Written in the literary tradition of Southern Gothic, Dirty Little Angels is a dark, coming of age story about a sixteen year old girl, Hailey Trosclair, growing up in the slums of New Orleans. Surrounded by despair and dysfunction—her depressed mother is unable to care for the family, her unemployed, adulterous father spends his time away from home, and her troubled brother is into drugs and violence—Hailey asks for God’s help. Like an answer to a prayer, Hailey and her brother meet Moses Watkins, a self-proclaimed preacher, who wants to open a drive-thru church nearby. As they get involved with Moses, it becomes clear he is far from being a Godsend. Moses is an ex-con who believes in taking justice into his own hands and uses his troubled followers to commit crimes. Hailey’s involvement with this criminal mind ultimately leads her down a path of self-destruction.
The author did a superb job capturing Hailey’s downward spiral into madness. It was not only her actions that showed her gradual mental decline, but also the way she described her feelings. Sensational phrases such as “roaches crawling around in my head” were used to describe Hailey’s breakdown. The author’s polished writing was full of colorful imageries such as this example. As a published poet, I could definitely see Tusa’s poetic influences.
At a mere 146 pages, Dirty Little Angels felt like an extra-long short story or novella to me. However, the conflicts within the story are far too numerous and complicated to fit within the structural definition of a novella. I think this story could have been even more powerful had it been a standard novel length.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. Dirty Little Angels is a thought-provoking fictional work on religion, drugs, and violence. Its unexpected ending is still with me, haunting me.
Please note, the author contacted me with a request that I read and review Dirty Little Angels. I agreed to do this and he sent me the e-book.
The author did a superb job capturing Hailey’s downward spiral into madness. It was not only her actions that showed her gradual mental decline, but also the way she described her feelings. Sensational phrases such as “roaches crawling around in my head” were used to describe Hailey’s breakdown. The author’s polished writing was full of colorful imageries such as this example. As a published poet, I could definitely see Tusa’s poetic influences.
At a mere 146 pages, Dirty Little Angels felt like an extra-long short story or novella to me. However, the conflicts within the story are far too numerous and complicated to fit within the structural definition of a novella. I think this story could have been even more powerful had it been a standard novel length.
I would definitely recommend this book to others. Dirty Little Angels is a thought-provoking fictional work on religion, drugs, and violence. Its unexpected ending is still with me, haunting me.
Please note, the author contacted me with a request that I read and review Dirty Little Angels. I agreed to do this and he sent me the e-book.
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