Series
Publication
Hachette Audio (2017)
Original publication date
2017
Collections
Genres
Awards
Edgar Award (Nominee — Novel — 2018)
LA Times Book Prize (Finalist — Mystery/Thriller — 2017)
Anthony Award (Nominee — Novel — 2018)
Crime Writers' Association Awards (Winner — 2018)
Macavity Award (Nominee — Novel — 2018)
Boston Globe Best Book (2017)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2017)
Description
When it comes to law and order, East Texas plays by its own rules--a fact that Darren Mathews, a black Texas Ranger, knows all too well. Deeply ambivalent about growing up black in the lone star state, he was the first in his family to get as far away from Texas as he could. Until duty called him home. When his allegiance to his roots puts his job in jeopardy, he travels up Highway 59 to the small town of Lark, where two murders--a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman--have stirred up a hornet's nest of resentment. Darren must solve the crimes--and save himself in the process--before Lark's long-simmering racial fault lines erupt. A rural noir suffused with the unique music, color, and nuance of East Texas, Bluebird, Bluebird is an exhilarating, timely novel about the collision of race and justice in America.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member Eyejaybee
Attica Locke’s novel paints a rather gruesome picture of rural life in East Texas. I would like to think that she has exaggerated the pervasive racism and the terrifying activities of underground neo-Nazi organisations such as the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, although I suspect they are all too
Her story is very well constructed and written. The main protagonist is Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger (I hadn’t realised that the Texas Rangers still existed, believing that they were something from the Wild West past). Although he had been born into near poverty in East Texas, he had ‘escaped’, studying law at university in Chicago. He had, however, decided to participate in law enforcement after the ghastly ‘dragging’ in Jasper, Texas in which an African American was dragged behind a truck until his death.
Having become embroiled in an altercation involving a family friend which was followed shortly afterwards by the murder of a neo-Nazi thug who had threatened that friend, Matthews finds himself suspended pending the outcome of a Grand Jury hearing. In the meantime, a colleague asks himself to visit Lark, a small town in East Texas, which has just seen two murders: one of an African American who had been passing through, and then a second of a young white woman to whom he had been seen talking in the local rough bar.
Upon arriving in Lark, Matthews finds himself up against a wall of silence from the white inhabitants, while the smaller African American community is also less than welcoming. Perhaps predictably, the local Sheriff is plainly resistant to outside intervention by the Texas Rangers at all, let alone from an African American. This is, perhaps, familiar territory, explored in the Virgil Tibbs films, but it is no less powerful for that. Attica Locke writes with great clarity and her characters seem completely plausible.
It is not a pleasant novel, but it is compelling and very powerful.
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realistic.Her story is very well constructed and written. The main protagonist is Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger (I hadn’t realised that the Texas Rangers still existed, believing that they were something from the Wild West past). Although he had been born into near poverty in East Texas, he had ‘escaped’, studying law at university in Chicago. He had, however, decided to participate in law enforcement after the ghastly ‘dragging’ in Jasper, Texas in which an African American was dragged behind a truck until his death.
Having become embroiled in an altercation involving a family friend which was followed shortly afterwards by the murder of a neo-Nazi thug who had threatened that friend, Matthews finds himself suspended pending the outcome of a Grand Jury hearing. In the meantime, a colleague asks himself to visit Lark, a small town in East Texas, which has just seen two murders: one of an African American who had been passing through, and then a second of a young white woman to whom he had been seen talking in the local rough bar.
Upon arriving in Lark, Matthews finds himself up against a wall of silence from the white inhabitants, while the smaller African American community is also less than welcoming. Perhaps predictably, the local Sheriff is plainly resistant to outside intervention by the Texas Rangers at all, let alone from an African American. This is, perhaps, familiar territory, explored in the Virgil Tibbs films, but it is no less powerful for that. Attica Locke writes with great clarity and her characters seem completely plausible.
It is not a pleasant novel, but it is compelling and very powerful.
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LibraryThing member Dokfintong
Award winner
This book won all kinds of awards and you can read elaborate book reviews online if you want. I found the book a bit difficult because I know so little of the cultural and racial intimacies of East Texas. The story is a daunting one which twists history and family and the ways that
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is trying to be a good man and a good lawman, but he is fighting the bottle and his wife, who thought she was marrying a lawyer, not a cop. Darren is losing the fight, and despite his great skills as an investigator, he is slowly losing the respect of his superior officers and his colleagues. He takes on a case in a distant town, as a kind of break, or working vacation from his other stresses. Of course, this would not be a good story if the case did not prove to be complex and dangerous.
