Book Review: Dillard’s Promise by Gilbert Leslie

Abstract

Crime, mystery, and generational justice, Dillard’s Promise by Gilbert Leslie, has it all as a very intriguing read that leaves the reader hooked, wanting to find out more about how the story pans out, which I felt when reading this great work of literature. This story follows the traumatic experiences of a family through the turbulent Jim Crow South to the modernized era of Los Angeles. Houston Jenkins, the story’s protagonist, is slowly exposed to his family’s history through the death of the women who raised him. Houston is unsuspecting until her dying words lead to a sequence of events that unravels a series of unsolved murders that happened decades prior and across the country. These events bring justice and closure but not in the way one might expect. The author of this thrilling novel is Gilbert Leslie, a current student at California State University-Los Angeles. He previously graduated from California State University-Dominguez Hills, obtaining a degree in Interdisciplinary Studies while minoring in Labor Studies. Dillard’s Promise is his first time authoring a book as well as being published. In addition to authoring this novel, Leslie was in the process of obtaining his Master of Arts in Political Science and will graduate in May 2025, with hopes to become a professor while concurrently having writing as a second career. Being a single parent at a young age, Leslie’s priority was raising his daughter, working in the life insurance industry while pursuing his degrees. Throughout all of this, Leslie has always been passionate about writing as a way to explore how to bring the experiences of criminal and societal justice reform into believable life stories. His dedication to justice is very much showcased within this story.