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Highway 59 #2
Heaven, My Home
The thrilling follow-up to the award-winning Bluebird, Bluebird: Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is on the hunt for a boy who's gone missing - but it's the boy's family of white supremacists who are his real target
9-year-old Levi King knew he should have left for home sooner; now he's alone in the darkness of vast Caddo Lake, in a boat whose motor just died. A sudden noise distracts him - and all goes dark.
Darren Matthews is trying to emerge from another kind of darkness; after the events of his previous investigation, his marriage is in a precarious state of re-building, and his career and reputation lie in the hands of his mother, who's never exactly had his best interests at heart. Now she holds the key to his freedom, and she's not above a little maternal blackmail to press her advantage.
An unlikely possibility of rescue arrives in the form of a case down Highway 59, in a small lakeside town where the local economy thrives on nostalgia for ante-bellum Texas - and some of the era's racial attitudes still thrive as well. Levi's disappearance has links to Darren's last case, and to a wealthy businesswoman, the boy's grandmother, who seems more concerned about the fate of her business than that of her grandson.
Darren has to battle centuries-old suspicions and prejudices, as well as threats that have been reignited in the current political climate, as he races to find the boy, and to save himself.
Attica Locke proves that the acclaim and awards for Bluebird, Bluebird were justly deserved, in this thrilling new novel about crimes old and new.
9-year-old Levi King knew he should have left for home sooner; now he's alone in the darkness of vast Caddo Lake, in a boat whose motor just died. A sudden noise distracts him - and all goes dark.
Darren Matthews is trying to emerge from another kind of darkness; after the events of his previous investigation, his marriage is in a precarious state of re-building, and his career and reputation lie in the hands of his mother, who's never exactly had his best interests at heart. Now she holds the key to his freedom, and she's not above a little maternal blackmail to press her advantage.
An unlikely possibility of rescue arrives in the form of a case down Highway 59, in a small lakeside town where the local economy thrives on nostalgia for ante-bellum Texas - and some of the era's racial attitudes still thrive as well. Levi's disappearance has links to Darren's last case, and to a wealthy businesswoman, the boy's grandmother, who seems more concerned about the fate of her business than that of her grandson.
Darren has to battle centuries-old suspicions and prejudices, as well as threats that have been reignited in the current political climate, as he races to find the boy, and to save himself.
Attica Locke proves that the acclaim and awards for Bluebird, Bluebird were justly deserved, in this thrilling new novel about crimes old and new.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 12, 2019
994 people are currently reading
11201 people want to read
About the author
Attica Locke
12 books2,250 followersAttica Locke is a writer whose first novel, Black Water Rising, was nominated for a 2010 Edgar Award, a 2010 NAACP Image Award, as well as a Los Angeles Times Book Prize and was shortlisted for an Orange Prize in the UK.
Attica is also a screenwriter who has written movie and television scripts for Paramount, Warner Bros, Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, HBO, Dreamworks and Silver Pictures. She was also a fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Feature Filmmakers Lab and is a graduate of Northwestern University.
A native of Houston, Texas, Attica lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.
Attica is also a screenwriter who has written movie and television scripts for Paramount, Warner Bros, Disney, Twentieth Century Fox, Jerry Bruckheimer Films, HBO, Dreamworks and Silver Pictures. She was also a fellow at the Sundance Institute’s Feature Filmmakers Lab and is a graduate of Northwestern University.
A native of Houston, Texas, Attica lives in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and daughter.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,258 reviews
September 3, 2019
Attica Locke's sequel to Bluebird, Bluebird is simply phenomenal, confirming her growing stature in the field of literary crime, although I do recommend reading the first in the series before reading this. Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is feeling the threats and pressures of his previous actions, as his manipulative mother, Bell, blackmails him, a mother he has ambivalent feelings towards, it was William and Clayton who had raised him, but he feels an inner need to connect with Bell, even though she is taking him for a ride. His marriage to Lisa seems to have got on track again, at the price of counselling and his move to a desk bound role in the ABT (Aryan Brotherhood of Texas) taskforce run by Lieutenant Fred Wilson. In Jefferson, a 9 year old boy, Levi King, is out at night in a ramshackle craft on Lake Caddo, frightened that he will never make it home. Levi is far from being an angelic child, his father is the notorious Bill King, the head of the ABT, serving time in prison.
An apparently reformed Bill is worried about Levi's disappearance, and that little effort has been made to find him. Wilson sees an opportunity to gain valuable intel on the ABT as he dispatches Darren to nearby Jefferson, with its main industry of a tourism reselling its antebellum glory days that hadn't gone down well with black people the first time round. Old Hopetown is a dying community of blacks and Native American Indians that have lived and supported each other on land owned by the elderly Leroy Page, a community facing constant harassment and abuse from white supremacists living in their trailers. Levi's mother seems convinced her son is with his rich and powerful grandmother, Rosemary King, a woman intent on freeing her son from prison but with little interest in Levi. On the assumption that Levi is now dead, Page is charged with his murder even though there is no body. In a Jefferson that is a snake pit of thieves and liars, Darren is made to feel less than welcome, the locals feel free to abuse and behave disgracefully towards him, but he is convinced Levi is alive and sets out to find him with the hope this will alleviate the problems he is facing.
Locke sets the novel in the immediate aftermath of Trump's election and a Texas in which the repercussions are being keenly felt by a despairing Darren amidst the rising tide of homegrown terrorists, racial violence, intimidation, abuse and killings. He has little expectation that the situation can be dealt with, unlike his boss, prior to the new administration taking over, there are just too many of them, an ever growing tribe of emboldened racists crawling out from everywhere and anywhere, both overt and covert. In an atmospheric, richly detailed, and well researched narrative, Locke takes us into the troubling state of small town America and Texas on the cusp of a Trump presidency, presaging much of the horror we have since seen unfold in the nation. Amidst this background, the complex mystery of Levi, and Jefferson engages and absorbs, while the flawed Darren proves to be an excellent central protagonist struggling to keep hold of a firm sense of his own identity. Superb storytelling that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
An apparently reformed Bill is worried about Levi's disappearance, and that little effort has been made to find him. Wilson sees an opportunity to gain valuable intel on the ABT as he dispatches Darren to nearby Jefferson, with its main industry of a tourism reselling its antebellum glory days that hadn't gone down well with black people the first time round. Old Hopetown is a dying community of blacks and Native American Indians that have lived and supported each other on land owned by the elderly Leroy Page, a community facing constant harassment and abuse from white supremacists living in their trailers. Levi's mother seems convinced her son is with his rich and powerful grandmother, Rosemary King, a woman intent on freeing her son from prison but with little interest in Levi. On the assumption that Levi is now dead, Page is charged with his murder even though there is no body. In a Jefferson that is a snake pit of thieves and liars, Darren is made to feel less than welcome, the locals feel free to abuse and behave disgracefully towards him, but he is convinced Levi is alive and sets out to find him with the hope this will alleviate the problems he is facing.
