Crossroad Blues

Nick Travers #1

by Ace Atkins

With overwhelming acclaim from reviewers, readers, and peers alike, first-time novelist Ace Atkins hits a high note with Nick Travers, mystery fiction's first blues hero. An ex-football pro, Nick's days are now as languid as the Big Easy itself-he teaches the History of Blues at Tulane and occasionally plays the harmonica at JoJo's Blues Bar in the French Quarter. But when a colleague disappears into the Mississippi Delta while researching 1930s blues legend Robert Johnson, Nick's life takes a tailspin. On the trail of the lost professor, Nick also delves into Johnson's mysterious death, and suddenly finds himself with two baffling mysteries on his hands, each more convoluted than the mighty Mississippi.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Graphic Novels, Crime, Music, Mystery Thriller, Comics

Audiobook

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Ace Atkins is the author of twenty-eight books, including eleven Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which, The Ranger and The Lost Ones, were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel (he has a third Edgar nomination for his short story "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"). He is the author of nine New York Times-bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times and a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and he played defensive end for Auburn University football.

Reviews

[Bill Riggs · Rating 4 out of 5]

An excellent debut novel. If you are a fan of mysteries and the Blues then this is the perfect book. Modern day intrigue surrounds the mysterious death of blues legend Robert Johnson. Well written, full of interesting characters, Atkins makes it feel like you are right there with them as the story unfolds.

[Andrew Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read a paperback copy of this book quite a few years back and rated it three stars. If I’m honest, I can’t remember too much about that experience. So much so that I honestly didn’t realise I’d already taken one run through this tale when I sought out the opportunity to listen to this audio version.

The first thing that struck me was just how brilliantly it was narrated by Dion Graham. He has a voice I could listen to all day, with the ability to vary pitch and timbre to represent a whole range of characters. The story itself is woven around the fact that unpublished recordings of the legendary blues musician Robert Johnson might have surfaced deep in the Mississippi Delta. It seems that a number of colourful characters are seeking out this priceless treasure, and they’re joined by ex-pro football player Nick Travers, whose adventure we are to follow.

Set largely in the Delta (the place Johnson actually met his mysterious death) and Southern Louisiana, this is a busy, pacey, and atmospheric tale. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, but I do think a good portion of this was down to the silky skills of the narrator. Great job, Dion.

My thanks to RB Media for providing a copy of this audiobook via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Faith · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audiobook is being released to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the publication of the book, the author’s first. I have read and enjoyed other books by this author, however I thought this book was sort of a mess. There were too many characters, and they weren’t introduced very well. I stopped trying to keep track of all of the people trying to grab the mythical lost recordings of blues great Robert Johnson. I did learn a little about Johnson and the audio was narrated by Dion Graham, and that is always a good thing. On the negative side, in addition to the book being confusing, I also thought that the descriptions of women were misogynistic and the protagonist’s girlfriend existed in the book solely to have (a lot of) sex with him. The author improved in his later books, but I won’t be continuing this series.

I received a free copy of this audiobook from the publisher.

[Chad · Rating 2 out of 5]

A liked the premise and setting. The MacGuffin everyone is hunting for is some lost records of the famous blues singer Robert Johnson. However, the art was really poor. I had a really difficult time telling characters apart and following the plot.

[Marty Fried · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you are interested in blues music, you may like this one. I raised my rating slightly because I do like the blues, and I learned a bit about Robert Johnson, a pretty well-known musician from the past that I didn't know about. I've heard some of his songs by other artists, including the Rolling Stones, but never realized how old it was.

But I didn't think the story itself was anywhere near my favorite series from him, the Quinn Colson series. But it was enjoyable, and New Orleans featured prominently. I've spent a bit of time there, and it was fun to revisit the place without actually going there. It's a nice place to have visited, but I wouldn't really want to go again.

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book completely divided my book group, more so than I have ever seen before. Half of my group loved it and the other half hated it so much they didn't finish it and hardly wanted to discuss it. I was part of the group that enjoyed it, I would give it about 3.5 stars. It took me a while to get into the story and figure out who everyone was but once I did that I really enjoyed the characters and the story. What I think made the story even more enjoyable was the fact that much of it was based on a true story. Being able to go back and listen to the Robert Johnson song Crossroad Blues and know his myth was true made it that much more interesting to me. I also liked a lot of the imagery Ace Atkins used and some of the eccentric characters. Not sure if I will read the others in the series, but I think this really fit in well for our summer reading music theme and was something completely different than what we have read before.

[Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was one of the best debut novels I've read. Nick Travers is one of the best mystery characters, I've come across. Cool,tough,funny...and knows his blues. A former pro football player, that now happens to teach Histoty of Blues at Tulane. With Atkins' research into blues history and the the mystery that surrounds Robert Johnson. The '30's blues legend. With the Delta landscape as a backdrop, the talk of the 'ol timers...you could hear the slide guitar and harp in the background.
To quote Kinky Friedman, "If Raymond Chandler came from the south his name would be Ace Atkins."

[Kyra Leseberg (Roots & Reads) · Rating 2 out of 5]

The description makes this graphic novel sound like it was made for me. A mystery surrounding the death of blues legend Robert Johnson?! A search for lost recordings by the man who supposedly sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads?! Um, yes please!
Unfortunately, this graphic novel didn't live up to my expectations. The narrative was too quick with very little development and jumped around too much. There was no real build up or mystery to solve so while the premise is exciting, this story fell flat.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

A crime noir graphic novel based on the novel of the same name. I haven't read the novels so can't compare but I enjoyed this southern crime quite a lot. It's not terribly complicated as far as mysteries go but it has a lot going for it. It switches from the present to 1938 as Travers gets involved with criminals looking for the secret stash of someone mysteriously killed. Set in New Orleans, it is very atmospheric and concentrates on blues from the early days. Done in a raw black and white style, the illustration much enhances the story.

[Theresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I read this, I realized I knew basicaly nothing about the Blues, the history, those who made the music, those who chase after the music now, the legends. After reading this superb noir detective story, I know a bit more, but I also now know what an incredible setting the Blues makes for contemporary American noir.

It was a baring of the soul that chafed a man's spirit raw, a deceitful woman, being broke, and a painful loneliness of a man living in sensory deprivation, cut off from sound and human contact

Nick Travers walked away from a pro career with the Saints and settled into a somewhat aimless life, hanging out in JoJo's Blues Bar while researching and writing about blues legends, and occasionally teaching a course on the history of blues at Tulane. You get very much a sense that Nick is a bit of a dabbler, a bit rootless, holding the world a little bit at a distance. He's a loner. The Blues is predominantly a black community, and Nick is a white man on the fringes who seems to have been accepted into that world, especially in the jukes and back roads of the Delta, the birthplace of the Blues. And the Delta is where a Tulane colleague disappears while researching Robert Johnson, his death in 1938, and a legendary set of recordings that Johnson is rumored to have made just before his death, unheard by anyone.

While looking for his colleague, Nick himself becomes engrossed in the the stories and legends surrounding Robert Johnson and these mystery recordings. This is noir, so violence, death, hot women, hot music, dark and dingy bars, follow as Nick takes us from New Orleans to the Delta and back as he peels back the lies and legends to the real story. For the reader, it's less about following the clues and solving the mystery than it is sinking into the journey and experiencing the rich dark world presented here. At one point, Nick talks about a moment when he's sitting in front of the Tutwiler Murals (which actually exist):

...when the blues began to make sense. He could almost feel the early part of the century in a nowhere Mississippi town. Something clicked. It wasn't just the oppression. As a white man born in the sixties, there was no feasible way to understand that. It was the loneliness and the isolation in the center of the fertile region.

This is a debut and the first in a series of noir detective novels featuring Nick Travers. It is also an hommage to Dashiell Hammett's The Maltese Falcon, and a well-done one at that. There is some stunning writing here from the very beginning: On the way, mottled shadow patterns of oak leaves fell over him like jigsaws.

Many of the locations, stories, and Blues musicians are real, including Robert Johnson. Here's a recording of Johnson singing Crossroad's Blues which provides ambience and a title to this excellent noir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yd60n....

Initially I had some trouble keeping track of characters and story although that is likely because I had little time to read initially. This is a book to lose yourself in and devour, not read over several days.

I read the 10th Anniversary edition which has a superb Afterward by Greil Marcus which provided additional information on Robert Johnson and his music.

[Laura · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was excited to see a graphic novel about Robert Johnson, but I was underwhelmed. It was definitely a white man's action fantasy. The white male protagonist is a blues historian, but he solves mysteries and fights crime. He is totally not like the other white guys and totally accepted by the black Mississippi Delta community, which has no women, except one young white woman who shows up to sleep with the protagonist and be a pawn in a climactic exchange.

[Cynthia · Rating 3 out of 5]

You'll definitely get a deep South vibe with this one. It is hot and steamy and ripples with prejudice and unrest. The mystery is multi-layered and the characters are both eccentric and likeable. I found the ending to be very satisfying and I look forward to more from this author.

