bluebird bluebird – Cannonball Read 17

Darren, Texas Ranger

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

January 11, 2020 by Jake 1 Comment

Black writers, like all black people, are not defined solely by being oppressed. The majority of black fiction writers will write about how they deal with racism because it is an every day reality in their lives but it is not the only reality. Attica Locke’s fiction exemplifies this. Darren Mathews, the star of what appears to be the first in a series from Locke, is a complicated man. You empathize for him to a degree because of what he has to endure as a […]

Definitely My Wheelhouse

Black Water Rising by Attica Locke

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

July 4, 2019 by Jenny S Leave a Comment

As a reader of mysteries, I’ve always been a fan of the more hardboiled variety and especially those with a strong sense of place—George Pelecanos writing about Washington D.C., Dennis Lehane writing about Boston, James Lee Burke writing about Louisiana, and most recently, Craig Johnson writing about Absaroka County (not a real county) in Wyoming. Well, now I can add Attica Locke to this list. Her focus is East Texas and her novels are rich and complex, featuring flawed protagonists, who find themselves in tricky […]

Texas noir. #CBRBingo

August 2, 2018 by narfna Leave a Comment

Project: Catch Up On Review Backlog commences. No promises on the quality of my next ten or so reviews. I just want to get them done. (This will probably unfortunately result in subpar reviews for books that deserve much better.) Let’s start with a book I finished over a month ago, Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke. First things first, this book was incredibly well done. It’s a crime book set in Texas, featuring a black Texas Ranger as its protagonist. I knew that going in. […]

He had forgotten that the most elemental instinct in human nature is not hate but love, the former inextricably linked to the latter

June 26, 2018 by vel veeter Leave a Comment

I will likely read or listen to any book Attica Locke feels like writing. I really hope this, along with all her books, become movies or tv shows, because she has such an ear for dialogue and narrative, and is very good at plotting and creating stories that work and include a lot of additional interesting topics. This novel starts with a standoff between a white supremacist and an older Black man who refuses to take any more shit off people like the white asshole. […]

Ahead of the Curve

April 1, 2018 by yesknopemaybe 3 Comments

3.5 stars. Attica Locke is simply the best. I really wish I hadn’t read The Cutting Season first though. It’s always hard evaluating an author’s other work fairly when you know they’re capable of the absolute best. If a book is better than most, but not quite living up to their best work, how do you rate that? My gut response is to rate a sense of disappointment. Taking a few weeks to write this review, I’ve come around to appreciating this book for what […]

Zirza on A Gothic Classic for a ReasonIt's one of those wish-you-could-read-it-again-for-the-first-time books. I loved it.
Emmalita on “It came to something when you found yourself hoping that the footsteps you heard were ghosts.”I loved the ending! I don’t think it’s been out long enough to talk about why though.
Dixie on Track Her Down by Melinda LeighI am just starting Track Her Down and I have read them all in order till now and thought I...
Roland of Gilead on How can you give us the gift of a crazy character named Rando Thoughtful and then just as suddenly take that gift away? We need to talk, Uncle Stevie.I came across this randomly years after it was written because I was searching "Random Thoughtful. But I have the...
Emmalita on “Only you, Em, would refer to heartbreak as a distraction. I think I would have a more sympathetic response if I asked to marry a bookcase.”Oh my goodness, Gallifrey was beautiful. I’m sure her mittens were gloriously murdery.

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