THE BALLAD OF BLACK TOM

LaValle s novella is set nearly a century ago but it couldn t be more relevant SlatePeople move to New York looking for magic and nothing will convince them it isn t there Charles Thomas Tester hustles to put food on the table keep the roof over his father s head from Harlem to Flushing Meadows to Red Hook He knows what magic a suit can cast the invisibility a guitar case can provide and the curse written on his skin that attracts the eye of wealthy white folks and their cops But when he delivers an occult tome to a reclusive sorceress in the heart of Queens Tom opens a door to a deeper realm of magic and earns the attention of things best left sleeping A storm that might swallow the world is building in Brooklyn Will Black Tom live to see it break