Book Review - No One in the World, by E. Lynn Harris and RM Johnson

Cobi Winslow has problems. The tall dark and handsome state attorney was adopted by a wealthy family as a young child, lives in a mansion, drives a Porsche, and is seemingly destined for a successful political career.

But after his adoptive parents are killed in a tragic plane crash, he finds that their will stipulates that unless he marries by his thirty-fourth birthday – which is only 40 days away – he’ll lose his $20 million dollar inheritance and a chunk of shares in the family’s hair product empire, which might mean that the company could face a hostile takeover.

In view of the fact that he’s considered one of the most eligible and sought after bachelor in Chicago, even this seems surmountable; but the fact that Cobi is a closeted gay, carrying on a secret affair with a married state senator complicates matters immensely.

On top of all of this, Cobi has just found out that he has a twin brother who the Winslows chose not to adopt. He starts a desperate search for his sibling against the wishes of his adopted sister – Sissy. To his
dismay he learns that since his brother – Eric – was not adopted he entered the state’s foster care system; and lived through all the abuses the system has to offer. But still, he can’t pin down the location of his now adult brother.

That is until the day he visits a prison to interview an inmate who wants to cut a plea bargain and literally runs into Eric on his way out. Identical twins – one whose job it is to prosecute criminals, the other has earned his living as a petty criminal.

By coincidence Eric is being released from prison just two days after they run into each other, and Cobi impulsively asks him to move into the mansion.

What Cobi doesn’t know is that where Eric goes, his cellmate – Blac – will soon follow, and with treacherous intentions in mind.

What Eric doesn’t know is that Austen, the woman hired to marry Cobi, is also moving into the mansion, and the fireworks start as soon as they meet.

No One in the World is a collaboration between Essence best selling author RM Johnson (The Harris Men, The Million Dollar Divorce) and New York Times best selling author, E. Lynn Harris (Invisible Life, In My Father’s House) who died in July 2009 of heart failure.

The two first met while attending a book launch party for Philadelphia native and future New York Times author, Omar Tyree in 1998, said Johnson in a recent telephone interview

“We were both living in Chicago at the time, and I went over and introduced myself,” Johnson said. “He was very nice to me and said to let him know if there was ever anything he could do for me.”

Harris was responsible for getting Johnson the Tom Joyner Morning Show – a popular nationally syndicated radio program – when Johnson was promoting his first novel. The two stayed friends, according to Johnson, and in 2008, after finding themselves both living in Atlanta, they decided to write a book together.

They met several times a week for about a year, with Johnson concentrating his writing on the Eric and Blac characters, and Harris focusing on the Cobi and Austen characters. The novel was 90 percent complete when Harris died, and Johnson just wrote the last chapters following the outline that Harris and he had put together.

No One in The World captures the best talents of two great writers; Harris’ breezy touch and magnificent storytelling abilities, combined with Johnson’s brilliant character development and scene setting make for a dramatic page-turner that will keep the readers’ interest from start-to-finish.

Issues such as homophobia, abandonment, depression and death are all dealt with in a sensitive but realistic manner that gives the reader much to think about even after the book is finished.

One warning, though – it’s evident after reading the ending pages of No One in The World that it was written with a sequel in mind; and that doesn’t bother me in the least. I look forward to the sequel, and if there’s not one in the works, there just ought to be -- even without Harris’ continuing contribution.

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Reviewed by Karen E. Quinones Miller - author of the upcoming book, An Angry Ass Black Woman

First published in The Philadelphia Inquirer