Crow’s Eye

A strong Black heroine witnesses the horrors of the 1921 Tulsa massacre when she travels to the past in this surprisingly slight tale of faith and strength from Pompey (Dreams of Otis). In 2018, ambitious Tulsa resident Dovey Declair works as a waiter while launching her jewelry business—but she’s plagued by dreams of death. When a spiritualist tells her that her “prophecies will raise the dead” and advises her to “follow the crow,” Dovey is skeptical. Then she sees a ghostly white man in a bar eyeing her dangerously just before a crow lands on her car. She follows it to Tulsa’s Greenwood neighborhood, where she’s transported through time to witness the carnage as a white mob rains violence on the Black population. She encounters the man from the bar once more, who shoots her—and she wakes up in modern times with a bullet in her shoulder. Dovey hopes to make kindly Black detective Greg Genard believe her tale as, with the guidance of her Aunt Lorraine, a seer, she realizes she’s a conduit through which the victims can tell their stories and finally rest in peace. Pompey tackles real historical violence, and while he may not give it quite the weight it deserves, he still crafts a heartfelt story of courage and healing. The result is flawed but moving. (Self-published)