Black Water Rising
Non-series
Attica
Locke
Harper (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-06-173586-8 (0061735868)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-173586-8 (9780061735868)
Publication Date: June 2009
List Price: $25.99
Synopsis (from
the publisher): Jay Porter is hardly the lawyer he set out to be. His
most promising client is a low-rent call girl and he runs his fledgling
law practice out of a dingy strip mall. But he's long since made peace
with not living the American Dream and carefully tucked away his
darkest sins: the guns, the FBI file, the trial that nearly destroyed
him.
Houston, Texas, 1981. It is here that Jay believes he can make a fresh
start. That is, until the night in a boat out on the bayou when he
impulsively saves a woman from drowning—and opens a Pandora's
box. Her secrets put Jay in danger, ensnaring him in a murder
investigation that could cost him his practice, his family, and even
his life. But before he can get to the bottom of a tangled mystery that
reaches into the upper echelons of Houston's corporate power brokers,
Jay must confront the demons of his past.
Review: If you
enjoy reading about the struggles faced by African Americans in the
1960s and the prejudice and discrimination that they still face in the
1980s, then Black Water Rising
is the novel for you. Black Water
Rising is the first novel written by Attica Locke. The
inspiration for her novel comes from a real life incident, which
happened to her father, Gene Locke, a Houston attorney. Gene heard
gunshots and screams, but chose not to investigate them in order to
stay and protect his wife, and his ten-year-old daughter Attica.
Jay Porter is a struggling African American lawyer who lives in Houston
in the early 1980s. His clients often pay him in trade instead of cash,
and he takes many cases for little or no money. One such
“fee” was a boat ride on the bayou and dinner for two. The
boat turns out to be barely afloat, but he and his pregnant wife
Bernadine embark on the “cruise” anyway. As they journey
down the bayou they hear screams and several gunshots. Moments later,
Jay fishes a young woman out of the water. She refuses to give him any
information and he drops her off at the police department. Jay himself
does not accompany her into the police department because of his brush
with the law in the 1960s. The story continues with Jay trying to find
out who the mysterious woman is, and then it flashes back to his
“civil rights” days when he was put on trial for
“inciting a riot.” Meanwhile, the African American
dockworkers of Houston are ready to go on strike because they are
underpaid and not represented in management. Violence erupts and Jay is
called on to represent the dockworkers. Add to this, the mayor of
Houston is a former girlfriend of Jay’s from the 1960s. Will the
dockworkers get better pay and more representation in management? Will
Jay find out who the mysterious woman is, and if she is responsible for
the death of a local man? Will his former lover help him solve the
mystery or look out for herself?
This book was perplexing at times. I had a hard time following the
jumps from the 1980s to the 1960s. His former girlfriend was white,
something the reader was not able to figure out until halfway through
the novel. His wife, Bernie, was given very little importance, and
instead the focus was more on his former flame from the sixties. The
characters as a whole needed to be developed further. As a reader, I
did not really care about what happened to them until I was halfway
through the book. The description of the dockworkers’ pay issues
was unclear and also confusing in parts. If I were to rate this book, I
would give it a 2.5 out of 5 stars. It took too long for me to want to
continue reading this novel.
Special thanks to Ruth Miller for contributing her review of Black Water Rising and to HarperCollins for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Ruth Miller — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission
Have you read Black Water Rising? How would you rate it?
Mysteries by this author ...
Black Water Rising
Harper (Hardcover), June 2009
ISBN-10: 0-06-173586-8 (0061735868)
ISBN-13: 978-0-06-173586-8 (9780061735868)
Omnimystery keywords for Black Water Rising ...
Location(s) referenced: Houston, Texas.
