A First Look...

From PRISONERS OF WAR, by Steve Yarbrough (Knopf, Jan. 2004, 0-375-41478-9, $23.00)

L.C. pulled the sacks down off the trailer, which was standing on the turnrow. The Germans waited together in a loose group, not saying a word. Every now and then they?d glance at the far end of the field, as if trying to estimate the distance from turnrow to turnrow.

One of them was taller than all the rest by several inches, but his ears were so tiny, they looked like they belonged on a six-year-old. His hollowed-out cheeks might've made him appear haunted if he hadn't been teetering on the verge of laughter since the moment he walked through the gates. The only other one who stood out in any way was a blond guy who would've been handsome but for the deep purple stain covering the right side of his neck and most of his cheek.

"You wear the sack like this," Dan said, feeling foolish because the sergeant had told him that no one in the detachment spoke English. He looped the strap over his head, allowing it to rest on his shoulder. "The sack drags along behind you." He took a few steps to demonstrate, then turned and nodded at L.C., who began distributing the sacks.

All of the prisoners put them on correctly except the tall one with little ears, who worked the loop down around his
waist. Dan tapped himself on the shoulder. "Like this."

Chuckling silently, the tall prisoner just shook his head.

"All right," Dan said, "suit yourself."

He gripped a lock of cotton, pulled it loose, transferred it to his left hand and dropped it in his sack even as his right hand reached for another boll. "You use both hands, like that," he said. "You need to drop the cotton in the sack without looking back. Otherwise, it'll take you all day to pick a row, and you'll get a bad crick in your neck, too." He held his right hand up so they could see he'd bound his fingertips with white adhesive tape. "The burrs'll tear your fingers and make 'em bleed unless you tape 'em. I got a roll here y'all can use. And one other thing: your back'll hurt like the devil from all the stooping."

L.C. laughed. "Shit, Dan," he said. "If it was me, I believe I'd try to tell 'em something positive."

"Yeah?" Dan said. He looked at the Germans, then gestured at the sky. "Well, sometimes it rains. And when it does, y?all can stay at the prison."


To read an excerpt from the upcoming novel HANDSOME HARRY, by James Carlos Blake, click here.


To read an excerpt from the upcoming novel VOYAGE TO THE END OF THE ROOM, by Tibor Fischer, click here.

To read an excerpt from the upcoming novel BAD PUBLICITY, by Jeffrey Frank, click here.