Review by Marilyn Bardsley
June 29, 2007
"Let no act of kindness goes unpunished" might be an alternative title for this explosive and meticulously researched book. An Act of Kindness is a fast-paced indictment of the festering Bubba subculture in southeastern Louisiana, a subculture engulfed in ignorance, seething hatred and extreme violence.
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Genore Guillory |
In the midst of one such backwoods garden of evil lived a woman who was virtually a paragon of goodness, Jane Nora Guillory, affectionately known as Genore. She was a professional woman of color with comfortable means who worked for a local insurance office. A loving and generous woman, Genore took into her heart and her care some thirty forgotten dogs, kenneling them along with the horses that she owned. She distinguished herself by many selfless acts, such as providing money and work for white neighbors who were struggling financially.
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Genore Guillory's House |
It was all the more shocking that this lovely forty-two-year-old woman would be raped, beaten and murdered in an act of unthinkable cruelty. But who would do such a thing and why? The community was unprepared for the answer.
Hustmyre, a writer with 22 years in law enforcement and retired federal agent, deftly takes the reader through the intimate twists and turns of the investigation. The reader can easily feel the frustrations of a dedicated sheriff's department that had solved the unsolvable, only to find that the DA that wanted to dismiss charges against the white supremacists responsible for her death.
Hustmyre, Chuck. An Act of Kindness, Berkley, 2007. ISBN 978-0-425-21342-1. 312 pages. $7.99 U.S. $10.99 CAN