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How to Greet Strangers
Archer Barron is rebuilding his life after hiding from it for years. Once he had grand expectations--graduating law school, donning drag to express his feminine aspects, and the love of a devoted boyfriend--but fate became cruel. HIV-positive cruel. And a growing involvement with an Oakland Santería priestess who promised a cure in return for devotion and a lot of cash. His lover died. His faith and spirit almost followed. Now Archer works a sorry job as a university night watchmen and volunteers at a free clinic. The walls he's built in the years since his loss are about to come crumbling down when a former member of the Santería family he belonged to comes seeking legal help. And then the police discover the body of the priestess. Archer's grudge makes him a prime suspect. In How To Greet Strangers , the Bay Area welcomes a new he's black, he's spiritual, he's stunning. And he's in great danger.
- GenresMystery
235 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2013
2 people are currently reading
247 people want to read
About the author
Joyce Thompson
54 books14 followersIn 1994, Joyce Thompson took a leave of absence from her literary career to work on high tech’s cutting edge. How to Greet Strangers, her sixth novel, marks her return to her first love, fiction.
She is the author of five previous novels, two collections of short stories and a memoir. Her work has been published in six languages and frequently optioned for film.
She is the author of five previous novels, two collections of short stories and a memoir. Her work has been published in six languages and frequently optioned for film.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 8, 2013
3,5 stars
“How To Greet Strangers : a Mystery" is not a romance but a fiction told in Archer Barron’s POV. Archer joined the Santeria community when he and Lance discovered they were HIV-positive; they hoped for guidance and miracles and fell into Madrina Michaela’s clutches instead. The price was high on so many levels! Now, Archer is mourning Lance, his career as a lawyer, the bliss of the ocean and his drag personas, and Michaela has been murdered.
Archer is writing a journal where he is pouring thoughts, feelings and words in an attempt to make sense of his life and the events surrounding him. He’s got what he calls a “Gemini brain”, which I interpreted as a quick, chatty mind, working by association of ideas with a tendency to daydreaming and mulling over everything. Consequently, he’s got several story lines going on, seemingly dropping one thread at one moment to take it back several pages later.
Saying that the story is not linear would be an understatement and you’ll be exceedingly frustrated if you hate being pulled out of a story to be plunged into another one for no apparent reason, or if you hate waiting for things to make sense. I was annoyed BUT intrigued. I like non linear stories and it was interesting to see the sense of it all being built progressively. That is, if I got it correctly!
At first, it seemed to me that apart from portraying Archer, all these plot lines were parts of a larger one, the mystery of Michaela’s murder. Many of her godchildren have very good motives, since Michaela was an unscrupulous guru who didn’t shrink from extorting money from distressed people. A story of credulity with dramatic consequences, on the whole.
However, as Archer keeps on musing about pretty much everything, it becomes the very common, very human story of someone needing to belong, of scared people needing to trust, to find simple answers to their fears and uncertainties and fill a void with overbearing but reassuring rituals. In the end, it’s very much about fear and succumbing to the temptation of making life simple and not so much about being a sucker. The other side of the spyglass, so to speak.
More than parts, all these story lines were satellites circling around one big stone: the indescribable, inexplicable, uncontrollable difficulty to live and to be that cripples people with as many reasons as there are persons. Sometimes it’s because life broke them, sometimes it’s just the way they are.
“The armpit of the night, sometime between three and four AM. Unless I’ve been dancing or working ocha till dawn, it’s a time I’d rather not see. I have no defense against Terror then and Terror is beyond naming-it’s not about death, though death partakes, it’s not about failure, though the fear of failure always lurks nearby, it’s not about how age erodes beauty or how being sick or always afraid of getting sick annihilates the future or even thinking you might never have sex again or not knowing what happens after you die. All of those starlets dance in Terror’s chorus line but Terror itself is monumental and irreductible. You can’t divide and conquer, you can’t diminish your ennemy by imagining he’s naked. Terror was born naked. Terror never sleeps. Terror shocks you awake in the middle of the night just to have some company”.