The book is definitely worth the read [update here] and especially as an intro to the 2019 follow-on "Heaven, My Home", which I enjoyed even more than this one.
I received a review copy of "Bluebird, Bluebird" by Attica Locke from Mulholland Books through NetGalley.com.
This book won all kinds of awards and you can read elaborate book reviews online if you want. I found the book a bit difficult because I know so little of the cultural and racial intimacies of East Texas. The story is a daunting one which twists history and family and the ways that
Show More
differing aspirations can tear a family apart.Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is trying to be a good man and a good lawman, but he is fighting the bottle and his wife, who thought she was marrying a lawyer, not a cop. Darren is losing the fight, and despite his great skills as an investigator, he is slowly losing the respect of his superior officers and his colleagues. He takes on a case in a distant town, as a kind of break, or working vacation from his other stresses. Of course, this would not be a good story if the case did not prove to be complex and dangerous.
The book is definitely worth the read [update here] and especially as an intro to the 2019 follow-on "Heaven, My Home", which I enjoyed even more than this one.
I received a review copy of "Bluebird, Bluebird" by Attica Locke from Mulholland Books through NetGalley.com.
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LibraryThing member brangwinn
At the end of the story I felt overwhelming sorrow at how racism is ingrained in small towns. “Oh, what a tangled web we weave” could be the motto of this story of a black woman and people she loved in a small eastern Texas town.
LibraryThing member bookwyrmm
Very interesting mystery combining race and family secrets. Not sure if all the appropriate clues were really obvious, though.
LibraryThing member jwrudn
Suspended black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews investigates two murders, one of a black man from Chicago and a white woman. Since they occurred within a few days of each other, it seems clear they are related but how is revealed only toward the end of the book. In between is a convincing portrait of a
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small Texas town with a tangled history of race relations and violence. The title refers to a lyrics of a blues song and the blues plays an important role in the story. Complex, evocatively written. Show Less
LibraryThing member SamSattler
Attica Locke is a Houstonian who very obviously knows the East Texas area well. She is also a very, very good storyteller, no doubt about that. But she really didn't go after realism with Bluebird, Bluebird. Rather she aimed for East Texas noir, the type of dark novel in which the atmosphere is
But it is a great story filled with intriguing plot twists and memorable characters right up to the end - more on that ending in a second.
This is a tale of small town Texas still run by the descendent of a plantation owner much like those found in pre-Civil War days. Blacks still fear the man, know how to act around him (and still manage to do what they really want to do), and women are under the thumbs of their men. As I said...over the top. When a black man's body is found near the only black hangout in town, followed a day or so later by the body of a local white woman, the powder keg is lit. Enter one Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger who comes from a family tradition in law enforcement, a man painfully separated from his wife and longing for his next whiskey.
Bluebird, Bluebird offers a wild ride before finally unmasking the killer or killers of the two murder victims, but then it fizzles. It may be a personal quirk of mine...and it may bother few others...but this is a book without an ending. They mystery is solved but the personal loose ends of the main character are torn apart in the book's final few pages. Is Locke planning to make this into a series? Is this book one of that series? Then she should have warned me and I would not have been so disappointed in the book's ending. A little heads-up would have been kind of nice.
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intimidating and in which every character, even the hero is deeply flawed - and she nailed it. The novel captures the tone and spirit of what it must have been like for a black American to live in the South during the fifties and sixties, but it reads a bit over-the-top for what life is like there in the twenty-first century. But it is a great story filled with intriguing plot twists and memorable characters right up to the end - more on that ending in a second.
This is a tale of small town Texas still run by the descendent of a plantation owner much like those found in pre-Civil War days. Blacks still fear the man, know how to act around him (and still manage to do what they really want to do), and women are under the thumbs of their men. As I said...over the top. When a black man's body is found near the only black hangout in town, followed a day or so later by the body of a local white woman, the powder keg is lit. Enter one Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger who comes from a family tradition in law enforcement, a man painfully separated from his wife and longing for his next whiskey.
