Fire Eater

John Maynard and Abby Sinclair #4

by Bill Lightle

On a moonlit fall night in 1957 a black teenager, Willie Homer Leggett, was lynched by a white mob in Calhoun County, Georgia, and thirty years later reporters John Maynard and Abby Sinclair are seeking the truth behind the killing. Initially assigned to do a series of stories on the anniversary of the Albany Movement from the early 1960s, John and Abby learn of the lynching through the help of a local history professor. Like many such killings in the South back then, no arrests were made in connection with the lynching. But now there are those who knew and loved Willie and are willing to risk their own lives so the truth can finally be revealed. Willie’s forbidden relationship with a white girl leads John and Abby deeper into the story. Powerful and dangerous men are out to stop them.

Read as a series or standalone novels.

239 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 1, 2019

About the author

I was born in Marion, Indiana, in 1957 but moved to Albany, Georgia, in 1966. I've spent most of my life in the Southeast where I wrote for newspapers and taught history and government. I few years ago, I began a thriller series - Maynard & Sinclair - set in Albany. The series is based on my experiences as a newspaper reporter for the Albany Herald in the early 1980s.

The most recent book (2019) in the series is Aucilla Bones.

Today I live and write in Fayetteville, Georgia, just south of Atlanta. My wife Phyllis is a published poet. You can find her work on Amazon as well as mine.

Thank you for considering my work.

Reviews

[Tom Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

When I wrote the headline I started to say the Old South. Then I realized that the secrets, lies and hatred that drove this book still live in the present day. This is the lesson of Fire Eater. A lesson that must be taken to heart by all of us.

I met Bill Lightle last year when he and his wife gave a reading of their work. Since then I’ve read three of his Maynard/Sinclair novels and his wife’s poetry. Bill still writes like a reporter and his Five W’s style is the reason I only gave the book three stars. He’s not as comfortable with his descriptions as he could be, particularly since he is sincerely in love with the woods, streams and history of his Georgia home.

Fire Eater has some excellent scenes of page-turning suspense and realistic characters that come to life on the page. The reportorial style that I referred to earlier does make this a very quick read. You definitely want to know what happens next and how it all turns out, so I can definitely recommend this book as well as the other books in the series.

[Micah Lewter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy subject matter

Another excellent book. Racial murders from the past make for troubling reads. But it was well done. There were a surprising number of typos in this one, though.

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book did not bog down at all. A very original topic to incorporate the Albany Movement. It’s one of the topics you do not see in popular liters.

[Linda Rhine · Rating 5 out of 5]

About Fire Eater

I really enjoyed this book. There was lots of hatred between races in the 50’s. Still is, judging on the riots that have
Occurred in 2020.