“How to greet Strangers” is about Terror and about Archer Barron handing his life over and conquering it back.
Archer is an interesting and endearing character. He is irreverent, funny and vulnerable, but he has two major flaws: he likes the sound of his own voice and he doesn’t bother to filter or categorize, which weighed on the composition. As a result, my interest flickered and I steadily detached myself from his fate.
A well-advised choice in telling doings and sobriety in descriptions and explanations would have been more to my taste and would have served the story development better, but you’ll love it if you like puzzles and talkative characters.
“How To Greet Strangers : a Mystery" is not a romance but a fiction told in Archer Barron’s POV. Archer joined the Santeria community when he and Lance discovered they were HIV-positive; they hoped for guidance and miracles and fell into Madrina Michaela’s clutches instead. The price was high on so many levels! Now, Archer is mourning Lance, his career as a lawyer, the bliss of the ocean and his drag personas, and Michaela has been murdered.
Archer is writing a journal where he is pouring thoughts, feelings and words in an attempt to make sense of his life and the events surrounding him. He’s got what he calls a “Gemini brain”, which I interpreted as a quick, chatty mind, working by association of ideas with a tendency to daydreaming and mulling over everything. Consequently, he’s got several story lines going on, seemingly dropping one thread at one moment to take it back several pages later.
Saying that the story is not linear would be an understatement and you’ll be exceedingly frustrated if you hate being pulled out of a story to be plunged into another one for no apparent reason, or if you hate waiting for things to make sense. I was annoyed BUT intrigued. I like non linear stories and it was interesting to see the sense of it all being built progressively. That is, if I got it correctly!
At first, it seemed to me that apart from portraying Archer, all these plot lines were parts of a larger one, the mystery of Michaela’s murder. Many of her godchildren have very good motives, since Michaela was an unscrupulous guru who didn’t shrink from extorting money from distressed people. A story of credulity with dramatic consequences, on the whole.
However, as Archer keeps on musing about pretty much everything, it becomes the very common, very human story of someone needing to belong, of scared people needing to trust, to find simple answers to their fears and uncertainties and fill a void with overbearing but reassuring rituals. In the end, it’s very much about fear and succumbing to the temptation of making life simple and not so much about being a sucker. The other side of the spyglass, so to speak.
More than parts, all these story lines were satellites circling around one big stone: the indescribable, inexplicable, uncontrollable difficulty to live and to be that cripples people with as many reasons as there are persons. Sometimes it’s because life broke them, sometimes it’s just the way they are.
“The armpit of the night, sometime between three and four AM. Unless I’ve been dancing or working ocha till dawn, it’s a time I’d rather not see. I have no defense against Terror then and Terror is beyond naming-it’s not about death, though death partakes, it’s not about failure, though the fear of failure always lurks nearby, it’s not about how age erodes beauty or how being sick or always afraid of getting sick annihilates the future or even thinking you might never have sex again or not knowing what happens after you die. All of those starlets dance in Terror’s chorus line but Terror itself is monumental and irreductible. You can’t divide and conquer, you can’t diminish your ennemy by imagining he’s naked. Terror was born naked. Terror never sleeps. Terror shocks you awake in the middle of the night just to have some company”.
“How to greet Strangers” is about Terror and about Archer Barron handing his life over and conquering it back.
Archer is an interesting and endearing character. He is irreverent, funny and vulnerable, but he has two major flaws: he likes the sound of his own voice and he doesn’t bother to filter or categorize, which weighed on the composition. As a result, my interest flickered and I steadily detached myself from his fate.
A well-advised choice in telling doings and sobriety in descriptions and explanations would have been more to my taste and would have served the story development better, but you’ll love it if you like puzzles and talkative characters.
September 11, 2015
7 Stars
An intricate and rich mystery, slow in some places but ending in a crescendo of the unexpected!!
