From the Publisher
Stellar…. As is Ms. Locke’s creative wont, the crimes at hand prove a mere prelude to darker deeds.” — Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year
“Outstanding…. Ms. Locke elegantly parcels out key information about her characters one piece at a time.” — Wall Street Journal
“Splendid…. A thoughtful, penetrating mystery.” — USA Today
“This taut thriller. . . is knitted with enough shock and awe and backroom politics to keep you reading and guessing all weekend long.” — Essence
“A nuanced and empathetic look at the unequal, contentious social layers of Houston’s African-American population.” — Seattle Times
“Compelling.... Locke, a writer and co-producer of the Fox drama “Empire,” gracefully melds politics and racial issues with greed and a family rooted in secrecy for a gripping, believable plot.” — Associated Press
“Locke knows how to craft a thrilling story…. With Pleasantville she’s crafted a legal thriller that shifts between personal tragedy and political corruption always with an eye on the subtle detail or the big reveal.” — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
“Locke, a sharp and gifted writer, delivers a complex, suspenseful legal thriller that offers a sophisticated appraisal of our deeply flawed political process, one that is likely to resound with readers.” — Starred Booklist
“A thriller wrapped in an involving story of community and family dynamics. Locke serves up a panorama of nuanced characters and writes with intelligence and depth.” — Kirkus Reviews
“Gripping…a twist-filled plot will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.” — Publishers Weekly
Locke makes every scene count with a complex plot that unfolds surprises at every turn and packs a satisfying conclusion.... Highly recommended for fans of fast-paced mysteries with strong geographic angles and appealing underdogs. — Library Journal (starred)
“[A] deeply nuanced story . . . As Scott Turow has done, Ms. Locke uses small, incremental deceptions to draw her main character into big and dangerous mistakes . . . Subtle and compelling.” — New York Times
“Attica Locke’s first novel, Black Water Rising, which Janet Maslin called ‘subtle and compelling’ in The New York Times, is an even better book than its author had in mind...The book cleverly replaces the kind of cold-war paranoia that used to animate thrillers with racial paranoia instead.” — New York Times
“Locke deftly moves between past and present action . . . [putting] her in the company of master thriller writers such as Dennis Lehane or Scott Turow. . . . Attica Locke [is] a writer wise beyond her years.” — Los Angeles Times
“Black Water Rising is a stylish, involving literary thriller with a strong emphasis on human politics and character. An auspicious debut from Attica Locke.” — George Pelecanos, author of The Turnaround
“I was first struck by Attica Locke’s prose, then by the ingenuity of her narrative and finally and most deeply by the depth of her humanity. She writes with equal amounts grace and passion. . . . I’d probably read the phone book if her name was on the spine.” — Dennis Lehane
“The impressively astute Attica Locke writes . . . in much the same way that Mr. Lehane [does]. . . . Each is willing to use the murder mystery as a framework for much more ambitious, atmospheric fiction.” — New York Times
“Dripping with southern Gothic atmosphere. . . . Equal parts murder mystery and family drama, the novel also draws readers in through its considerations of African-American history and life in post-Katrina Louisiana.” — USA Today
“Compelling. . . . A mystery that expands the whole idea of the mystery, reaching from the present deeply into the past. . . . Great writing, the kind that gives you goose bumps.” — Los Angeles Times
“Absorbing. . . . As she managed to do so well in her first novel, Black Water Rising, Locke draws on the past to remind her characters how much it has shaped their identities and how much it continues to shape the choices they make.” — New York Times Book Review
“[A] haunting mystery, where the murder of a migrant worker brings past and present into hair’s–breadth proximity. ” — People
Booklist (starred review)
Locke, a sharp and gifted writer, delivers a complex, suspenseful legal thriller that offers a sophisticated appraisal of our deeply flawed political process, one that is likely to resound with readers.”
AudioFile
J. D. Jackson’s narration is so solid and organized that listeners get the complete picture…There are a multitude of accents throughout this thriller, and Jackson handles them with precision. He makes Porter a star in the inevitable murder trial.”
Publishers Weekly
Gripping…The twist-filled plot will keep readers eagerly turning the pages.”
Kirkus Reviews
A thriller wrapped in an involving story of community and family dynamics. Locke serves up a panorama of nuanced characters and writes with intelligence and depth.”
Independent (London)
Pleasantville is every inch as impressive as its predecessors, with a new nuance and complexity burnishing the narrative.”
Seattle Times
A nuanced and empathetic look at the unequal, contentious social layers of Houston’s African-American population.