Locke sets the novel in the immediate aftermath of Trump's election and a Texas in which the repercussions are being keenly felt by a despairing Darren amidst the rising tide of homegrown terrorists, racial violence, intimidation, abuse and killings. He has little expectation that the situation can be dealt with, unlike his boss, prior to the new administration taking over, there are just too many of them, an ever growing tribe of emboldened racists crawling out from everywhere and anywhere, both overt and covert. In an atmospheric, richly detailed, and well researched narrative, Locke takes us into the troubling state of small town America and Texas on the cusp of a Trump presidency, presaging much of the horror we have since seen unfold in the nation. Amidst this background, the complex mystery of Levi, and Jefferson engages and absorbs, while the flawed Darren proves to be an excellent central protagonist struggling to keep hold of a firm sense of his own identity. Superb storytelling that I recommend highly. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.
November 10, 2019
Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke is a 2019 Mulholland publication.
A powerful and deeply effective crime drama!
I have been dying to get my hands on this book since reading ‘Bluebird, Bluebird’. As this second installment opens, we find Darren Matthews working hard to make his marriage work and stabilize his career. But then he is hand-picked to locate a young boy who has disappeared on Caddo Lake. However, this is not the usual Amber Alert situation. Young Levi King is the son of a white supremacist and Matthew’s real target is Levi’s family.
Meanwhile, the explosive knowledge his mother has on Darren could derail everything he’s precariously pieced back together. As the pressure increases, the case takes a stunning turn linking back to Darren’s previous case. In a tense race against time, Darren’s salvation depends on the rescue and return of Levi King.
I can’t put into words how impressive this series is. The atmosphere is heavy and thick, and the suspense is nearly unbearable. At its core this series is a procedural, with a mystery to solve, but the complexities of the novel, and the characters, are so deep and conflicted it seems this series defies the ordinary and mundane label is categorized under.
There is so much diversity, layers of history, especially in the depiction of the Hasinai Caddo Indians, and the incredible landscape to compliment the drama.
There are several deep topics to explore and ponder on, but one that truly stuck out for me was the timely subject of forgiveness and the all too realistic depiction of the political climate in this country, showcasing the troubling results it has wrought.
Locke’s prose and intricate plotting and pitch perfect pacing, rich characterizations, and cultural observations will make this series appealing to a much broader audience, luring in those who don’t typically read crime fiction.
Overall, I think I might have liked this second installment a little better than the first and that’s really saying something. I can’t wait to see the direction Darren Matthews will follow and what paths Attica Locke and Highway 59 will take us down in the future.
A powerful and deeply effective crime drama!
I have been dying to get my hands on this book since reading ‘Bluebird, Bluebird’. As this second installment opens, we find Darren Matthews working hard to make his marriage work and stabilize his career. But then he is hand-picked to locate a young boy who has disappeared on Caddo Lake. However, this is not the usual Amber Alert situation. Young Levi King is the son of a white supremacist and Matthew’s real target is Levi’s family.
Meanwhile, the explosive knowledge his mother has on Darren could derail everything he’s precariously pieced back together. As the pressure increases, the case takes a stunning turn linking back to Darren’s previous case. In a tense race against time, Darren’s salvation depends on the rescue and return of Levi King.
I can’t put into words how impressive this series is. The atmosphere is heavy and thick, and the suspense is nearly unbearable. At its core this series is a procedural, with a mystery to solve, but the complexities of the novel, and the characters, are so deep and conflicted it seems this series defies the ordinary and mundane label is categorized under.
There is so much diversity, layers of history, especially in the depiction of the Hasinai Caddo Indians, and the incredible landscape to compliment the drama.
There are several deep topics to explore and ponder on, but one that truly stuck out for me was the timely subject of forgiveness and the all too realistic depiction of the political climate in this country, showcasing the troubling results it has wrought.
Locke’s prose and intricate plotting and pitch perfect pacing, rich characterizations, and cultural observations will make this series appealing to a much broader audience, luring in those who don’t typically read crime fiction.
Overall, I think I might have liked this second installment a little better than the first and that’s really saying something. I can’t wait to see the direction Darren Matthews will follow and what paths Attica Locke and Highway 59 will take us down in the future.
September 17, 2019
***NOW AVAILABLE***
This is the second in the series about Texas Ranger Darren Matthews, the follow up to the hugely successful “Bluebird, Bluebird”, the Hwy 59 series.
This book is every bit as good as the first. It combines mystery with some family drama and historical myth and facts about East Texas.
Darren is back on the job as a Texas Ranger but he has been tied to his desk. He has been continuing his investigation into the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, (often referred to as the ABT) trying to find out the leaders (captains) and collect names of members and what they have been up to and are planning. He agreed to the desk job to appease his wife who didn’t want him on the road and gone from home for long periods of time.
An incident in the east Texas town of Jefferson has his superior requesting that he go to investigate. There is a missing 9 year old boy, the son of a leading white supremacist, there is the feeling that there is a connection between the ABT and the child’s disappearance. Darren is an African American and again faces racism and prejudice in this small town.
What makes this book extremely interesting is the complicated threads between a group of Native Texas Indians who live alongside a group of African Americans in land surrounding Caddo Lake, there are also a group of ABT families living close by on this extended stretch of land. I felt as if I could feel the racial tension and attitudes between them all.
I had listened to the first book in this series but now reading the second I can appreciate even more the brilliance of Ms. Locke’s writing. Her descriptions of the town, the immense Lake and all of its hidden bayous had me completely immersed in the feel of the raw nature in this area and all of it’s hidden secrets. “Inside the forest they were floating through, there was no sound beyond the tinkle of lake water against the sides of the boat, no world beyond Caddo Lake, Darren had never seen anything like it.”