Bluebird, Bluebird offers a wild ride before finally unmasking the killer or killers of the two murder victims, but then it fizzles. It may be a personal quirk of mine...and it may bother few others...but this is a book without an ending. They mystery is solved but the personal loose ends of the main character are torn apart in the book's final few pages. Is Locke planning to make this into a series? Is this book one of that series? Then she should have warned me and I would not have been so disappointed in the book's ending. A little heads-up would have been kind of nice.
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LibraryThing member Beamis12
"The men rarely stood on common ground--belying the trope of twins who think with one mind_but for he fact that they were Matthews men, a tribe going back generations in rural East Texas, black men whose self regard was both a natural state of being and a survival technique. His uncle's adhered to
When in fact the opposite had proved to be true.
In the wake of Obama , America had told on itself."
I seldom start a review with a quote, but I found this so succinct and powerful. Darren, like his uncle before him is a Texas Ranger, a black man, and a rarity in that service. He takes his task to serve and protect very seriously. Two bodies are pulled from the bayou,one a black man, one a young white woman, and Darren finds himself returning to East Texas, a place he had left vowing never to return.
To call this a mystery is I think doing it a disservice. It is so much more, politics, race, white supremacists, and hate, so much hate. Cover-ups and secrets, the past rising up to affect the present. This is a mystery for those who do not like mysteries. (Angela, are you reading this?) The writing is fantastic every word, every action, description has meaning. Atmospheric, pulls one right in to a South that is determined to hold on to it's prejudices. The characters, so well drawn, all of them, which is a rarity in most stories. One knows exactly how these people feel, think, and the things they think are important. An absolutely stellar read, which by something in the ending, leads one to believe we may be hearing more from Darren Matthews.
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the ancient rules of Southern living, for they understood how easily a colored man's general comportment could turn into a matter of life and death. Darren had always wanted to believe that theirs was the last generation to have to live this way, that change might trickle down from the White House.When in fact the opposite had proved to be true.
In the wake of Obama , America had told on itself."
I seldom start a review with a quote, but I found this so succinct and powerful. Darren, like his uncle before him is a Texas Ranger, a black man, and a rarity in that service. He takes his task to serve and protect very seriously. Two bodies are pulled from the bayou,one a black man, one a young white woman, and Darren finds himself returning to East Texas, a place he had left vowing never to return.
To call this a mystery is I think doing it a disservice. It is so much more, politics, race, white supremacists, and hate, so much hate. Cover-ups and secrets, the past rising up to affect the present. This is a mystery for those who do not like mysteries. (Angela, are you reading this?) The writing is fantastic every word, every action, description has meaning. Atmospheric, pulls one right in to a South that is determined to hold on to it's prejudices. The characters, so well drawn, all of them, which is a rarity in most stories. One knows exactly how these people feel, think, and the things they think are important. An absolutely stellar read, which by something in the ending, leads one to believe we may be hearing more from Darren Matthews.
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LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
Darren Mathews has been suspended as a Texas Ranger pending the results of an inquiry regarding his allegedly lying to a grand jury. Yet his FBI friend Greg Heglund, knowing that his interest would be piqued by it, told him of two murders in a small Texas town, the first a Black man from Chicago
Mathews, despite having to turn in his badge, figures out he has about a day to drive, take a look and return. What he finds reeks of something other than a robbery gone awry. It is a town where everyone knows everyone else and everyone else’s business, where half the town is related to the other half, regardless of skin color and where secrets abound. Being a Black man nosing around, regardless of his law enforcement status, can be dangerous and even deadly.
I’d never read Attica Locke before, despite her book Black Water Rising being nominated for an Edgar Award. I’m sorry I waited so long. Bluebird, Bluebird is filled with musical references, something I love. It’s got colorful characters, both Black and white, many descendants of either slaves or slave owners…sometimes both. Geneva is the Black woman who, having experienced heartache, still mother’s everyone. Wally is the landed gentry whose family homestead dates back to the 1800s and who thinks he runs the town. (He might.)
There is the usual repartee between the rogue cop (Mathews) and his boss, the unheeded warnings and the rebukes. There is the credit starved FBI friend. There is the romance gone south. There’s drugs and beatings and racial tension of the south. In other words, all the ingredients of a good mystery. Bluebird, Bluebird, exceeding my high expectations.