Archer Barron was once a devoted follower of Santeria but when his world came crashing down with HIV and the loss of his boyfriend he needed a break. He need a break from Santeria and a break from what he once thought he would be.
Archer was once part of a Santeria community led by the charismatic but manipulative Madrina Michaela, a Santeria priestess. He distances himself from the community in order to gather himself and the shattered pieces of his life, only to find that his faith is still very live, albeit in a different shape and that shape continues to evolve when he is accused of the murder of the manipulative Madrina.
Archer is not the only suspect and he is not the only one who has suffered as a result of poor advice and false cures from Madrina Michaela.
Madrina didn't like him because she saw him as potentially wresting power from her. She gave him advice which set him apart from his parents,, instructed him not to attend his father's funeral but generally kept him at a distance from herself.
Through her advice and guidance Archer wad required by his new faith to give up surfing, studying the law and drag, and because he is committed to Santeria he did so. But he questioned this, he questioned Madrina Michaela without receiving answers. It is clear Madrina didn't like him and it is clear that her advice and behaviour has affected others, and was a factor in her murder.
As the police investigate the murder, struggling to get to grips with the Santeria community and beliefs, Archer begins an investigation of his own and as he does so he discovers so much more about the woman he once so highly regarded.
I found this to be an interesting mystery but also quite a complicated book to read. The author does her best to portray the Santeria religion and its devotees in a realistic way but sometimes this clouds the story.
But it is still an engrossing read. The chapters alternate between the past and the Santeria that Archer practiced, and the present day and the way in which he now interprets his faith. This motion between past and present is done really well and in a way that is quite seamless and smooth, and it holds the story together as we get to see the journey Archer has travelled in his personal life.
We are taken on a journey with a young man who is seeking to rebuild his life. We see how he negotiates the somewhat constricting constraints and demands of his religion with his personal desires and who he is. So it is not just a mystery story but one of personal growth and a quest towards the freedom of being who you really are.
I found the Santeria interesting even though I feel it nearly submerges the story in places. As a Nigerian, Santeria interests me because of its roots in Yoruba culture. I also enjoyed reading about it because of the issue of faith, healing and HIV. It is known that some people stop taking their HIV treatment because they believe they are healed and the author captures the complexity of faith and the meaning of healing in the context of HIV.
It is easy to read the book as a criticism of Santeria because Madrina Michaela is both powerful and manipulative, but this story could be a commentary about any manipulative person whether religious, political or even a business leader. It could also be a commentary on manipulative parents. Power in the hands of someone who knows how to wield it for their own ends can be used for good or for ill, and in this story it is used for personal gain with tragic results. I really disliked Madrina Michaela and the way she wielded power over others but this is something that is alive and can be found in any community where leaders have unchecked power. It is something that anyone with a strong personality, positioning and power can indulge in. Archer was pushed away by Madrina because she feared his spiritual power but being at the margins of the Santeria community has worked in his favour as he reflects on his life and his past and tries to envisage a future. His boyfriend Lance, who relied on the Madrina and who the Madrina favoured, rejected treatment for his HIV and is dead.
I liked the way the characters in this story come alive and especially Archer and the way in which he reflects on his life, his loss and his love. It is not just Archer who is so rich as a character, but also his drag personalities, his friends, his parents and the police investigator who encourages him to get involved in the investigation. So I think this is a great story but I wish at the beginning there had been a stronger emphasis on the mystery and less on the way Santeria is practised. Having said that I am not the author and this is what she wanted to portray.
It is refreshing to have a story about a black gay man and his faith and love. I liked the way in which Archer was very much his own person and valued himself and his sexuality, and aspects of himself such as the way he liked to dress up and be a woman and how this complemented or expressed his faith.
So overall this was an interesting read, very different from your average mm romance and very different from your average murder mystery.
I think a glossary of terms would have been helpful. The author has very helpfully provided info on line but who wants to be flipping between a paperback and their pc? Or maybe it is just me. Still a basic glossary at the back of the book would have been helpful.
