Review of Tuey's Course by James Ross

Genre: Fiction
Title: Tuey’s Course
Author: James Ross

Most of this story focuses on an almost-middle-aged black man who was born in the city projects on the east side of St. Louis named WeWildapheet Ulisees O’Tweety, but is known to most as Tuey. The nickname comes from the fact that there are two back-to-back e’s in each of his names. There are stories behind the misspelling of his middle and last names, for the reader to discover, too.

Tuey is an independent contractor who can’t seem to be on the right side of town ordinances no matter how hard he tries, or how reasonable he is. J Dub is still managing the Prairie Winds Golf Course with his brother Curt and when they are told of a development project that is going to run along one edge of their golf course, they go with a friend’s recommendation and hire Tuey for the easement work. It isn’t all smooth greens and light winds for the project.

As with the prior novels, Ross prefers the omniscient point of view, so the reader gets insight into each character that appears on the page. The POV choice and the extensive cast of characters don’t allow the reader to have any particular character to empathize with, but it allows the reader to feel part of a group discussion. Ross definitely has opinions about discrimination and has created a complex story around it to include corrupted politicians, racial profiling, and what can happen when a person is pushed a little too far. The author writes most characters with dialects, so the readers must read slowly to comprehend a lot of conversations. Ross is daring in the latter part of the novel in blurring the line between reality and fiction, in regard to Tuey. Ross makes his readers work for the ending, which does resolve a lot of questions.

James Ross graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia. After turning fifty, he searched for a positive outlet to battle the economic ups and downs that most people experience. He went to a keyboard and let the words flow through his fingertips. Tuey’s Course is third in a series of books centering on the Prairie Woods Golf Course. It follows Lifetime Loser and Finish Line. James is an avid, low-handicap golfer who enjoys the sport and the lessons of the game. He shares his belief that golf may very well hold the key to a lot of life's best secrets, through his novels.

Tuey’s Course starts 5 months before the prior novel, Finish Line, ends. So for readers of the series, take note that the cliffhanger ending of Finish Line is not addressed in any hurry in Tuey’s Course, and some details are rehashed from July through December. Tuey’s Course is a novel about the stronghold that discrimination still has in today’s world and it’s my opinion that the target audience is limited. It is an average read. Reviewer: Lisa Haselton, Allbooks Reviews, www.allbooksreviewint.com.

Available through: Xlibris.com, Amazon.com, and BarnesandNoble.com.

Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 978-1-4363-8993-8
Pages: 286
Price: $19.99