Obie Bullock, leader of a Philadelphia anti-violence group (the Mau-Mau), returns home from his janitor's job early one morning and stumbles upon a crime scene -- someone has just slit the throat of a police officer. Armed with the officer's recovered revolver, Obie, an Iraq war vet, corners and kills the masked assassin, who turns out to be the youngest brother of Son Teagle, a powerful but imprisoned drug dealer.
Angered, Teagle vows revenge upon Obie, his beautiful wife, Dora Lee, and their two teenage children. Fearful of Teagle, many members of the Mau-Mau desert, and the pressures on the crusading Bullock family become unbearable. Their marriage founders when Dora Lee takes the children and flees with them to the south to seek refuge with relatives. Then comes word to Obie that Son Teagle has broken out of prison.
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In Carried by Six, Allen Ballard has created a memorable novel that is a fast-paced, page-turning story of a black community determined to rid itself of the drug-driven plague of crime and violence.... Ballard writes with passion and conviction of the power of ordinary men and women to do extraordinary things when family, friends, and community decide enough is enough. It entertains, enobles, and inspires. Bravo, Ballard!
- Darlene Clark Hine, co-author, The African-American Odyssey
Carried by Six is a very well-told story that celebrates the courage of those valiant folks in the inner city who, contrary to the no snitchin' code, are determined to fight for neighborhoods where their children can grow up safe and secure from gunfire and random violence. Ballard keeps it real and writes with power and authority.
- John Herritage, Staff Inspector (ret.), New York State Police
About the Author
Allen Ballard grew up in Philadelphia and now resides in Albany, New York. His first novel, Where I'm Bound, won the First Novelist Prize of the Black Caucus of the American Library Association and was named a Notable Book of the Year by the Washington Post.