[Maynard · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love music, especially the Blues, this book is for you. Ace Atkins centers his story on the mystery surrounding Blues legend Robert Johnson's death. It is is great ride through Louisiana and Mississippi, as clues slowly fall into place. A great read!

[Sara Leigh · Rating 2 out of 5]

I didn't like the characters, the actions, or the plot. Atkins is not for me.

[Joyce · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was Ace Atkins' first novel and is a great read. Nick Travers is a Music Historian at Tulane and is investigating the disappearance of another Tulane Professor who was looking for information about along dead Blues Musician. It takes you into both Mississippi and New Orleans. The action, and background, are enticing and catch your interest immediately. This is well worth reading and will only make you want to read more of Atkins' fiction.

[Reeca Elliott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nick Travers is Tulane University’s blues historian. He is on the hunt for the 1930s lost recordings of Robert Johnson. But, Nick has discovered more than he bargained for and it may cost him his life.

It has been a while since I have read an Ace Atkins book. WHY? No earthly idea! Lord have mercy this book is good! I loved it for multiple reasons. Of course, great characters. Nick Travers is the best! But the setting is my favorite…The Mississippi Delta! I knew every place in this novel…from Memphis all the way down to New Orleans and everywhere in between. And then there is the mystery and the myth surrounding blues singer Robert Johnson. Ace Atkins did a fantastic job with all of this, the history, the myth, the legend and of course the hunt for the old recordings.

The narrator, Dion Graham is FANTASTIC! He could not have been better and more perfect for this novel. Also, the audiobook is not at Audible. It is at Chirp so I put that link below.

Need a wonderful southern, blues fiction…THIS IS IT! Grab your copy today.

I received this novel from the publisher for a honest review.

[Nancy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This caught my eye on the library shelf. It was an OK story, but I felt it was pretty thin and that something was missing. Afterwards, I realized it was a graphic novel adaptation. I would probably have liked the full novel better, might seek it out (or others in the series) although crime/mystery novels aren't usually my favorite; the blues and delta history aspect was intriguing.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ace Atkins’ first book showed signs of the writer he was to become. Spins its tires a bit in spots but it’s still a good southern fried crime tale with some lovely scenery and, of course, the blues.

[Ricardo Nuno Silva · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you love jazz and a good noir thriller, all wrapped up in a rough-around-the-edges art style, well, this is the perfect graphic novel for you.

Nick Travers chases an elusive moving target, all the while trying to keep himself and some loved ones alive.

An interesting story, with some rather effective back-and-forth flashbacks that keep the story moving right till the (surprising) end.

[Maxine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cross Road Blues (also known as “Crossroads”) is a blues song written and recorded by American blues artist Robert Johnson in 1936…The song has become part of the Robert Johnson mythology as referring to the place where he supposedly sold his soul to the Devil in exchange for his musical talents...
-Wikipedia

A New Orleans college professor has gone missing in Mississippi while searching for the rumored unreleased recordings of blues legend Robert Johnson. Now Nick Travers has been sent to find out what happened to him. As he investigates, he becomes involved with the even bigger question, one that has intrigued music historians for decades – what really happened to Johnson?

But the deeper Travers delves into both these mysteries, the more he realizes there is a great deal more at stake than he thought. Travers discovers that the professor is not the only one searching for the recordings including an albino named Cracker and a hitman who styles himself as the next Elvis and Travers soon finds himself in a whole lot of hot water and I don’t mean the rain that never seems to let up.

Crossroads Blues: A Nick Travers Graphic novel is based on the original novel, Crossroad Blues by writer Ace Atkins who also wrote this graphic novel. It is released by Image Comics. It has a strong feel of a noir crime story, helped along by the black and white graphics by Marco Finnegan. I have not read the original novel so I can’t compare the two but it works very well in this format. It is dark and atmospheric with its gritty settings, mostly one-dimensional characters who are the embodiment of moral ambiguity, and no sense that it will end happily for anyone. A great read for fans of the genre.

Thanks to Edelweiss+ and Image Comics for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review

[Maddy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robert Johnson was a legendary blues figure who died under mysterious circumstances when he was 27. Music historians have always tried to figure out what happened. It appears that one of the music professors at Tulane University, Michael Baker, was chasing down a new lead in the Mississippi Delta. When he doesn’t return, one of the other professors, Dr. Randy Sexton, asks blues tracker Nick Travers to go and see if he can find out what happened.

Baker was indeed hot on the trail of some rumored unreleased recordings that were made prior to Johnson’s death. They are in the hands of an old albino man, which makes him a target for several other people who want these priceless recordings. Among them is Pascal Cruz who owns a commercial venture in New Orleans that appeals to tourists called “Blues Shack’. He’s hired some real dumb thugs to help get the Johnson material, among them a man obsessed with Elvis, Jesse Garon.

