Loof

Add Hardy, the Yankee lawyer, who had married pretty Sally Munro during the war, was an object of disgust to himself and of dislike to the ingrown Southern town which saw him as the carpetbagger who married the local belle only for her money and now carried on discreet love affairs. Only Add and the faithful servant knew why Sally was a pathetic alcoholic. Then a strikingly handsome, totally amoral youth appropriately named Lucifer Freeman entered town....Out of the wreckage Luke the hipster wrought- two murders, injury and accident, the sheriff, a do-gooder lawyer and Add, the prosecuting attorney, learned something of justice and more about themselves. Terrifyingly effective as many of the scenes and characters are, this is a novel where the plot smacks of manipulation; and although it certainly holds the interest during the reading, it leaves little coherent impression after the last page is turned. The author's more serious reasons for writing the novel are smothered by his skillful showmanship of violence and brutality.