This is a remarkable story in the way in which it takes very complex issues of faith, culture and life, and plays these out in the life of a young gay black man.
All in all it is a well written and unique story with a surprising ending.
An intricate and rich mystery, slow in some places but ending in a crescendo of the unexpected!!
Archer Barron was once a devoted follower of Santeria but when his world came crashing down with HIV and the loss of his boyfriend he needed a break. He need a break from Santeria and a break from what he once thought he would be.
Archer was once part of a Santeria community led by the charismatic but manipulative Madrina Michaela, a Santeria priestess. He distances himself from the community in order to gather himself and the shattered pieces of his life, only to find that his faith is still very live, albeit in a different shape and that shape continues to evolve when he is accused of the murder of the manipulative Madrina.
Archer is not the only suspect and he is not the only one who has suffered as a result of poor advice and false cures from Madrina Michaela.
Madrina didn't like him because she saw him as potentially wresting power from her. She gave him advice which set him apart from his parents,, instructed him not to attend his father's funeral but generally kept him at a distance from herself.
Through her advice and guidance Archer wad required by his new faith to give up surfing, studying the law and drag, and because he is committed to Santeria he did so. But he questioned this, he questioned Madrina Michaela without receiving answers. It is clear Madrina didn't like him and it is clear that her advice and behaviour has affected others, and was a factor in her murder.
As the police investigate the murder, struggling to get to grips with the Santeria community and beliefs, Archer begins an investigation of his own and as he does so he discovers so much more about the woman he once so highly regarded.
I found this to be an interesting mystery but also quite a complicated book to read. The author does her best to portray the Santeria religion and its devotees in a realistic way but sometimes this clouds the story.
But it is still an engrossing read. The chapters alternate between the past and the Santeria that Archer practiced, and the present day and the way in which he now interprets his faith. This motion between past and present is done really well and in a way that is quite seamless and smooth, and it holds the story together as we get to see the journey Archer has travelled in his personal life.
We are taken on a journey with a young man who is seeking to rebuild his life. We see how he negotiates the somewhat constricting constraints and demands of his religion with his personal desires and who he is. So it is not just a mystery story but one of personal growth and a quest towards the freedom of being who you really are.
I found the Santeria interesting even though I feel it nearly submerges the story in places. As a Nigerian, Santeria interests me because of its roots in Yoruba culture. I also enjoyed reading about it because of the issue of faith, healing and HIV. It is known that some people stop taking their HIV treatment because they believe they are healed and the author captures the complexity of faith and the meaning of healing in the context of HIV.
It is easy to read the book as a criticism of Santeria because Madrina Michaela is both powerful and manipulative, but this story could be a commentary about any manipulative person whether religious, political or even a business leader. It could also be a commentary on manipulative parents. Power in the hands of someone who knows how to wield it for their own ends can be used for good or for ill, and in this story it is used for personal gain with tragic results. I really disliked Madrina Michaela and the way she wielded power over others but this is something that is alive and can be found in any community where leaders have unchecked power. It is something that anyone with a strong personality, positioning and power can indulge in. Archer was pushed away by Madrina because she feared his spiritual power but being at the margins of the Santeria community has worked in his favour as he reflects on his life and his past and tries to envisage a future. His boyfriend Lance, who relied on the Madrina and who the Madrina favoured, rejected treatment for his HIV and is dead.
I liked the way the characters in this story come alive and especially Archer and the way in which he reflects on his life, his loss and his love. It is not just Archer who is so rich as a character, but also his drag personalities, his friends, his parents and the police investigator who encourages him to get involved in the investigation. So I think this is a great story but I wish at the beginning there had been a stronger emphasis on the mystery and less on the way Santeria is practised. Having said that I am not the author and this is what she wanted to portray.
It is refreshing to have a story about a black gay man and his faith and love. I liked the way in which Archer was very much his own person and valued himself and his sexuality, and aspects of himself such as the way he liked to dress up and be a woman and how this complemented or expressed his faith.
