With language as taut as classic works by Cormac McCarthy and a richness reminiscent of early Toni Morrison, this stunning debut is set in James's native Jamaica. On a day beginning with a bad omen - black vultures, locally called John Crows, crash through the church windows a man calling himself Apostle York set pon Pastor Bligh like when you beat a mangy dog' and evicts the drunken pastor. So begins a fire-and-brimstone power mongering that sets the village on a path to destruction. James co