Clint Bennett grew up in the Nature Coast area of Florida described in his works of fiction. Bennett spent four years in Europe, notably Spain and France, where he visited and researched the history of numerous locations where the buying and selling of human beings was not only accepted but encouraged. His characters are intertwined with the area, providing a history lesson through some impressive storytelling.
Jason the Slave Warrior by Clint Bennett
They branded Martha first, for no particular reason; she just happened to be the adolescent girl child closest and within easy reach of the smiling slave who was doing the branding. She was sobbing and crying, terrified and near panicking. Speaking softly in the singsong dialect of the Wolof tribe, the huge slave doing the branding tried to reassure her that the pain was mild and only temporary. He pointed to his own brand that stood out distinctly on his right shoulder. The brand was the Christian symbol of the cross where Jesus was crucified and murdered. After years of slavery and hardship, Jason would tell her as they carefully planned their escape. “There is a place in Florida where the slavers are afraid to go.”
The Jesuit Warrior by Clint Bennett
Recent release “The Jesuit Warrior” from Page Publishing author Clint Bennett is a gripping and potent novel following young Mateo Alvero, an orphaned boy mentored by a Jesuit priest, with whom he embarks on the adventure of a lifetime to the Nature Coast of Florida, where he is to convert souls to Christianity while his shipmates capture slaves. His excitement turns to horror as he witnesses the inhumane treatment of the men, women, and children at the hands of the brutal slavers, leading him to question the complicity of the Church and to choose a different path.