“Author and filmmaker Mattison’s sophomore outing reads like it’s ready for screen adaptation… Mattison has a superb ear and his skills keep on growing.” –Publisher’s Weekly
“Snitch absorbed me to the point that I felt my life and the lives of my family were at stake. It’s just that good. Snitch should be required reading for anyone with a pulse and a conscience.” —Lisa Cortés, executive producer of the Academy Award–winning film Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Saphire
“Captivating”—Kevin Cokley, PhD, editor-in-chief, Journal of Black Psychology
In his sophomore novel, Snitch, (Revell Books; Trade paperback original; $14; May, 2011) Booker T. Mattison has woven together a story that touches upon social, moral and philosophical issues that affect the lives of all his characters to create a story of redemption and hope.
On the streets of Jersey City there is a simple code: You don’t talk to the cops. You don’t snitch. The motto of the notorious Original Gun Clappers who run the streets of the Greenville section of Jersey City is “Snitch on a crime, you get clapped in a ditch ‘cuz you dime!” Young bus driver, Andre Bolden, knows the code of the streets all too well, but when he becomes entangled in a crime by witnessing it on his bus route, he is compelled to make a choice. If he snitches he could lose everything: his beautiful woman, Sandra and their young son Little Dre, not to mention his own life. Also, if he talks he risks losing his job, and his own past, that he has suppressed, could catch up with him. If he keeps silent, Andre knows he will constantly be looking over his shoulder, and be haunted by the horrible images of what he saw for the rest of his life. What should he do? Booker T. Mattison has crafted a realistic tale full of tension and raw suspense, yet infused with spiritual truth. As Mattison’s characters’ lives collide as the drama unfolds, Andre’s decision will affect everyone to the very climatic ending. Snitch rewrites the rule to mind your own business, peers into the hearts of those who seek revenge and pray for redemption, and celebrates the ability of an individual to conquer his demons while helping his community triumph over violence and intimidation. Booker will be available for interviews in May and June.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Mattison received his Master of Fine Arts in film from New York University where he trained under the tutelage of Spike Lee and Anna Strasberg, and was the teaching assistant of Bill Reilly. He received his Bachelor of Science in mass communication from Norfolk State University. Mattison has taught Literary Criticism at the College of New Rochelle in New York, film production at Brooklyn College and Advanced Directing, Screenwritng and Directing Actors at Regent University in Virginia.
Why a book on snitching?
I want to bring attention to a silence crisis that is developing in communities across the country, but that is not receiving the attention that it deserves. I was shocked to discover that 85% of metropolitan police departments consider witness intimidation a “serious issue.” We only have to look south of our border to Mexico to see what happens when civil order is swallowed up by a culture of lawlessness. I was equally surprised to find out that snitching is also a major issue among law enforcement. There have been several highly publicized cases where police officers who breached the ‘Blue Wall of Silence’ and ‘snitched’ were assaulted by other cops, ostracized and even relieved from duty. It’s a textbook definition of tragic irony when those who enforce the law are hobbled by a culture of ‘don’t talk,’ and increasing numbers of citizens are embracing the same attitude. Yet and still it is not as simple as “if you see something, say something.” Often, the people who are expected to testify live in the very neighborhoods where the crimes occur so cooperating with police jeopardizes their personal safety or that of their family. For those people it is easier for them to mind their own business. But my concern is that more people adopt that attitude there is real potential for America to look like Mexico in 20 years.
One review of Snitch said that your protagonist Andre ‘suffers like the biblical Job.’ Why did you decide to write a story with a protagonist who has so many physical and emotional setbacks?
Andre’s experience in Snitch mirrors the times in which we live. Rare is the person who feels that everything is going right in their life. Often the opposite is true. A wise man once said that, “suffering produces perseverance, and perseverance character.” Despite that truism, most people do everything in their power to avoid suffering. From antibiotics, to insurance to working your fingers to the bone to ensure a comfortable retirement, suffering is the last thing that people want to do (including me). But because we all suffer in some way, I wanted to write a story that demonstrates that Providence could be at work in the midst of suffering, and that your character can be strengthened when you learn the lessons that suffering teaches. I liken it to the process of how diamonds and pearls are created – through intense pressure. Likewise, Andre is a better person at the end of the book than he is in the beginning, and things that people did to him that were meant for evil worked out for his good because Providence was at work in his life.
What do you hope to accomplish with this book?
I would like for Snitch to draw attention to the growing problem of retaliation against whistleblowers in the citizenry and in law enforcement. Our legal system is founded on the concept of citizen involvement in the legal system. Without witnesses it is extremely difficult to get a conviction in any case. In certain communities where witness intimidation has reached crisis levels, district attorneys refuse to pursue a prosecution if there is only one witness and no forensic evidence. Why? Because they run the risk of spending many thousands of dollars of tax payer money to prosecute a case only to have their only witness refuse to testify at trial because someone has made a threat to them. If Snitch inspires a nationwide discussion on snitching and witness intimidation and somehow influences the debate then it will be successful.
You are not just a novelist. You are also a filmmaker and a full time film school professor. How do you balance what amounts to three careers?
Actually I have four careers. I am also a full-time husband and father! But to your point, I am always extremely busy. For example, I just wrapped principal photography on a film that I am Executive Producing that stars Novella Nelson (The Antwon Fisher Story, The Gilded Six Bits) and Ted Lange (The Love Boat). The production of the film is actually my Advanced Motion Picture Production class. Being a film school professor actually keeps my own craft sharp, because in addition to lecturing, a large part of my job is critically accessing my student’s films and offering creative solutions to the problems that I identify. At times I experience what I call ‘passion drain.’ There is only so much passion that a person can muster in a day – passion for my family, passion for teaching and passion for my own writing. It is extremely difficult to write without passion. Nevertheless, I am writing the screenplays for both Snitch and my debut novel Unsigned Hype. Producer Stephanie Allain Bray (Hustle & Flow, Black Snake Moan, and the forthcoming We the Peeples) is attached to produce the film adaptation of both books. Fortunately, I have the summer off so I can spend my time off from teaching exclusively promoting Snitch the novel and working with Stephanie to get Snitch and Unsigned Hype made into movies that I will write and direct.
You can order Booker T. Mattison’s new book, Snitch, on Amazon, HERE!