Darren uses all of his resources and wits to try to find the missing child, “something had rooted his boots in place, some bits in this story that didn’t add up, that played like Russian nesting dolls---open one mystery and find another and another and another and another”. This is just what the reader will experience, so many mysteries, so many secrets, it was great!
I would highly recommend that you read the first book as this is in many ways a continuation of Bluebird, Bluebird. We will continue to watch Darren as he struggles with his marital problems, drinking habit and whether he can rein in his natural instincts enough to work within the laws of the Texas Rangers. I felt that I learned so much about the history of the area and the people who live there. What a great mystery, masterfully written!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
This novel is set to publish September 17, 2019
This is the second in the series about Texas Ranger Darren Matthews, the follow up to the hugely successful “Bluebird, Bluebird”, the Hwy 59 series.
This book is every bit as good as the first. It combines mystery with some family drama and historical myth and facts about East Texas.
Darren is back on the job as a Texas Ranger but he has been tied to his desk. He has been continuing his investigation into the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, (often referred to as the ABT) trying to find out the leaders (captains) and collect names of members and what they have been up to and are planning. He agreed to the desk job to appease his wife who didn’t want him on the road and gone from home for long periods of time.
An incident in the east Texas town of Jefferson has his superior requesting that he go to investigate. There is a missing 9 year old boy, the son of a leading white supremacist, there is the feeling that there is a connection between the ABT and the child’s disappearance. Darren is an African American and again faces racism and prejudice in this small town.
What makes this book extremely interesting is the complicated threads between a group of Native Texas Indians who live alongside a group of African Americans in land surrounding Caddo Lake, there are also a group of ABT families living close by on this extended stretch of land. I felt as if I could feel the racial tension and attitudes between them all.
I had listened to the first book in this series but now reading the second I can appreciate even more the brilliance of Ms. Locke’s writing. Her descriptions of the town, the immense Lake and all of its hidden bayous had me completely immersed in the feel of the raw nature in this area and all of it’s hidden secrets. “Inside the forest they were floating through, there was no sound beyond the tinkle of lake water against the sides of the boat, no world beyond Caddo Lake, Darren had never seen anything like it.”
Darren uses all of his resources and wits to try to find the missing child, “something had rooted his boots in place, some bits in this story that didn’t add up, that played like Russian nesting dolls---open one mystery and find another and another and another and another”. This is just what the reader will experience, so many mysteries, so many secrets, it was great!
I would highly recommend that you read the first book as this is in many ways a continuation of Bluebird, Bluebird. We will continue to watch Darren as he struggles with his marital problems, drinking habit and whether he can rein in his natural instincts enough to work within the laws of the Texas Rangers. I felt that I learned so much about the history of the area and the people who live there. What a great mystery, masterfully written!
I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through NetGalley.
This novel is set to publish September 17, 2019
August 25, 2019
Wow! Talk about timely. Darren Matthews has been working on a Texas Ranger task force investigating the Aryan Brotherhood. But there’s about to be a changing of the guard in Washington. There’s a real concern that the incoming Trump Justice Department might “mistake the Aryan Brotherhood for some sort of honor guard”.
What makes this interesting is that Darren’s new investigation has him looking for the missing son of the head of the ABT. The father is locked up in prison. Oh, did I mention that Darren is black?
I really appreciated the first book in this series. I do think it helps to have read book 1, “Bluebird, Bluebird” because there are definitely plot points that carry over.
I listened to Bluebird, Bluebird, so I don’t think I really appreciated the power of Locke’s writing. Reading this book, it really awed me. This is not your typical mystery.
Darren is a wonderful character, but I also appreciated the depth of others, like Greg and Marcus.
This story moves along at a good clip. There are multiple themes here, but underlying all of them is the tense race relations of East Texas. The history of the region is well researched and interwoven with the present day stories.
The book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, which hopefully means there will be a third in the series.
My thanks to netgalley and Mulholland Books for an advance copy of this book.
What makes this interesting is that Darren’s new investigation has him looking for the missing son of the head of the ABT. The father is locked up in prison. Oh, did I mention that Darren is black?
I really appreciated the first book in this series. I do think it helps to have read book 1, “Bluebird, Bluebird” because there are definitely plot points that carry over.
I listened to Bluebird, Bluebird, so I don’t think I really appreciated the power of Locke’s writing. Reading this book, it really awed me. This is not your typical mystery.
Darren is a wonderful character, but I also appreciated the depth of others, like Greg and Marcus.
This story moves along at a good clip. There are multiple themes here, but underlying all of them is the tense race relations of East Texas. The history of the region is well researched and interwoven with the present day stories.
The book ends with a bit of a cliffhanger, which hopefully means there will be a third in the series.
My thanks to netgalley and Mulholland Books for an advance copy of this book.
October 16, 2019
East Texas, racial tension amidst the furor of white supremacy. A place Darren gladly left in Lockes last book, though he left many secrets there, secrets that could cost him everything. Now he is being sent back, a nine year old boy is missing and though that is not supposed to be his prime concern, he gets tangled up in his disappearance anyway. The reason he was sent there is to get evidence and information on the white supremacists. Here he will meet the usual suspects, some good, many with their own agendas.
In the story itself, Darren, compared this case to the Russian nesting dollss, and that is a great description for the book itself. Uncover one motive, one layer and another appears. There are secrets and dangers lurking everywhere. Darren himself is a flawed character and he honestly enlightens the reader about his own secrets, mistakes, in both his personal and professional life. There are many, and sometimes what one believes, is not the whole truth. Into this vipers next of white supremacy, he finds the usual hate but also much more. Somehow he must make his way through and find a lost boy and some answers as to where his life is heading.
Since some areas were dropped, nor fully explained, I expect their will be another in series coming down the line. Well written, and atmospheric, some hates never die, but sometimes fairness prevails.
"Cant have all the hate talk out there and it not end up in violence some kind of way. You talk it enough and it carves out a path of permission in your heart, starts to make crazy shit okay."
ARC from Netgalley.
