace.

[Ashly Shroyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads giveaway. It had too many very specific analogies thst are not common knowledge which made it difficult for me to read.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it!