A dark, gritty tale of city life

He returns not to reprise his prior jobs as a polygrapher or cab driver but volunteers to teach a group of teenagers at his alma mater in a creative writing workshop. One day, Ray answers his door, only to find someone breaking a vase over his head, cracking his skull open and leaving him to die.

?Samaritan? chronicles two sequences. The first begins when Ray returns to the East Coast and starts his workshop at Paulus Hook High School adjacent to the Hopewell projects in which he grew up. He attempts to ameliorate his relationship with his neglected daughter Ruby, who is introduced in the prologue as a bright, inquisitive 13-year-old.

The other sequence that Price weaves with the first picks up after a beat-up Ray awakens in the intensive care unit, only to be interrogated by a black female detective, Nerese Ammons.

Nerese, an old friend of Ray who ?owes him one? due to a childhood stickball accident, is on the verge of an early retirement. However, Nerese soon learns that this last investigation may take longer than expected because the victim, Ray, is unwilling to press charges against his perpetrator.

The supporting characters, from Ray?s love affair interest Danielle to the minor, insignificant ones like Ray?s neighbor Mrs. Kuben, all contribute to create the story?s never-ending heartbeat. The characters float around in the story like authentic props, fitting perfectly into the urban landscape that Price masterfully depicts.

The novel seems slow moving in the beginning, but the detail, genuine and natural dialogue, and the occasional long and rolling sentence make the novel what it truly is.

It could be referred to as a murder-mystery, an inner-city epic, a melodrama about the white working class in a predominantly black neighborhood, or even a meticulously written treatment for a future screenplay.

But ?Samaritan? is truly a rich tapestry of real three-dimensional characters and excruciating minutiae ? from the grainy texture of a broken tile to the taut braids along the scalp of a 3-year-old.

Consider the passage: ?Nerese studied the wall hangings that spoke of Hopewell in the moment: the Gunbusters Anonymous poster, the No Pit Bulls notification, the buoyant group photo of Hispanic kids clustered around some monkey bars ... while a PATH train roared by overhead through the heavily paint-glopped iron window grilles. Flushing toilets and running water could be heard from various apartments above the office. She hated this place, always had.?

The novel succeeds as a sort of protracted journal entry that gives the reader a feel, taste, and smell for this decaying urban world. It?s a world where anything goes and usually does, and Nerese is used to it: ?[She] could handle rage, bluster, and deceit; innocence was tricky.?

Ray seems like the Samaritan from the beginning. But as the detective digs deeper, she discovers Ray?s former coke habit and his hatred for himself. Nerese and the reader wonder whether Ray is really so innocent. But the plot and the answer to the mystery become less important as the story continues. It?s the detail, the characters, and the atmosphere that work in ?Samaritan.?

Price?s latest is unsurprisingly dark and depressing, and he proves with ?Samaritan? that he remains to be an exciting and fearless storyteller, weaving autobiography and intense fiction to account the experience of big-city struggle.<