So overall this was an interesting read, very different from your average mm romance and very different from your average murder mystery.
I think a glossary of terms would have been helpful. The author has very helpfully provided info on line but who wants to be flipping between a paperback and their pc? Or maybe it is just me. Still a basic glossary at the back of the book would have been helpful.
This is a remarkable story in the way in which it takes very complex issues of faith, culture and life, and plays these out in the life of a young gay black man.
All in all it is a well written and unique story with a surprising ending.
October 15, 2013
This is a brilliant work of fiction with a compelling and complicated narrator. Archer is outstanding, in every moment and every guise. The rich detail of his world as a young law student, a star-struck young lover and a sad penitent are equally evocative. The mystery is less about the murder than it is about where Archer will find equilibrium.
Wonderful this work is, I can't help feeling that Archer is Joyce Thompson's cheap shot to a new mystery voice. Tell me how a white woman from Seattle can be the one to bring a tall, gay, ex-Santeria, HIV positive, black man to life?
I give Thompson 100% for artistic license, for taking Archer and making him into a wonderful character to read about, but why is her book on my bookshelf (picked up off my library's new book display) and not a new voice in mystery written by a gay HIV+ black man?
Call me out. Tell me why I should let this slide. Argue her case: show me why she is one perspective of many and I will be chastised. Because as I try to read diversely and widely, I feel that I keep running into this same issue: diversity of voice in fiction as written by the same people that have dominated the publishing houses for years.
Wonderful this work is, I can't help feeling that Archer is Joyce Thompson's cheap shot to a new mystery voice. Tell me how a white woman from Seattle can be the one to bring a tall, gay, ex-Santeria, HIV positive, black man to life?
I give Thompson 100% for artistic license, for taking Archer and making him into a wonderful character to read about, but why is her book on my bookshelf (picked up off my library's new book display) and not a new voice in mystery written by a gay HIV+ black man?
Call me out. Tell me why I should let this slide. Argue her case: show me why she is one perspective of many and I will be chastised. Because as I try to read diversely and widely, I feel that I keep running into this same issue: diversity of voice in fiction as written by the same people that have dominated the publishing houses for years.
April 1, 2013
A fast paced fictional novel that centers around a Drag Queen initiated son of Yemaya, entangled in a murder mystery. I couldn't put it down. The ending was a doozy! I posted to all my friends, godchildren and acquaintances to get the book. A fun read!
February 12, 2014
I almost abandoned this book a couple times, something kept me returning. I found the Afro-Cuban religious facts to be sometimes tedious although they were really the driving force of the plot. I give this a definite--eh.
February 3, 2013
This book is amazing. You would be a crazy person not to read it. And fear not, there's more Archer Baron in the works...
April 13, 2013
This kept me up past my bedtime because I had to finish it in one gulp. So beware, it casts a spell.
May 22, 2024
I couldn't finish it. All the references to the Afro-Cuban religion and Santeria left me lost. If there had been an appendix with the definitions of everything I may have enjoyed it a lot more. There is a website listed, but I don't want to have to go between the book and the PC just to understand what I am reading.
February 22, 2015
Oh the books that find their way to me. HOW TO GREET STRANGERS is a mystery. A black, cross dressing, gay, Santerria priest with a conscience and good heart gets mixed up in the murder of his Madrina ( spiritual advisor ). As a heterosexual white female there was a lot for me to learn. You will laugh and you will cry.
March 19, 2014
This is a good book to read if you want a basic overview of Santeria with a little added murder mystery. I guessed the killer right away, but the secondary murders through me for a loop. I would recommend this book to a friend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 17, 2016
Entertaining. A good read - well structured, good chapter breaks. First person narrative from a milieu I haven't encountered, so educational as well. Enough plot points to keep in rolling, with some nice twists.
February 5, 2016
When the head priestess of his former Santeria house is murdered, Archer sets out to help find the murderer when he is a person of interest.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews