Title: Legitimate Resistance: The Jamaican Connection

Author: Errol McDonald

Publishers: LMH Publishing Limited

Reviewed by: Mel Cooke

Somewhere between a group of civic- minded criminals called the Ghost Riders (GR) mutating from a Jamaican street gang to the linchpin of an international criminal cartel and the completion of their successful revolution in Jamaica, Errol McDonald's Legitimate Resistance deteriorates from riveting to ridiculous.

In his enthusiasm to usher in a period where "never before did Jamaica see so much prosperity and recorded huge, real economic growth," where 'ganja was the catapult to launch Jamaica towards economic prosperity and within sight of real liberation and true democracy for its people' in the epilogue to the 36 chapters, McDonald abandons the detail and dialogue which made the initial stages a good read for a mundane series of reports on the progress of the revolution.

Reading a shopping list for the ideal revolution that honours Rasta ('they were given King's House to operate from') is no fun, as much as the military actions of the expanded Ghost Riders in defeating the army first at Newcastle and then Up Park Camp, are juicy in theory. And the fact that this great revolution takes place without the large-scale intervention of the U.S.A., although "Jamaica's sudden rise to economic prosperity did not go unnoticed by the famous and suspicious Uncle Sam in the north," is simply ridiculous.

Disappointing downhill

It is a disappointing downhill from a tale that had blossomed beautifully from 'country girl come a town' (Susan) to meeting a protective thug (Silver of the Ghost Riders), the dialogue (all in bold) real, the detailing of criminal activities exciting, the spliffs lit and puffing. So Legitimate Resistance opens in her Aunt Ida's tenement yard in Penham Town (OK, so there are corny near names throughout the book, from policemen 'One-A-Day Flux' and 'Fatta' to a university lecturer Michael Pitter, a place called Mus Pen and another called July Town) and a fuss around a standpipe. With many a 'claat' and a couple dispensations of that precise Jamaican term for homosexuals, 'b'man', Legitimate Resistance paints a vivid picture of life in a Jamaican ghetto.

It also addresses that most troubling of phenomena, when a 'good girl' falls for a bad man. It does not hurt that Silver (named for the chrome plated guns stuck in his belt that he can use very quickly) saves Susan's life on the first occasion they meet. But by the time they are riding out on Palisadoes Road on his motorcycle (the gang is named the 'Ghost Riders' after their skill on the machines) and are stopped by the police, the head is nodding at a familiar situation.

You know, women shielding gunmen, but McDonald makes it seem natural and acceptable without preaching about it happening, as happens when the tale slides. When the Ghost Riders eliminate the deportee leader Pinstripe and seven folowers, the 'farin' rejects creating chaos where the Ghost Riders would have peace and protect the community, the detailing and strategy is interesting ("since deportee lookouts a expec' we pon bike, we ago pon di scene inna two taxi and pon four bicycle.")

Romance

Within the Ghost Rider-led revolution (they are led by General Click; no prizes for guessing which real-life organisation that 'click' comes from), with its attendant blood and bullets, naturally there is romance between Silver and Susan. Even before they get into the sack, "she could not help but notice that a sleeping giant had been aroused and wondered if what she saw was a reality or a function of how he was sitting and the crease of his pants." And further in Legitimate Resistance, McDonald fits in an engaging threesome, involving the two and Susan's cousin.

The detailing of the international activities of the Ghost Riders, after they spread their wings in the aftermath of the government's destruction of their 'Texas' headquarters in their first real confrontation with the state, is good. From buying crop spraying and

air charter company Air Trek as a front for the smuggling to establishing a weed growing community in Portland (anyone remember Coptic of the 1970s?), it is mostly well done. The GR members' moments of relaxation and appreciation of natural beauty as they go through a long tunnel that ends up on the north coast are necessary.

But then comes the descent into reports and the ridiculous as the revolution really begins, an early sign being world famous, instantly recognisable singer Susan posing as a nurse in a daring hospital rescue.

The ideal is presented ("it seemed that everyone had reached their limit at the same time and the destruction that followed caught like fire in dry bramble. People were tired of the lies of the police and the corruption and deceit of politicians. People everywhere called for the Alliance to take control of the government,") and the run to inevitable triumph is on.

Legitimate Resistance ends with shining hero Silver leading a group of revolutionaries to Trinidad (on the invitation of people there) to create revolution there (they sail with arms on the 'Revolutionary Ocean Cutter') while, in Jamaica, "with the Solomonic dynasty at the head and with the mystical protection of the ancestral spirits, the legitimate resistance lived on as a marvel of history."