In the story itself, Darren, compared this case to the Russian nesting dollss, and that is a great description for the book itself. Uncover one motive, one layer and another appears. There are secrets and dangers lurking everywhere. Darren himself is a flawed character and he honestly enlightens the reader about his own secrets, mistakes, in both his personal and professional life. There are many, and sometimes what one believes, is not the whole truth. Into this vipers next of white supremacy, he finds the usual hate but also much more. Somehow he must make his way through and find a lost boy and some answers as to where his life is heading.
Since some areas were dropped, nor fully explained, I expect their will be another in series coming down the line. Well written, and atmospheric, some hates never die, but sometimes fairness prevails.
"Cant have all the hate talk out there and it not end up in violence some kind of way. You talk it enough and it carves out a path of permission in your heart, starts to make crazy shit okay."
ARC from Netgalley.
December 29, 2019
Attica Locke has come back with a bang in Heaven My Home. The story is totally engrossing and you'll definitely have trouble putting this book down. I finished it off in é days. Following Darren and all his troubles is fascinating. There are excellent dialogues and character descriptions in small town life, along with history and mystery. I highly recommend the Highway 59 series. Read Bluebird, Bluebird first though.
October 5, 2020
"I made heaven my home, I shall not be moved. Black music, Darren thought, so often points hearts and minds to a higher plane."
We're back on Highway 59 with Texas Ranger, Darren Mathews. Be best if you grab a copy of the superb Bluebird, Bluebird before sinking into this one.
Attica Locke has created a well-chiseled, complicated character whose depth is as wondrous as the Gulf lining the shores of ol' Texas. As a black Ranger, Darren comes across situations that can try one's soul. His last case brought him face-to-face with some very hard-shelled individuals in a small town knotted with human long standing drama. It was a tight one.
In Heaven, My Home Darren is sent up the road from Houston to Marion County near Caddo Lake. A young nine year old boy, Levi King, has gone missing. Seems like this one is covered in strange webs. Levi's father, Bill King, is serving time in prison and happens to have connections to the Aryan Brotherhood. It appears that young Levi has been exposed to some lowlife propaganda from a tender age. His sister, Dana, says that he took off and no one has a clue to his whereabouts. Not even his shifty grandmother who owns quite a bit of property in this town. But someone knows something.
The last thing that Darren wants is to engage with a bunch of white supremacists. He's trying to get his life back on track with his lawyer wife, Lisa. He's also caught up in a burned-out relationship with his mother who has been holding something threatening over his head. Darren needs to catch a break soon. But duty calls.....
The previous book, Bluebird, Bluebird was filled with action and taut situations on almost every page. The second book in this series, Heaven, My Home, is more of a slow burn with the embers scorching ground mightily by the end. We experience a bit of unraveling with Darren as his personal life starts to lean heavily upon him. There's also some sticky business that comes a callin' from his last case.
Attica Locke sees to it that we're totally immersed in this one as she did with the first in this series. The writing is top-notch and the storyline is filled with high interest. I'd say to get in on the ground floor now with this series. Here's hoping that the next one is already on its way.
We're back on Highway 59 with Texas Ranger, Darren Mathews. Be best if you grab a copy of the superb Bluebird, Bluebird before sinking into this one.
Attica Locke has created a well-chiseled, complicated character whose depth is as wondrous as the Gulf lining the shores of ol' Texas. As a black Ranger, Darren comes across situations that can try one's soul. His last case brought him face-to-face with some very hard-shelled individuals in a small town knotted with human long standing drama. It was a tight one.
In Heaven, My Home Darren is sent up the road from Houston to Marion County near Caddo Lake. A young nine year old boy, Levi King, has gone missing. Seems like this one is covered in strange webs. Levi's father, Bill King, is serving time in prison and happens to have connections to the Aryan Brotherhood. It appears that young Levi has been exposed to some lowlife propaganda from a tender age. His sister, Dana, says that he took off and no one has a clue to his whereabouts. Not even his shifty grandmother who owns quite a bit of property in this town. But someone knows something.
The last thing that Darren wants is to engage with a bunch of white supremacists. He's trying to get his life back on track with his lawyer wife, Lisa. He's also caught up in a burned-out relationship with his mother who has been holding something threatening over his head. Darren needs to catch a break soon. But duty calls.....
The previous book, Bluebird, Bluebird was filled with action and taut situations on almost every page. The second book in this series, Heaven, My Home, is more of a slow burn with the embers scorching ground mightily by the end. We experience a bit of unraveling with Darren as his personal life starts to lean heavily upon him. There's also some sticky business that comes a callin' from his last case.
Attica Locke sees to it that we're totally immersed in this one as she did with the first in this series. The writing is top-notch and the storyline is filled with high interest. I'd say to get in on the ground floor now with this series. Here's hoping that the next one is already on its way.
October 23, 2019
Find all of my reviews at: http://52bookminimum.blogspot.com/
Since I’m currently reading my second continuation of a series for 2019, despite my never-ending-commentary that . . . . .
I figured it was well past time to finally write something up about this. (Still 40 reviews behind, though, so go me!) As soon as I heard there was going to be a sequel to Bluebird, Bluebird I wanted it. I will say that this is not a selection that works well as a standalone, so if you are like me and kind of allergic to staying with the same folks for too long this might not be a winner for you. I will also admit that due to there being so much continuation of the first book’s storyline into the second the rating took a hit for me too. I don’t have a great memory, I read A LOT of books and I don’t re-read. That doesn’t always make for a winning recipe when it comes to books two, three and so-on (which is why I avoid them like the black plague). So why the exception here??? Well, mainly because . . . . .
Attica Locke is simply one of the best when it comes to putting you in a place. She is from the locale she writes about and you can tell. She knows where the bend is in the river and she knows who is going to live down yonder on any such spot of land – even if they are fictional. Her words aren’t wasted. They get you where she wants to take you and they do it efficiently. And the stories? Well, I knew nothing going in to this aside from it was going to be about a missing child and . . . .
My mind immediately assumed the child was black since I couldn’t figure out why Texas Ranger Darren Matthews would be sent down Highway 59 to deal with the Aryan Brotherhood . . . .
But then I discovered the child was white and Darren was sent to deal with the older residents of town (who were black) and that there was a whooooooooooooooooole lotta stuff going on back in the sticks.
