This collection of 10 stories is stunning proof. Ciccone showcases his talent to allow the characters to tell their own stories in ways that are both new and intriguing. This approach brings the psychology of entire time periods and symbolism to life. Naturally, no two stories in this volume sound exactly alike precisely because no two characters are exactly alike.

For example, the drunken marauders shooting up gas lamps on horseback in Madman of Union County, a recently emancipated black woman standing off horse thieves in Tell Heaven It Can Wait and a bronc buster in Only the Cows Get Slaughtered sound dramatically different than a fugitive slave mustering in to the Union army in Devils in Our Midst, a five-year-old girl in Grown, and a teenager coming of age in How the Light Gets In.

This collection casts a spell.

James Ciccone’s masterful piece of historical fiction brings to life the romantic yesteryear of the high society of the racing set Jim Morrissey lured to Saratoga, the poetry of the thoroughbred racehorse at full gallop, the excitement of championship match races, and the moral challenges facing American society near the end of the Civil War. Then, there’s graphic violence.

This psychological thriller/horror story is a must read not only for Saratoga racing fans, but for fans everywhere who enjoy staying involved in a story from cover to cover, a page turner.

Instead, stated more accurately, and perhaps more powerfully, his life story is important to our American collective identity and sense of group reality precisely because he was neither of those things.

Readers who are fans of literature will be delighted to learn the Trilogy is historical fiction, literature that relies on the wonders of the imagination. Readers who are fans of history will be equally delighted to discover the stories are based on historical fact. Above all, Bennett’s story is emblematic of the great American story on so many levels, including how the black codes brought it to a tragic end.