Author and Journalist
PAM KELLEY
A gripping nonfiction narrative—by turns action-packed, uplifting, and tragic—of a striving African American family swept up by the 1980s cocaine epidemic.
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Published by The New Press
2023 NC Reads Book Club Selection
The saga begins in 1963 when Carrie Platt, a budding civil rights activist, gives birth to Belton Lamont Platt in a newly integrated North Carolina hospital. Veteran reporter Pam Kelley takes readers through a shootout that shocks the city of Charlotte, a botched FBI sting, and a trial with a judge known as “Maximum Bob.” When the story concludes more than a half century later, Belton has redeemed himself. But three of his sons have met violent deaths and his oldest, fresh from prison, struggles to make a new life in a world where the odds are stacked against him.
This decades-spanning tale, populated with characters both big-hearted and flawed, shows how social forces and public policies – racism, segregation, the War on Drugs, mass incarceration – help shape individual destinies. Money Rock is a deeply American story, troubling and all too common. It will leave readers reflecting on the near impossibility of making lasting change—in our lives and as a society—until we reckon with the sins of our past.
Praise for Money Rock
"Incisive...Highly recommended."
- Library Journal (starred review)
"A unique, engrossing reading experience [and] diligent exposé... A fascinating and hard-hitting story about drugs, crime, faith, and retribution."
- Kirkus Reviews
"With solid journalism, dogged research, perceptive observation, colorful interviews and memorable characters, Money Rock tells a memorable and timely story."
- Shelf Awareness
"Thoroughly investigative and delightfully readable."
- The Charlotte Observer
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“Kelley could have written a fine book about Charlotte’s drug trade in the ’80s and ’90s, filled with shoot-outs and flashy jewelry. What she accomplishes with Money Rock, however, is far more laudable."
- Adam Rhew, Charlotte Magazine
"Extends the work of such classics as Code of the Street and The Corner with curiosity, economy, thoroughness, and a deep feel for the nuances of human life . . . Kelley places the remarkable story of her remarkable protagonist, Belton 'Money Rock' Platt, in a larger narrative that is too often elided, illuminating, in the process, the difference between justice and mere judgment.”
- Garth Risk Hallberg, author of City on Fire
“A bracing tale of love and hope, despair and redemption, civil rights and wrongs.”
- Bryant Simon, author of The Hamlet Fire
“A gripping tale . . . . Kelley weaves a textured narrative.”
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"...an ambitious look at the business of racism."
- Atlanta Journal Constitution
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“Money Rock is a powerful and unforgettable story of ambition, the failed war on drugs, and those places where policies have failed to keep up with the human experience. In order for us to truly look forward, we must reckon with the devastation behind us.”
- Maryland Governor Wes Moore, author of The Other Wes Moore
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“A powerful testament to the loss—of life, family, and community—that is incalculable yet fundamental to a system of incarceration fueled by policies that under-house, under-employ, under-educate, and undervalue millions. Kelley’s captivating account of the ripple effects of Belton Platt’s fall and rise bears witness to people and places simultaneously striving and stuck; to the redemptive power of dynamic women; and to faith that a better way might be possible, for ourselves and our cities.”
- Susan Burton, author of Becoming Ms. Burton
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"Eye-opening and moving...an honest and absorbing tale of the social and emotional devastation of 'law and order' and essential reading for everyone who cares about racial justice and the health of American cities."
- Matthew Horace, author of The Black and the Blue: A Cop Reveals the Crimes, Racism, and Injustice in America's Law Enforcement