The best compliment I can give to Attica Locke is that she reminds me a bit of Dennis Lehane. She writes a good mystery, she fills it with memorable characters, she’s not unwilling to get dark, no one is a saint - and most of all, she takes you there.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!
Since I’m currently reading my second continuation of a series for 2019, despite my never-ending-commentary that . . . . .
I figured it was well past time to finally write something up about this. (Still 40 reviews behind, though, so go me!) As soon as I heard there was going to be a sequel to Bluebird, Bluebird I wanted it. I will say that this is not a selection that works well as a standalone, so if you are like me and kind of allergic to staying with the same folks for too long this might not be a winner for you. I will also admit that due to there being so much continuation of the first book’s storyline into the second the rating took a hit for me too. I don’t have a great memory, I read A LOT of books and I don’t re-read. That doesn’t always make for a winning recipe when it comes to books two, three and so-on (which is why I avoid them like the black plague). So why the exception here??? Well, mainly because . . . . .
Attica Locke is simply one of the best when it comes to putting you in a place. She is from the locale she writes about and you can tell. She knows where the bend is in the river and she knows who is going to live down yonder on any such spot of land – even if they are fictional. Her words aren’t wasted. They get you where she wants to take you and they do it efficiently. And the stories? Well, I knew nothing going in to this aside from it was going to be about a missing child and . . . .
My mind immediately assumed the child was black since I couldn’t figure out why Texas Ranger Darren Matthews would be sent down Highway 59 to deal with the Aryan Brotherhood . . . .
But then I discovered the child was white and Darren was sent to deal with the older residents of town (who were black) and that there was a whooooooooooooooooole lotta stuff going on back in the sticks.
The best compliment I can give to Attica Locke is that she reminds me a bit of Dennis Lehane. She writes a good mystery, she fills it with memorable characters, she’s not unwilling to get dark, no one is a saint - and most of all, she takes you there.
ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you, NetGalley!
October 1, 2019
4 stars. Definitely an improvement (for me) from Bluebird, Bluebird.
Update: I'm revising this review for the 90th time today. I decided the quote needs to go at the top of this because it is brilliant and so well captures the fragility and conflict of what is at the core of being alive today.
"Darren pictured the blond boy in the photo, tried to quantify in his mind the amount of grace owed a child, one who was merely copying the grown men around him. And that's all it was, wasn't it? He hated to think the country was growing racists like bumper crops, full of piss and venom, as bitter as the dirt from which they came. Surely Levi King deserved the benefit of the doubt. Didn't he? Did Darren really want to live in a world in which a nine-year-old wasn't worth his hope?"
With her previous book in the series, I was disappointed because it was so hyped up (and was an Edgar Award Winner), but I gave it three stars (review here) because I knew it was more me than anything wrong with the book. I wasn't as engaged with the investigation, but I recognized the writing was superb.I was hoping the next in the series would improve on that and it definitely did.
Highlights of what I liked:
1) This book picks up right after the 2016 Presidential election. The setting is East Texas and law enforcement (the FBI, Texas Rangers and local sheriff offices) are trying to discern how to proceed with their investigation of the Arayan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT). There is a lot of political calculus needed, especially when the main crime being investigated is the disappearance (and suspected murder) of the 9 year old son of an infamous ABT member.
2) Darren Mathews is a great anti-hero. His character has so much complexity to it that you can't help yourself in rooting for him (and sweating it out when you're afraid he is in danger), which is written expertly by Ms. Locke.
3) The length. At 267 pages, there is no fat that needs to be cut. I appreciate an author being able to write expertly without it being a tome. Also, I don't really know how to articulate it, but her writing is just so...smart. It's so on point with what's going on today and how complex everything is in this country. The quote above is a perfect example.
This series isn't for everyone, but I found in reading the second installment that it definitely is for me. I am a political junkie and I love when that interest coincides with my #1 love of reading. What I also appreciate, is that you can jump right in the series without reading the previous book. Attica Locke does a great job of recapping just enough without making you feel like you need to start from the beginning. I can't wait to see what Ms. Locke comes up with next for Darren Mathews.
Thank you to Netgalley, Mulholland Books and Attica Locke for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.
Review Date: 09/30/2019
Publication Date: 09/17/2019
Update: I'm revising this review for the 90th time today. I decided the quote needs to go at the top of this because it is brilliant and so well captures the fragility and conflict of what is at the core of being alive today.
"Darren pictured the blond boy in the photo, tried to quantify in his mind the amount of grace owed a child, one who was merely copying the grown men around him. And that's all it was, wasn't it? He hated to think the country was growing racists like bumper crops, full of piss and venom, as bitter as the dirt from which they came. Surely Levi King deserved the benefit of the doubt. Didn't he? Did Darren really want to live in a world in which a nine-year-old wasn't worth his hope?"
With her previous book in the series, I was disappointed because it was so hyped up (and was an Edgar Award Winner), but I gave it three stars (review here) because I knew it was more me than anything wrong with the book. I wasn't as engaged with the investigation, but I recognized the writing was superb.I was hoping the next in the series would improve on that and it definitely did.
Highlights of what I liked:
1) This book picks up right after the 2016 Presidential election. The setting is East Texas and law enforcement (the FBI, Texas Rangers and local sheriff offices) are trying to discern how to proceed with their investigation of the Arayan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT). There is a lot of political calculus needed, especially when the main crime being investigated is the disappearance (and suspected murder) of the 9 year old son of an infamous ABT member.
2) Darren Mathews is a great anti-hero. His character has so much complexity to it that you can't help yourself in rooting for him (and sweating it out when you're afraid he is in danger), which is written expertly by Ms. Locke.
3) The length. At 267 pages, there is no fat that needs to be cut. I appreciate an author being able to write expertly without it being a tome. Also, I don't really know how to articulate it, but her writing is just so...smart. It's so on point with what's going on today and how complex everything is in this country. The quote above is a perfect example.
This series isn't for everyone, but I found in reading the second installment that it definitely is for me. I am a political junkie and I love when that interest coincides with my #1 love of reading. What I also appreciate, is that you can jump right in the series without reading the previous book. Attica Locke does a great job of recapping just enough without making you feel like you need to start from the beginning. I can't wait to see what Ms. Locke comes up with next for Darren Mathews.
Thank you to Netgalley, Mulholland Books and Attica Locke for the opportunity to read and provide an honest review of this book.