The characters never really came alive for me, but Atkins’ writing is good, particularly as he paints the local color and describes the old blues scene. The premise of blending fictional characters with a blues legend worked flawlessly.

"Jazz was a fluted glass of champagne. Blues was a cold beer. Working-class
music.. .It was a bearing of soul, a soul raw from a deceitful woman, being broke, and a painful loneliness of a man living in sensory deprivation."

[Victoria Allman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crossroad Blues is the story of Nick Travers, an ex-New Orleans Saints player turned blues historian and his search for the lost recordings of Robert Johnson. This fast-paced mystery is a throwback to another era; not only 1938 and the murder of Robert Johnson after he sold his soul to the devil to be able to play the blues, but to an era of hard-boiled mysteries and dialogue that cracks like a whip.

Ace Atkins has captured a real sense of place with Crossroad Blues. It is set in both New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta and each page is flavored with both of these unique and intriguing places. Every chapter reads like a well-researched travelogue through the Delta, blues music, and the gritty vibrations of the French Quarter. The references to blues history are flawless and the feel of the South sizzles throughout the story.

Within a few pages, I knew I'd found my favorite new author and can't wait to read more of Nick Travers and Ace Atkins.

If you are a lover of noir mysteries and southern literature you will LOVE Crossroad Blues.

Victoria Allman
author of: SEAsoned: A Chef's Journey with Her Captain

[Booknblues · Rating 3 out of 5]

What would happen if there were nine unknown original recordings of Robert Johnson's work. Would there be intrigue, murder, back-stabbing and plans by glitzy glossy labels to market this work. Well we know stuff would happen and probably some unsavory stuff to help someone make money. This is Ace Atkins' premise. His hero, Nick Travers follows the trail to the Delta to Greenwood where it all began or ended depending on your perspective.
Atkins includes all the elements of blues - the glitzy blues club, The Real Thang in Jojo's, Elvis, a Susan Tedeschi type in Virginia Dare who dares immerse herself in the Delta to develop the real blues feel. Travers' trips to the Delta region does have the blues feel, that kind of eerie, spooky Crossroads mood.

All in all a good fast read. It's not perfect. Mystery books aren't classic literature and blues ain't a Shakespeare sonnet. Both good blues and a good mystery should be accessible and entertaining. Crossroad Blues is.

[Eleanor · Rating 3 out of 5]

So many adult people in my universe are big fans of graphic novels. I thought I’d give the format a try when I discovered that one of my favorite author’s first books was being given new life as a graphic novel.

I should note that Atkins’ Nick Travers mysteries aren’t ones I’ve read; it’s his Quinn Colson series and the Robert B. Parker Spenser novels that made me a fan.

I must admit that I did not find the format satisfying. The story was interesting, and the Robert Johnson legend is always fascinating, but because I know what a talented writer Atkins is I really missed his narrative and descriptive voice.

One thing is certain: I’m going to fill in my Atkins Blank and read the others in this series.

[Joshua Rubin · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a mistake to use a work of fiction as a platform for minor pet peeves and personal passions. From an overblown reverence for the blues that reaches an embarrassingly sacred level to pretentious disdain for tourists, hipsters, and academics, this book is a bitch session for a schmuck. Oh god, and the character Elvis, and quoting Robert Johnson. I mean, I love Robert Johnson, he is very important to blues, but to quote the following lyrics, "I went down, I went down, I went down to the crossroads" is absurd because they are just not at all deep. Mind you, these are not scene setting quotes at the begining of chapters but rather qithin the text. RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDICULOUS.

[Amber · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is probably the worst book I've ever read.

A down-and-out rake is called by a college professor to investigate the disappearance of a man researching the death/missing songs of a black blues musician from the 1930s. All the jazz/blues "experts" in this story are white. The level of violence is tipped heavily towards the black men. The pacing is horrible to the point you don't know what's going on, who anyone is, or actually what their character is. No character development what so ever.

[Matt · Rating 2 out of 5]

I figured this would be right up my alley. Even geeked and played some RJ on my phone! (a couple books have playlists in the back now, ie Royal City)... zero characterization. Over in about the same time as a single comic book. Not a fan of the art either.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doesn't quite sing.

[J.C. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good little graphic novel using the Robert Johnson mythology for a decent crime story.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t get into this, it skipped around a lot and didn’t introduce characters, so I was lost a lot for most of the 25 pages I read. Gave up.