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and second a local white girl. The local sheriff was making the former into a robbery/death and the latter into a domestic dispute of some sort. Knowing however, that the Aryan Brotherhood has a strong hold in the town, made for curiosity.Mathews, despite having to turn in his badge, figures out he has about a day to drive, take a look and return. What he finds reeks of something other than a robbery gone awry. It is a town where everyone knows everyone else and everyone else’s business, where half the town is related to the other half, regardless of skin color and where secrets abound. Being a Black man nosing around, regardless of his law enforcement status, can be dangerous and even deadly.
I’d never read Attica Locke before, despite her book Black Water Rising being nominated for an Edgar Award. I’m sorry I waited so long. Bluebird, Bluebird is filled with musical references, something I love. It’s got colorful characters, both Black and white, many descendants of either slaves or slave owners…sometimes both. Geneva is the Black woman who, having experienced heartache, still mother’s everyone. Wally is the landed gentry whose family homestead dates back to the 1800s and who thinks he runs the town. (He might.)
There is the usual repartee between the rogue cop (Mathews) and his boss, the unheeded warnings and the rebukes. There is the credit starved FBI friend. There is the romance gone south. There’s drugs and beatings and racial tension of the south. In other words, all the ingredients of a good mystery. Bluebird, Bluebird, exceeding my high expectations.
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LibraryThing member celerydog
great characterisation, convincing storyline, would read more by this author
LibraryThing member cburnett5
4.5 stars
Bluebird, Bluebird is a complex, multi-layered mystery that takes place in a small East Texas town. The tale is dark, thought-provoking and well-written. I liked but didn’t love the protagonist, Ranger Darren Matthews, who is a bit too troubled but smart and compassionate. The plot’s
I live in Texas and have spent a fair amount of time in East Texas. This book was a real struggle for me because Locke’s version of East Texas is drastically different from my own experience. And I guess that is Locke’s point. I live in Houston, a diverse and multicultural city, and I found it depressing and somewhat painful that such overt racism still exists. However, I have reflected on this portion of the book for several weeks and realize that this behavior is clearly occurring all over the United States as is evident in the news and current politics. Hopefully as people continue to speak out and seek change, one day racism will be a bad memory.
Bluebird, Bluebird is a tale that made me think and reflect on the state of our country today. I highly recommend it.
Bluebird, Bluebird is a complex, multi-layered mystery that takes place in a small East Texas town. The tale is dark, thought-provoking and well-written. I liked but didn’t love the protagonist, Ranger Darren Matthews, who is a bit too troubled but smart and compassionate. The plot’s
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resolution was believable, and I love the way Attica Locke writes her characters and the setting. Overall, it’s a fabulous book.I live in Texas and have spent a fair amount of time in East Texas. This book was a real struggle for me because Locke’s version of East Texas is drastically different from my own experience. And I guess that is Locke’s point. I live in Houston, a diverse and multicultural city, and I found it depressing and somewhat painful that such overt racism still exists. However, I have reflected on this portion of the book for several weeks and realize that this behavior is clearly occurring all over the United States as is evident in the news and current politics. Hopefully as people continue to speak out and seek change, one day racism will be a bad memory.
Bluebird, Bluebird is a tale that made me think and reflect on the state of our country today. I highly recommend it.
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LibraryThing member hemlokgang
This story, set in East Texas, is a richly layered story about love, and both assumptions and history of race issues. Murders in the present and past, involving issues of race, jealousy, and love must all be solved. The protagonist, a black Texas Ranger, must navigate these complex issues in order
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to solve the crimes and his own inner conflicts. Good read on multiple levels. Show Less
LibraryThing member gpangel
Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke
Engrossing and laden with atmospheric foreboding-
This novel is packed with emotions, thick racial tensions and family dramas. I could almost imagine blues rifts playing in the background as the events in Lark, Texas unfolded. I could envision the town, the people,
When Michael Wright, a black lawyer from Chicago, stops in the small East Texas town, he never makes it back home. His body was pulled out the nearby bayou, and his fancy car disappeared somewhere along the way. A very short time later, the body of Missy Dale, a local white woman is also found dead. The possibility does exist, considering how small this town is, that the two deaths are connected.
Enter, Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger, currently on suspension, separated from his wife, in a full -on battle with a whiskey bottle. Darren is given permission to casually visit, sans his badge, Lark, Texas to get the lay of the land. There, he encounters a kindred spirit of sorts in Michael Wright’s widow, who is there to claim her husband’s body.