Review Date: 09/30/2019
Publication Date: 09/17/2019
October 21, 2019
After reading Bluebird, Bluebird, I was glad to learn that it would be the beginning of a criminal mystery series that held much promise with its unique main character who fought against racism in the south as one of the only black Texas Rangers in current times. But where that first book in the series succeeded, making me care about Darren Mathews, a man fighting against not only racism, but alcoholism and his own demons, this second book left me wanting to distance myself from him and his moral compass gone awry. Because while he was deeply flawed in book one, I was sympathetic toward him and his various plights. But in this book, his choices, as he investigates the missing son of a jailed white supremacist, left me baffled and wondering if his conscience had gone missing, ever so much as the nine year old boy he sought to find.
I’m not going to get into any particulars to avoid spoilers. I’ll just say that by the end of this book, I felt it no longer had a true protagonist in the MC. Not even Darren’s tragic childhood and fraught relationship with his mother as an adult could make me care enough about him. Also, the sometimes lyrical writing in book one about the land Mathews loved and called home was missing from this book as much as his conscience.
So why a seemingly generous three stars? The mystery, which turned out to be far more complex than I bargained for, was better than average, and the areas of gray permeating it gave me much food for thought. But the main character truly disappointed me to the point that I’ve decided not to continue with the series. I need to care about at least one of the characters in a book, even those as deeply flawed as Darren Mathews. And I did care about him in book one when he hoped to pull himself together. But in this book, he seemed to give up on fighting his worst instincts, so I’m giving up on him, too.
I’m not going to get into any particulars to avoid spoilers. I’ll just say that by the end of this book, I felt it no longer had a true protagonist in the MC. Not even Darren’s tragic childhood and fraught relationship with his mother as an adult could make me care enough about him. Also, the sometimes lyrical writing in book one about the land Mathews loved and called home was missing from this book as much as his conscience.
So why a seemingly generous three stars? The mystery, which turned out to be far more complex than I bargained for, was better than average, and the areas of gray permeating it gave me much food for thought. But the main character truly disappointed me to the point that I’ve decided not to continue with the series. I need to care about at least one of the characters in a book, even those as deeply flawed as Darren Mathews. And I did care about him in book one when he hoped to pull himself together. But in this book, he seemed to give up on fighting his worst instincts, so I’m giving up on him, too.
May 9, 2020
Welcome to East Texas noir featuring Texas Ranger Darren Matthews. Lieutenant Fred Wilson sees an opportunity for Darren to uncover important information regarding the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (ABT) when the 9-year-old son of the incarcerated leader Bill King of the ABT goes missing. Darren has been investigating the ABT for the past several months in Houston. This will put him back in the field in white supremacist territory with the lead suspect being a black man named Leroy Page. Of note, Leroy is a landowner in a dying community of blacks and Hasinai Caddo Indians.
Needless to say, the case is a whole lot more complicated than it first appears. And then there is a previous case that has Darren second-guessing himself.
Enjoy Locke’s literary crime series. It is a winner.
Needless to say, the case is a whole lot more complicated than it first appears. And then there is a previous case that has Darren second-guessing himself.
Enjoy Locke’s literary crime series. It is a winner.
September 22, 2019
Heaven, My Home is the second in this excellent series by Attika Locke. This mystery is set in Texas and features Darren Matthews, an African American Texas Ranger. This one focuses on the disappearance of a 9 year old boy, who is the son of a convicted white supremacist. Darren gets involved in the investigation because this might be the opportunity to get more information about a white supremacist group. But his own emotions and sense of what’s right and wrong become complicated when the main suspect is an older African American man. Locke doesn’t shy away from complex contemporary politics and issues, and she delves into the complexity without being pedantic or didactic – in other words, Locke assumes her readers are intelligent and interested in the world – one of my favourite kinds of mysteries.
It’s worth reading #1 before reading this one, because Darren’s moral and emotional struggles carry through from book 1 to book 2. I sure hope there’s a #3 on the way.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an advance copy.
It’s worth reading #1 before reading this one, because Darren’s moral and emotional struggles carry through from book 1 to book 2. I sure hope there’s a #3 on the way.
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me access to an advance copy.
September 17, 2019
Rating: 4 shining East Texas stars
This is the second book in Attica Locke’s ‘Highway 59’ series. Her first book in the series, Bluebird, Bluebird totally blew me away with the plotline and the elegance of the writing in a murder mystery. “Heaven, My Home” is a wonderful second addition to the series. While I liked it a tiny bit less than the first book, this outing was just as thrilling as the first book.
Chronologically, this book starts just little after the conclusion of “Bluebird, Bluebird”. African American Texas Ranger, Darren Mathews, is called away from his desk job to investigate the disappearance of a 9- year-old boy that might be connected to the Aryan Brotherhood. Darren’s mother is blackmailing hm. He has formed a tentative détente with his wife Lisa. His boss wants him to nail down more crimes tied to the Aryan Brotherhood (ABT). This needs to happen before the next President is sworn in. The consensus is that the new Administration’s Department of Justice pursuit of hate crimes will diminish.
Under these conditions, Darren enters the town of Jefferson, Texas and the secluded lakeside settlement of Hopetown. Darren tries to track down Levi King, the missing 9-year-old. He also tries to figure out how to tie more crimes to the ABT. In Jefferson, that shouldn’t be too hard. He is conflicted about the state of his marriage, and he’s desperately trying to find the item that his mother is using to blackmail him. As in the first book, his life is a bit of a hot mess, but at his core Darren always wants to do the right thing. The right thing may not be the lawful thing, but it is always the just thing.
There is plenty of action in this book. The continued race-relations issues encountered by the African American and Native American characters in this book were disturbing. It is hard to believe that these things still go on today. I do however believe it. I loved that Caddo Lake and its history was actually a large part of the story. I liked the time spent describing the lake and the cypress forests. It is now some place that I’d like to see for myself with the right guide.
Occasionally it seemed that there was too much going on, and it took too long to get to the main core of the story. That is why I’m knocking off one star in my rating. I’d gladly recommend this to anyone who enjoys an intelligent police procedural mystery. This one has a flawed main character you can’t help but to root for. I am eagerly waiting the publication of the third book in this series. In order to get the fullest enjoyment of this series, I’d recommend starting with “Bluebird, Bluebird”. It's not absolutely necessary, but the nuances in this book will be better understood if you read the series in order.
‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Mulholland Books; and the author, Attica Locke, for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This is the second book in Attica Locke’s ‘Highway 59’ series. Her first book in the series, Bluebird, Bluebird totally blew me away with the plotline and the elegance of the writing in a murder mystery. “Heaven, My Home” is a wonderful second addition to the series. While I liked it a tiny bit less than the first book, this outing was just as thrilling as the first book.
Chronologically, this book starts just little after the conclusion of “Bluebird, Bluebird”. African American Texas Ranger, Darren Mathews, is called away from his desk job to investigate the disappearance of a 9- year-old boy that might be connected to the Aryan Brotherhood. Darren’s mother is blackmailing hm. He has formed a tentative détente with his wife Lisa. His boss wants him to nail down more crimes tied to the Aryan Brotherhood (ABT). This needs to happen before the next President is sworn in. The consensus is that the new Administration’s Department of Justice pursuit of hate crimes will diminish.
Under these conditions, Darren enters the town of Jefferson, Texas and the secluded lakeside settlement of Hopetown. Darren tries to track down Levi King, the missing 9-year-old. He also tries to figure out how to tie more crimes to the ABT. In Jefferson, that shouldn’t be too hard. He is conflicted about the state of his marriage, and he’s desperately trying to find the item that his mother is using to blackmail him. As in the first book, his life is a bit of a hot mess, but at his core Darren always wants to do the right thing. The right thing may not be the lawful thing, but it is always the just thing.
There is plenty of action in this book. The continued race-relations issues encountered by the African American and Native American characters in this book were disturbing. It is hard to believe that these things still go on today. I do however believe it. I loved that Caddo Lake and its history was actually a large part of the story. I liked the time spent describing the lake and the cypress forests. It is now some place that I’d like to see for myself with the right guide.
Occasionally it seemed that there was too much going on, and it took too long to get to the main core of the story. That is why I’m knocking off one star in my rating. I’d gladly recommend this to anyone who enjoys an intelligent police procedural mystery. This one has a flawed main character you can’t help but to root for. I am eagerly waiting the publication of the third book in this series. In order to get the fullest enjoyment of this series, I’d recommend starting with “Bluebird, Bluebird”. It's not absolutely necessary, but the nuances in this book will be better understood if you read the series in order.
‘Thank-You’ to NetGalley; the publisher, Mulholland Books; and the author, Attica Locke, for providing a free e-ARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 28, 2019
Heaven, My Home picks up a short time after the conclusion of Bluebird, Bluebird with Texas Ranger Darren Mathews back to work after his suspension is lifted -- but this time behind a desk. He's trying to make things right with his wife and has chosen to stay off the road while working to put together a federal case against the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas.
It's not just the desk job and his fragile marriage stressing Mathews out these days. His own mother is now blackmailing him after finding a damning piece of evidence in the case that had him on suspension in Bluebird, Bluebird.
In the midst of his personal drama, Mathews is called to investigate the disapperance of nine-year-old Levi King in the small lakeside town of Jefferson. Levi's father is a key player in the Aryan Brotherhood and he's currently serving hard time. It's possible someone has taken his boy to get to him but when Mathews arrives in town, he finds more than a few complicated layers to peel back and local history that has impacted several generations on Caddo Lake.
Locke has crafted yet another intricate and compelling crime novel in the Highway 59 series! The country noir vibe is still strong, there are multiple plot points that are creating higher stakes, and I'm just as invested in Mathews' personal life as I am in his current case! Locke skillfully describes racial tension and attitudes in Texas and how it drives Mathews personally and professionally.
This is a series you definitely need to read from the beginning to understand the characters and ongoing plots. I recommend it to readers who enjoy country noir, mystery, and crime.
Huge thanks to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Heaven, My Home is scheduled for release on September 17, 2019.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
It's not just the desk job and his fragile marriage stressing Mathews out these days. His own mother is now blackmailing him after finding a damning piece of evidence in the case that had him on suspension in Bluebird, Bluebird.
In the midst of his personal drama, Mathews is called to investigate the disapperance of nine-year-old Levi King in the small lakeside town of Jefferson. Levi's father is a key player in the Aryan Brotherhood and he's currently serving hard time. It's possible someone has taken his boy to get to him but when Mathews arrives in town, he finds more than a few complicated layers to peel back and local history that has impacted several generations on Caddo Lake.
Locke has crafted yet another intricate and compelling crime novel in the Highway 59 series! The country noir vibe is still strong, there are multiple plot points that are creating higher stakes, and I'm just as invested in Mathews' personal life as I am in his current case! Locke skillfully describes racial tension and attitudes in Texas and how it drives Mathews personally and professionally.
This is a series you definitely need to read from the beginning to understand the characters and ongoing plots. I recommend it to readers who enjoy country noir, mystery, and crime.
Huge thanks to Mulholland Books and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Heaven, My Home is scheduled for release on September 17, 2019.
For more reviews, visit www.rootsandreads.wordpress.com
January 22, 2021
Nine year old Levi King goes missing. He is from a family linked to the Aryan Brotherhood and there are inter-family squabbles that might make Levi’s disappearance an inside job. African American Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is assigned to the case as part of his investigation of the Brotherhood. This is the second book in the series featuring Matthews. It involves a different case than “Bluebird, Bluebird”, but events from book one have continuing ramifications for Matthews. The backstory from the first book is described in detail, so this book would probably work as a standalone.
“...everyone in this little county excelled at obfuscation and misdirection.” That pretty much sums up the goings on in this police procedural that almost loses track of poor Levi while it piles on real estate shenanigans, harassment of an African American community, a missing woman and a shooting. The author is good at creating an atmosphere and describing complex racial histories. Unfortunately, I don’t like Matthews. He’s the typical cop in crime novels who drinks too much, has a bad marriage and makes dumb choices. I don’t find him very interesting. The problems that Matthews created for himself in book one are still unresolved at the end of book two. I’ll probably read the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
“...everyone in this little county excelled at obfuscation and misdirection.” That pretty much sums up the goings on in this police procedural that almost loses track of poor Levi while it piles on real estate shenanigans, harassment of an African American community, a missing woman and a shooting. The author is good at creating an atmosphere and describing complex racial histories. Unfortunately, I don’t like Matthews. He’s the typical cop in crime novels who drinks too much, has a bad marriage and makes dumb choices. I don’t find him very interesting. The problems that Matthews created for himself in book one are still unresolved at the end of book two. I’ll probably read the next book in the series.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.
