title: Carolina Skeletons: A Novel Based on the Execution of America's Youngest Murderer
author:  David Stout 
description: When two young white girls are killed in the small South Carolina town of Alcolu in 1944, the hunt for their murderer turns almost immediately to the flimsy shacks that house the "colored" mill workers. Based on an actual event, this novel faithfully renders its place and time. The thick Southern heat, and the absolute, unequal balance between whites who mark the social boundary lines and blacks who stay within them in order to survive, make it possible to believe that the few words spoken by Linus Bragg, the scared-silent, 14-year-old black boy who is executed for the crime, could be fatally twisted to mean more than the child who spoke them had ever intended. Forty-four years later, James Willop, an unemployed New Jersey newsman, goes to Alcolu to dig for the truth behind his Uncle Linus's death. He finds the town superficially changed, but when two more murders occur Willop has reason to fear that the same deadly racist tensions running beneath the surface could drag him under as well. Stout, an editor at the New York Times, has produced an accomplished, sadly evocative novel, only slightly marred by loose ends and a somewhat blustery tone in its second half. <BR>Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.
zlib_text: DEAD AMERICA: THE THIRD WEEK
  
  BOOK 11: CAROLINA FRONT - PT 7
  
  BY DEREK SLATON
  
  © 2020
  
  > > CHAPTER ONE
  
   _Day Zero +21_
  
  Terrell sat by the window of a small rundown motel, peering out into the
  darkness. It had only been a few hours since they’d been forced to leave
  Clinton by the Boss. He couldn’t dwell on it too much, however, since it
  wasn’t the first time in his career that he had been forced out of a bad
  situation.
  
  As he stared outside at the dimly lit moonlit street of the tiny town, he
  allowed his mind to wander, and naturally it turned back to Walter. Losing the
  kid due to his own stupidity. He reached for his gun, checking to make sure it
  was loaded. That was a mistake he would never make again.
  
  As Terrell put down the weapon, he noticed movement outside, a couple of
  shambling figures about twenty yards away.
  
   _No matter where we go, these things are always there,_ he thought bitterly,
  and got up from his seat. He headed to the door and unlatched the deadbolt.
  
  The click ro