Before long, Darren has slapped his badge back on and finds himself in the midst of a full blown murder investigation.
The deaths seem to have a connection to Geneva Sweet, the owner of a local café. It would appear, that Michael Wright stopped by her place, asking some questions, right before he was murdered. Geneva’s past comes sharply into focus as Darren investigates Michael and Missy’s murders, amid rumors that the Aryan Brotherhood may have few contacts within Lark, meaning Missy's angry husband.
Bluebird, bluebird, please do this for me
Ooh, bluebird, please do this for me
If you see my baby, tell her I want her to come back home to me
John Lee Hooker
I could not put this book down!! The mystery is compelling and very suspenseful, but it’s the lush writing, and deep characterizations that really made this novel stand out.
Darren cuts quite a figure as a Texas Ranger, with his Stetson hat and boots, but his deep -seated sense of loyalty and all his personal baggage causes him to entertain all manner of self-recriminations, regrets, and self-doubt.
But, the history of Lark, the beautiful descriptions of the area, and the musical homage goes a long way toward creating that dense atmosphere where racial hostilities simmer, threatening to boil over. The past will catch up with the present as old buried secrets surface and long overdue justice will finally be served.
I really need Attica Locke to write a follow-up to this one, since Darren still has some serious issues to address. I’d love to see this turn into a series, or at the very least a trilogy.
Either way, this author has left quite an impression on me. I’m ready to dive into her other novels, ASAP!!
4.5 stars rounded up
Engrossing and laden with atmospheric foreboding-
This novel is packed with emotions, thick racial tensions and family dramas. I could almost imagine blues rifts playing in the background as the events in Lark, Texas unfolded. I could envision the town, the people,
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and feel the intense feeling of dread creeping up on me as the story unfolded. When Michael Wright, a black lawyer from Chicago, stops in the small East Texas town, he never makes it back home. His body was pulled out the nearby bayou, and his fancy car disappeared somewhere along the way. A very short time later, the body of Missy Dale, a local white woman is also found dead. The possibility does exist, considering how small this town is, that the two deaths are connected.
Enter, Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger, currently on suspension, separated from his wife, in a full -on battle with a whiskey bottle. Darren is given permission to casually visit, sans his badge, Lark, Texas to get the lay of the land. There, he encounters a kindred spirit of sorts in Michael Wright’s widow, who is there to claim her husband’s body.
Before long, Darren has slapped his badge back on and finds himself in the midst of a full blown murder investigation.
The deaths seem to have a connection to Geneva Sweet, the owner of a local café. It would appear, that Michael Wright stopped by her place, asking some questions, right before he was murdered. Geneva’s past comes sharply into focus as Darren investigates Michael and Missy’s murders, amid rumors that the Aryan Brotherhood may have few contacts within Lark, meaning Missy's angry husband.
Bluebird, bluebird, please do this for me
Ooh, bluebird, please do this for me
If you see my baby, tell her I want her to come back home to me
John Lee Hooker
I could not put this book down!! The mystery is compelling and very suspenseful, but it’s the lush writing, and deep characterizations that really made this novel stand out.
Darren cuts quite a figure as a Texas Ranger, with his Stetson hat and boots, but his deep -seated sense of loyalty and all his personal baggage causes him to entertain all manner of self-recriminations, regrets, and self-doubt.
But, the history of Lark, the beautiful descriptions of the area, and the musical homage goes a long way toward creating that dense atmosphere where racial hostilities simmer, threatening to boil over. The past will catch up with the present as old buried secrets surface and long overdue justice will finally be served.
I really need Attica Locke to write a follow-up to this one, since Darren still has some serious issues to address. I’d love to see this turn into a series, or at the very least a trilogy.
Either way, this author has left quite an impression on me. I’m ready to dive into her other novels, ASAP!!
4.5 stars rounded up
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LibraryThing member mojomomma
Two mysterious deaths investigated by a black Texas Ranger who is battling his own demons with alcoholism and a failing marriage.
LibraryThing member Perednia
Excellent characters with believable storylines of their own, good crime fiction plotting. The ending was a jaw dropper that fit so well. No wonder it was a winner.
LibraryThing member jfe16
In rural East Texas, the investigation into the murder of a black man and a white woman falls to black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews. Having grown up in the small, backwater town of Lark, he knows exactly where the racial dividing lines are drawn.
In this compelling police procedural, readers find
The exploration of racial and social injustices add impact to the narrative, but some of the characterizations, while well developed, seem somewhat formulaic. The building suspense leading to the final unexpected reveal is likely to keep those pages turning.
In this compelling police procedural, readers find
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the protagonist in a dilemma since his wife wants him to quit being a cop; naturally, he’s devoted to the job and resistant to that suggestion. Can their relationship survive the demands and dangers of a law enforcement career? The exploration of racial and social injustices add impact to the narrative, but some of the characterizations, while well developed, seem somewhat formulaic. The building suspense leading to the final unexpected reveal is likely to keep those pages turning.
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LibraryThing member arubabookwoman
This is another widely praised book that I was disappointed in. I've read all of Attica Locke's books now, and I especially liked her first one, Black Water Rising and her most recent one before this Pleasantville. This one didn't work for me.
It might be that I didn't like the main character, Texas
Darren has come to the small East Texas town of Lark to investigate the possible murder of a black attorney from Chicago by the Texas Aryan Brotherhood. Shortly after he arrives, a second body is discovered, that of the wife of a probable member of the Aryan Brotherhood. Then the attorney's wife arrives from Chicago, and begins to tag along with Darren.
I found it distracting that Darren's reaction to every setback/attack was to drink himself to oblivion each night. His involvement with the attorney's wife didn't make sense either. I just couldn't get past these plot points to fall into the mystery. Nevertheless I point out that this book is on lots of "best of 2017" lists and has lots of rave reviews. The topic had great potential, the execution was poor.
2 stars
It might be that I didn't like the main character, Texas
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Ranger Darren Matthews. But I think it was more that I didn't find his actions to be credible or believable for someone in his position, and this kept grabbing me out of the story. Darren's actions were frequently self-destructive and didn't make sense. Darren has come to the small East Texas town of Lark to investigate the possible murder of a black attorney from Chicago by the Texas Aryan Brotherhood. Shortly after he arrives, a second body is discovered, that of the wife of a probable member of the Aryan Brotherhood. Then the attorney's wife arrives from Chicago, and begins to tag along with Darren.
I found it distracting that Darren's reaction to every setback/attack was to drink himself to oblivion each night. His involvement with the attorney's wife didn't make sense either. I just couldn't get past these plot points to fall into the mystery. Nevertheless I point out that this book is on lots of "best of 2017" lists and has lots of rave reviews. The topic had great potential, the execution was poor.
2 stars
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LibraryThing member JFGABCIK
When it comes to characters, Darren Mathews is a fish both in and out of water. He is the nephew of a long-time black Texas Ranger whom he idolized growing up, whom he adores, and who used his clout to get Darren on the force. But he is also a conflicted young man, unsure about his marriage, also
Attica Locke is a gifted writer, succinctly describing her characters and their environment in a rural segregated community. She writes a tight plot where the few main characters are interrelated in multiple ways.
the above description, in itself is worthy of a four-star or higher rating. I, however, like my detectives less encumbered by their emotions and more capable of making good decisions. Darren's dependence on the bottle is troublesome to me, leading to irrational decision-making. Ms. Locke keeps her hero on the job, barely, when in-truth he should be fired six ways to Sunday.
For now, I'll pass on the next installment.
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unable to separate his emotions from his professional duties as a black law officer in bigoted rural East Texas.Attica Locke is a gifted writer, succinctly describing her characters and their environment in a rural segregated community. She writes a tight plot where the few main characters are interrelated in multiple ways.
the above description, in itself is worthy of a four-star or higher rating. I, however, like my detectives less encumbered by their emotions and more capable of making good decisions. Darren's dependence on the bottle is troublesome to me, leading to irrational decision-making. Ms. Locke keeps her hero on the job, barely, when in-truth he should be fired six ways to Sunday.
For now, I'll pass on the next installment.