Starred Booklist
Locke, a sharp and gifted writer, delivers a complex, suspenseful legal thriller that offers a sophisticated appraisal of our deeply flawed political process, one that is likely to resound with readers.
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
Locke knows how to craft a thrilling story…. With Pleasantville she’s crafted a legal thriller that shifts between personal tragedy and political corruption always with an eye on the subtle detail or the big reveal.
Essence
This taut thriller. . . is knitted with enough shock and awe and backroom politics to keep you reading and guessing all weekend long.
Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year
Stellar…. As is Ms. Locke’s creative wont, the crimes at hand prove a mere prelude to darker deeds.
Wall Street Journal
Outstanding…. Ms. Locke elegantly parcels out key information about her characters one piece at a time.
USA Today
Splendid…. A thoughtful, penetrating mystery.
Associated Press
Compelling.... Locke, a writer and co-producer of the Fox drama “Empire,” gracefully melds politics and racial issues with greed and a family rooted in secrecy for a gripping, believable plot.
George Pelecanos
Black Water Rising is a stylish, involving literary thriller with a strong emphasis on human politics and character. An auspicious debut from Attica Locke.
New York Times Book Review
Absorbing. . . . As she managed to do so well in her first novel, Black Water Rising, Locke draws on the past to remind her characters how much it has shaped their identities and how much it continues to shape the choices they make.
Dennis Lehane
I was first struck by Attica Locke’s prose, then by the ingenuity of her narrative and finally and most deeply by the depth of her humanity. She writes with equal amounts grace and passion. . . . I’d probably read the phone book if her name was on the spine.
|Los Angeles Times
Locke deftly moves between past and present action . . . [putting] her in the company of master thriller writers such as Dennis Lehane or Scott Turow. . . . Attica Locke [is] a writer wise beyond her years.
New York Times
[A] deeply nuanced story . . . As Scott Turow has done, Ms. Locke uses small, incremental deceptions to draw her main character into big and dangerous mistakes . . . Subtle and compelling.
People
[A] haunting mystery, where the murder of a migrant worker brings past and present into hair’s–breadth proximity.
USA Today
Splendid…. A thoughtful, penetrating mystery.
Wall Street Journal
Outstanding…. Ms. Locke elegantly parcels out key information about her characters one piece at a time.
Essence
This taut thriller. . . is knitted with enough shock and awe and backroom politics to keep you reading and guessing all weekend long.
Los Angeles Times
Locke deftly moves between past and present action . . . [putting] her in the company of master thriller writers such as Dennis Lehane or Scott Turow. . . . Attica Locke [is] a writer wise beyond her years.
Associated Press Staff
Compelling.... Locke, a writer and co-producer of the Fox drama “Empire,” gracefully melds politics and racial issues with greed and a family rooted in secrecy for a gripping, believable plot.
Amy Brozio-Andrews
Locke makes every scene count with a complex plot that unfolds surprises at every turn and packs a satisfying conclusion.... Highly recommended for fans of fast-paced mysteries with strong geographic angles and appealing underdogs.
Kirkus Reviews
2015-02-05
Race, politics and petty grievances muddy the quest for justice when a young election volunteer is kidnapped and murdered.On election night 1996, in the primarily African-American area of Pleasantville, in the north of Houston, a young woman named Alicia Nowell is chased by a mystery figure. That same night, the home of attorney Jay Porter (Black Water Rising, 2009) is broken into. The police are blasé. After they leave, a young intruder comes out of hiding. Jay brandishes his gun but allows the kid to get away. In the absence of a clear election winner, a runoff pits Jay's candidate, former police chief Axel Hathorne, against Sandy Wolcott, a "political upstart."Jay attends a community meeting about the missing girl, who's the third one in recent memory, though the police haven't aggressively investigated the earlier two. He's particularly worried because he's raising his teenage daughter, Ellie, as a single parent. Everyone is surprised when Axel's nephew Neal is arrested. Jay agrees to represent him, and his investigator, Lonnie, learns that the police are monitoring hotheaded Alonzo Hollis as a person of interest. As Jay begins to track Hollis, the wheels of justice turn, and Alicia's body is found. Former Houston mayor Cynthia Maddox, who may have higher ambitions, arrives with Secret Service protection to urge Jay to drop the case. Instead of complying, he prepares for the trial, which unfolds with methodical precision, the final picture taking shape piece by piece. The killer's identity is a genuine surprise. A thriller wrapped in an involving story of community and family dynamics. Locke serves up a panorama of nuanced characters and writes with intelligence and depth.
