Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0312267932, Paperback)

When Gregory Alston proposes to Adrian, his girlfriend of three years, he thinks it's the last chapter of the story, like the happy ending of a fairy tale. But his troubles are just beginning. What with the wedding preparations, his churchy sister Shreese's unsettling new love affair, and the feelings stirred by the return of his jazz singer mother from her long residence in France, Greg doesn't seem to see much of his fiancée anymore. And for some reason, she isn't complaining. When All Hell Breaks Loose is a fast, fun novel written in a light, conversational style, a good introduction to the new black fiction for readers who might otherwise be looking to television or movies for engaging, three-dimensional images of young African Americans. Alston's male friends--from the dread-wearing Jamal to the foul-mouthed Phil and the woman-hating player Tim--are especially well drawn, and Greg's conflicted emotions about his mother, who abandoned the family to pursue her musical career, will strike home for anyone who knows a wounded young man. "I don't know," Greg muses,

Sometimes I think that because I got my degree and ain't slangin' drugs or laid up with children all over the city calling me Daddy, all the hurt and damage I felt as a boy just aren't there. But every time I come across a situation where a mother is not in her child's everyday life or am faced with my own personal dilemma with my mother, I just want to start running. Running so fast, until the wind can no longer get to my lungs quick enough to keep me standing.

Camika Spencer's fledgling effort was originally self-published, then picked up by a major publisher when the buzz reached New York. It still needs a little editing, and there are no great lessons in the book--nothing in Greg's past could have prepared him for the betrayal in his future, just as the betrayal can't teach him anything worth knowing. But the quick pace and lively characterization show the author's promise. --Regina Marler