MWSA Review

Alter Road by Mark James is described by the author as a political thriller. The title refers to the road that is a border between troubled Detroit and wealthy Gross Pointe.

The 1967 Detroit riots lasted five days in the heat of the summer. The seven days of riot described in this book, set in a brutally cold winter in Detroit, were sparked by power shut-offs for non-payment, which led to many fires as residents tried to heat with dangerous gas heaters. The effects of the conditions leading up to various actions and to the riots are described from multiple viewpoints: students at Wayne State, various gangs, militia, politicians, CID, and the U.S. Army. The backdrop of the riots is critical to the story—significant unemployment, decreasing city budgets which affected infrastructure as well as the number of police available, and the huge number of abandoned homes and businesses. The death of a popular retired school teacher and her family provided the spark to set off the riots that spread to several neighborhoods and other cities in Michigan. Criminals took advantage of the chaos to kill members of other gangs, and some were smart enough to avoid any area that was being photographed by the media, knowing that after the rioters were controlled, law enforcement could use that footage. The Army’s massive numbers, equipment, and organization were finally needed to end the riots. All in all, a very disturbing examination.

Review by Nancy Kauffman (May 2020)

Author's Synopsis

After decades of deindustrialization, economic decline, income inequality, and political polarization, parts of America are a tinderbox.  In Detroit, the match is lit when the local power company routinely shuts off the electricity of households behind in their monthly payments even in the midst of an unusually brutal winter.  Thousands of households resort to portable gas and kerosene heaters, causing a spike in house fires and fire-related deaths. Following the death of a popular retired school teacher and her family, massive protests erupt.  An underfunded and undermanned police department is quickly overwhelmed, and the U.S. Army is deployed. Welcomed at first by exasperated residents, the Army soon finds itself navigating internecine conflicts, an international refugee crisis, and failing infrastructure.

ISBN/ASIN: 978-1-948035-41-5, 978-1-948035-42-2, B086DS52G1
Book Format(s): Soft cover, Kindle, Audiobook
Review Genre: Fiction—Mystery/Thriller
Number of Pages: 302