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LibraryThing member cmt100
I looked forward to this one, and I'm interested in the topics she dealt with, but the writing style didn't work for me. There is too much repetitive, third-person, unconvincing description of characters and emotions. The creaky old saw comes to mind: Don't tell us, show us. I was never shown, I
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never felt inside the characters, and so I never cared. I enjoyed the material about the Texas rangers, and a different take on Texas, from the point of view of a long-established black family. Show Less
LibraryThing member brenzi
I haven’t read a good crime novel since the middle of last summer so I was happy to have my number come up on my library request list for this one. This book was not flawless. There were times when I wanted to throw my Kindle against the wall (of course I would never do that because I love my
It follows a Texas Ranger who seems to have a knack for investigating crimes that he isn’t authorized to probe. This leads to obvious problems especially with the chain of command. He seems to be good-hearted but is a free-wheeling sort who doesn’t mind sticking his neck out when he believes he’s right. That works out about as well as you might think. But most of the drama occurs as a result of his actions and that’s what keeps the narrative moving. So maybe there was method to the madness. Stay tuned when I finally get to Black Water Rising.
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Paperwhite) because the main character took some ridiculous actions that had me shaking my head and the ending was less than satisfying but all in all it was a good read and kept me turning pages. It kept to the theme I seem to have been following which is racism. Six of the eight books I’ve read this year have dealt with racism in one way or another. So a timely read for sure.It follows a Texas Ranger who seems to have a knack for investigating crimes that he isn’t authorized to probe. This leads to obvious problems especially with the chain of command. He seems to be good-hearted but is a free-wheeling sort who doesn’t mind sticking his neck out when he believes he’s right. That works out about as well as you might think. But most of the drama occurs as a result of his actions and that’s what keeps the narrative moving. So maybe there was method to the madness. Stay tuned when I finally get to Black Water Rising.
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LibraryThing member alexrichman
Perhaps a bit harsh, but I wanted a lot more from such a feted thriller. The writing, plot, themes and characters did nothing for me. It reminded me of Before The Fall - another book from a TV writer, which is probably a sign that I should avoid them in the future..!
LibraryThing member satxreader
As a native Texan, I looked forward to this novel...I made it halfway through before I threw in the towel. Maybe Ranger Matthews redeemed himself by the end, but I doubt it. Nothing about his behavior seemed logical or realistic or worthy of being a Texas Ranger. Of course maybe that's because he's
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a pathetic alcoholic, or maybe it's just a lack of sufficient character. At the halfway point, Geneva Sweet was the only likable character. I'll pass on future installments--my TBR list is waaay too long to spend more time here. Show Less
LibraryThing member bfister
At a time when police misconduct on the news makes police heroics on the page seem jarringly fictional, Attica Locke gives us what promises to be the first in a compelling new series that doesn't shy away from confronting the complexities of racism and its corrosive effect on policing, justice, and
Darren Mathews is in danger of losing his wife and his job. His spouse, never happy that he left law school to become a Texas Ranger, is ready to call it quits, and he's in legal trouble for coming to the aid of a friend during a dispute with a white supremacist that turned deadly. He's surprised when some higher-ups decide that, though he's been placed on leave, he's just the man to send to Lark, a small East Texas town, to offer the local sheriff support in solving two murders. A black man from Chicago turned up beaten and drowned in the bayou behind a local cafe just a few days before the body of a local white woman washed up in the same bayou. Maybe having a black Texas Ranger on the ground will help smooth over any negative publicity that could come to a town where black and white live side-by-side but in different worlds.
Mathews knows this territory. He grew up not far away, raised by two great-uncles, one a fierce defense lawyer and the other the first black Texas Ranger. Though he had left Texas behind to follow one uncle's example, he quit law school to follow the other's, joining the Rangers after his "9/11 moment," the day he heard about a black man being dragged to death behind a pickup truck in Jasper, a modern lynching not far from his home town. Texas isn't just a backward racist state to Mathews; it's his home, and home to people he loves. If he didn't do his duty, he figures the racists would win.
It's that stubborn devotion to the ideal of the Rangers and to the truth that makes him keep digging even after he's found a solution that seems to satisfy everyone to the double murder. Lark has a small cafe run by a black woman where he feels at home, a place where there's blues on the jukebox, good food on the stove, and a lingering mystery about the long-ago death of its former owner and his son. Lark is also home, just up the road, to a bar where members of the Aryan Brotherhood hang out and likely sell drugs. Just as he was unwilling to let Jasper define his home state, Mathews won't let easy answers solve his double homicide.
