![]() "Lightning Men" by Thomas Mullen, Atria, 384 pages, $26 ![]() Streaked with wit and hard-earned wisdom, "Bluebird, Bluebird" soars. Pushing her classic noir plot deep into history and culture, the Houston native sings her own unshakable, timeless lament. Named after a John Lee Hooker song, Attica Locke's stupendous fourth novel is suffused with the blues. He believes he owes it to the victims and the state he loves to penetrate the mess of secrets and lies enveloping matriarchal cafe owner Geneva Sweet and the long-ago murder of the musician who was the love of her life. As his law professor uncle would say, "The law is a lie black folks need protection from." But Mathews presses on, even as his wife, an attorney, urges him to quit so he can complete the law degree he gave up on to become one of the few black Rangers. The local police and FBI barely tolerate Mathews, who's African-American. ![]() The meth-dealing Aryan Brotherhood of Texas is staining Highway 59 with its hate crimes. Texas Ranger Darren Mathews knows he's exposing himself to a world of trouble when he heads into rural East Texas, where he has deep family roots, to investigate a pair of seemingly connected murders: that of a black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman. "Bluebird, Bluebird" by Attica Locke, Mulholland, 320 pages, $26 ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |