Never as Good as the First Time

Debut novelist Walker presents a tedious chronicle of heroine Samai Collins's postdivorce escapades with sex and drugs. After splitting up with her husband, Samai is lonely and misses sex. In this vulnerable state, she is taken in by a golden-tongued ne'er-do-well named Zane, who leads her down a primrose path to perdition. The character development is thin, and some scenes important to the plot seem totally implausible, such as when Samai is fired on trumped-up charges and given no opportunity to defend herself. The sex scenes, while passionate, are clunky and risibly trite: “his tongue touched my 'jewel,' which sent a hot electrical jolt to my brain.” The novel does dabble in deeper themes that may resonate with spiritual seekers: Samai is restless and wrestles with her identity as an individual after her divorce. Her struggles to do what she thinks she should do, rather than what she wants to do, are moving. But while Samai's tortured relationship with the church constitutes a major theme of the novel, what's at stake in her spiritual peregrinations is never made clear. Readers who make it to the end will find an inspiring conclusion that seems to come out of nowhere. Fans of African-American Christian fiction will fare better elsewhere. (Apr.)