Bacatown Blues

Hurricane Katrina's devastation of New Orleans reignites Tamara Mitchell's love of her hometown along with an old grudge against a rich and powerful white developer, Joe Pacello, whom she blames for her father's suicide when she was a teenager. She breaks her engagement to an unsympathetic Philadelphia man, intending to return home to use her MBA experience to contribute to the city's rebuilding as she watches for chances to pursue revenge against Pacello. She approaches the FBI and they agree she will be an ideal mole for their planned undercover operation that will ferret out and stop corruption by Pacello and politicians who plan to rip off the federal recovery funds. Her co-informant will be a handsome banker, Clint Johnson, whose motive for joining the sting is unclear and whose marital status is murky.Working incognito, Tamara meets an inspiring black minister (Clarence Washington) who is trying to save his Katrina-battered minority neighborhood, Bacatown, from redevelopment for affluent, mostly white office employees in the nearby CBD. Tamara admires the reverend and she must decide whether to pursue her original objectives or assist the reverend in reviving Bacatown. Or can she do both?Tamara and Johnson must maintain their undercover identities as they work to expose corruption while dealing with their strong mutual attraction.When the Mob's top man, Nick Ricci, suspects New Orleans has been infested by an FBI mole or maybe two, both Tamara and Johnson are in jeopardy of ending up in the Mob's local body-dumping spot, the Alligator Hole. Tamara learns shocking information from her mother about the relationship between her father and Pacello. She confronts Pacello and their mutual revelations lead both in new directions. Tamara must redirect conflicting paths of revenge, romance, and justice for the beleaguered Bacatown and its minister. Read more