The Plunder Room

In John Jeter's debut novel, honor is held in high esteem. But the erratic behavior of a Southern family constantly puts it to the test. It falls to Randol, a paraplegic, to restore honor to its rightful place. Randol is no angel, but his value system is angelic at its core -- and it is his strength, in the end, that holds the family together despite one bizarre crisis after another. Randol's acerbic wit is only part of what makes him endearing. He also is relentlessly stubborn and abhorrent of self-pity. Even his grandfather, a WWII war hero, recognizes the good in Randol -- and when he dies, he entrusts his grandson with the key to The Plunder Room, where treasures abound that are valuable beyond measure. Much like its namesake, The Plunder Room has priceless lessons to teach. -- Jim Melvin, author of The Death Wizard Chronicles, a six-book epic fantasy

I have known John Jeter for a long, long time, and he always said he wanted to write a book. Well, he finally did... and it was over for me in one afternoon and two cups of coffee. What an entertaining read! John has written about several generations of a southern family, and how war, honor, money and love change them...in both good and bad directions. The characters, and how they interact, are original, yet very familiar. The dialog flows seamlessly from Old China to New Wave, and the story weaves many threads into a surprising finish. "The Plunder Room" would make a great movie - I just wish I could afford to buy the rights!

Being a big fan of John Jeter's club, The Handlebar, I was anxious to see what he had penned in hardback. What I found was a story of complex southern culture reminiscent of many of the folk ballads I'd heard performed at The Handlebar. As explained in the first few pages, the plunder room is a locked room containing the war memorabilia belonging to the main character's Grandfather. Randol, the main character, is anxious to get into the room to explore his grandfather's keepsakes, and since his grandfather has just passed away, Randol may finally have the opportunity. The problem is that the room is located on the second floor of his home and Randol is confined to a wheel chair, so it takes him a few months to get there. But the secrets of the plunder room aren't the real story. The plunder room is actually a metaphor for the family secrets that become unveiled throughout the story on Randol's way to unlocking the room. At times the plot seems to meander off on various side roads but in the end Jeter pulls everything together so we see all those roads merge toward the same congested intersection. The collision is inevitable but deeply satisfying as we see that nothing in the earlier chapters were extraneous. Jeter had control of the wheel all along. Writers can choose to let their characters off the hook for past indiscretions, but reality doesn't work that way and neither does Jeter. He has no intention of cutting his characters any breaks. In the end they're left to deal with the consequences of the choices they've made.

John Jeter has written a wonderfully entertaining novel about a quirky southern family and its reaction to the death of the patriarch, a colonel who gives his grown grandson the key to "the plunder room," a locked room said to contain secrets from a life overseas and in combat. Behind the crackling dialogue and beautifully drawn characters are themes of family and honor. I highly recommend this book.

Such a great find. Jeter is a marvelous word painter who has a rare flair for bringing to life the quirks and eccentricities of South Carolina society. Comparisons can be tricky, but he reminds me a lot of Tom Wolfe. His characters nearly jump off the page and invade your psyche like Sherman burning his way to the sea. The author probably knows a thing or two about the buried secrets of the South; his bio says that he operates one of the most celebrated blues venues below the Mason-Dixon line. What is it with these Southern writers in the music biz? The last novel I enjoyed this much was Widow of the South by Robert Hicks, also a debut effort. My prediction: Jeter will hit the publishing world with the flash and boom of the cannonballs over Ft. Sumter.