This is a rich and heady brew of a book, steeped in the past and full of East Texas flavor. It has a well-realized cast of characters, a rich sense of place, and a plot that combines reflection with the pacing of a thriller. It delves into the conflicted commitment a black man might feel toward his badge and brings to life the deep, enduring love people can have for a place where bigotry has deep roots. Like its hero, the novel refuses to investigate questions of justice without acknowledging the role racism plays in American society. Likewise, Locke doesn't shy away from the complicated way that human relationships cross over the social barriers we erect to keep our assumptions separated and simplified into black and white. It's a remarkable novel, and timely, and if it's truly the first in a series, we have a lot to look forward to.
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the American way.Darren Mathews is in danger of losing his wife and his job. His spouse, never happy that he left law school to become a Texas Ranger, is ready to call it quits, and he's in legal trouble for coming to the aid of a friend during a dispute with a white supremacist that turned deadly. He's surprised when some higher-ups decide that, though he's been placed on leave, he's just the man to send to Lark, a small East Texas town, to offer the local sheriff support in solving two murders. A black man from Chicago turned up beaten and drowned in the bayou behind a local cafe just a few days before the body of a local white woman washed up in the same bayou. Maybe having a black Texas Ranger on the ground will help smooth over any negative publicity that could come to a town where black and white live side-by-side but in different worlds.
Mathews knows this territory. He grew up not far away, raised by two great-uncles, one a fierce defense lawyer and the other the first black Texas Ranger. Though he had left Texas behind to follow one uncle's example, he quit law school to follow the other's, joining the Rangers after his "9/11 moment," the day he heard about a black man being dragged to death behind a pickup truck in Jasper, a modern lynching not far from his home town. Texas isn't just a backward racist state to Mathews; it's his home, and home to people he loves. If he didn't do his duty, he figures the racists would win.
It's that stubborn devotion to the ideal of the Rangers and to the truth that makes him keep digging even after he's found a solution that seems to satisfy everyone to the double murder. Lark has a small cafe run by a black woman where he feels at home, a place where there's blues on the jukebox, good food on the stove, and a lingering mystery about the long-ago death of its former owner and his son. Lark is also home, just up the road, to a bar where members of the Aryan Brotherhood hang out and likely sell drugs. Just as he was unwilling to let Jasper define his home state, Mathews won't let easy answers solve his double homicide.
This is a rich and heady brew of a book, steeped in the past and full of East Texas flavor. It has a well-realized cast of characters, a rich sense of place, and a plot that combines reflection with the pacing of a thriller. It delves into the conflicted commitment a black man might feel toward his badge and brings to life the deep, enduring love people can have for a place where bigotry has deep roots. Like its hero, the novel refuses to investigate questions of justice without acknowledging the role racism plays in American society. Likewise, Locke doesn't shy away from the complicated way that human relationships cross over the social barriers we erect to keep our assumptions separated and simplified into black and white. It's a remarkable novel, and timely, and if it's truly the first in a series, we have a lot to look forward to.
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LibraryThing member DGRachel
I’m so disappointed. This was probably the Christmas present I was most looking forward to reading. I’ve seen so many glowing reviews and the book description looked like something I would truly love. The book is marketed as a thriller. It is not. It has elements of a police procedural, but it
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reads more like Oprah book club literary fiction - a miserable book with miserable people leading miserable lives that ends miserably. The solution to the murders is just sad and I felt dirty when all was said and done, like I needed a shower. The plot dragged and I was bored for most of the 307 pages. I never felt any connection to or sympathy for most of the characters. I want those hours of my life back. Show Less
LibraryThing member wellreadcatlady
3.5/5. Bluebird, Bluebird is the first book in a new mystery series about a black Texas Ranger, Darren. In this book he goes to Lark, Texas to investigate the deaths of a black man who was from out of town and a local white woman. We get a lot of background information about Darren, including that
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he's being investigated and currently suspended for helping a friend deal with the Aryan Brotherhood. We also learn about his marital problems and that he considered being a lawyer. All of this adds to his story and makes him an interesting character, but so much of it happens at the beginning of the book that it kind of slows down the story. I almost feel like his background could of been spread out more or even its own book later in the sequels and have this one just be an introduction to Darren. The ending of the book also wraps everything up a little too neatly, based on what I read about this book, I was expecting a more realistic portrayal of law enforcement, but there were too many moments it was over the top and just too clean and neat. The last chapter nicely sets up the tone for future books. It was a good read and I'll definitely read the next books. Show Less
LibraryThing member addunn3
A black Texas Ranger investigates the death of visitor to rural, racist infested, Texas.
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