April 15, 2020
Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is back and in more than a little trouble of his own making. Struggling personally with his relationships with his mother and his wife, Darren is unhappy with his job (to appease his wife he agreed to take a desk job) and his life generally. When a new case arises in East Texas, he happily heads back out into the field to attempt to gather evidence against a known White Supremist, a leader of the Texas branch of the Aryan Brotherhood. Darren is a tortured soul (occasionally a bit too tortured), but he makes a good protagonist. Heaven, My Home builds a lot on Bluebird, Bluebird and leaves more than a few unresolved issues when it ends.
Locke is at her finest when describing the wilds of East Texas – Caddo Lake, the town of Jefferson, and the uneasiness in which whites, blacks and Native Americans cohabitate there. Her ability to place readers in Darren’s shoes as he experiences racism in East Texas and even from his boss in Houston following the 2016 election is masterfully and skillfully done. Race can be a tricky conversation in today’s world, and I felt Locke helped me understand some issues I may not have previously thought about. To me, that was the best takeaway from Heaven, My Home.
A small caveat for me as a Houstonian was her descriptions of the city early on. I certainly live in a different city than she described.
While Bluebird, Bluebird is still my favorite book of hers, Heaven, My Home is thought-provoking and uncomfortable in a good way.
For more reviews, check out my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtsfro... and my newsletter: https://www.cfapage.net/subscribe.
Locke is at her finest when describing the wilds of East Texas – Caddo Lake, the town of Jefferson, and the uneasiness in which whites, blacks and Native Americans cohabitate there. Her ability to place readers in Darren’s shoes as he experiences racism in East Texas and even from his boss in Houston following the 2016 election is masterfully and skillfully done. Race can be a tricky conversation in today’s world, and I felt Locke helped me understand some issues I may not have previously thought about. To me, that was the best takeaway from Heaven, My Home.
A small caveat for me as a Houstonian was her descriptions of the city early on. I certainly live in a different city than she described.
While Bluebird, Bluebird is still my favorite book of hers, Heaven, My Home is thought-provoking and uncomfortable in a good way.
For more reviews, check out my Instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/thoughtsfro... and my newsletter: https://www.cfapage.net/subscribe.
September 6, 2019
This follow-up to Bluebird, Bluebird brings back Texas Ranger Darren Matthews, a nicely complicated and flawed protagonist who is also a black man in racially-tense Texas. Pitching him against the Aryan Brotherhood make race absolutely central to this book with a mystery that goes back to America's troubled history, but with one eye on the incoming Trump administration.
Locke is a passionate writer who uses fiction to explore history and the way it points forward to contemporary tensions. I did feel that this story gets away from her at points: there are strong hangovers from the earlier book that don't make much progress, the mystery gets increasingly labyrinthine and not necessarily in a good way, characters have sudden changes of heart that are not convincing, Matthews' own emotional life takes a sudden swerve - and is left dangling for, presumably, another book.
Still, Matthews is such a charismatic lead character that I can forgive a lot - just be aware there is exposure of utterly vile, vitriolic and violent racism in the story that makes this hard and disheartening, though no doubt realistic, reading at times. Locke writes crime with heart and acute social commentary - but I didn't find this book as satisfying as the last.
Locke is a passionate writer who uses fiction to explore history and the way it points forward to contemporary tensions. I did feel that this story gets away from her at points: there are strong hangovers from the earlier book that don't make much progress, the mystery gets increasingly labyrinthine and not necessarily in a good way, characters have sudden changes of heart that are not convincing, Matthews' own emotional life takes a sudden swerve - and is left dangling for, presumably, another book.
Still, Matthews is such a charismatic lead character that I can forgive a lot - just be aware there is exposure of utterly vile, vitriolic and violent racism in the story that makes this hard and disheartening, though no doubt realistic, reading at times. Locke writes crime with heart and acute social commentary - but I didn't find this book as satisfying as the last.
July 10, 2019
When I think of Attica Locke, I think of well-crafted thrillers, fully drawn settings, complex stories that tap into the world we live in. I usually race through her books but I was in a bit of a different mood as I read HEAVEN, MY HOME. I went slower, I took longer, and I realized that I have been selling Locke way short on her actual writing. Her prose is right up there with the best crime writers we have, and I am penitent. She is absolutely one of the best crime writers in America (I'd put her in the top 5, easy) and that was even clearer to me with this book than ever before.
This book doesn't work as a standalone and you may want to do a quick refresh of BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD, because this book assumes you remember all of Darren's personal arcs from the last book. There were a couple things I was a little fuzzy on, and my memory got better as I went on, but I would've gotten adjusted earlier had I reminded myself of that. Especially since it takes a bit for Darren to get into the new mystery of this book and we have a lot of that remaining business front and center.
HEAVEN, MY HOME looks straight into white supremacy and de facto segregation, just like the last book. It may look at it a little straighter, since it takes place right after the 2016 election. Set in the town of Jefferson, a small town relying on a dying tourism industry, it isn't just about the tensions between white and black residents, but a small group of Native American residents who managed to avoid getting relocated to Oklahoma but who have lost their original tribal lands. The plot is set in motion when a young boy disappears, whose father just happens to be a major figure in the Aryan Brotherhood. Darren and the Texas Rangers see an opportunity to use the situation to drive a wedge between members and push for information. But Darren gets much more than he bargained for and quickly realizes that there is more than meets the eye all over this town.
If you haven't read Attica Locke yet, please rectify that immediately.
This book doesn't work as a standalone and you may want to do a quick refresh of BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD, because this book assumes you remember all of Darren's personal arcs from the last book. There were a couple things I was a little fuzzy on, and my memory got better as I went on, but I would've gotten adjusted earlier had I reminded myself of that. Especially since it takes a bit for Darren to get into the new mystery of this book and we have a lot of that remaining business front and center.
HEAVEN, MY HOME looks straight into white supremacy and de facto segregation, just like the last book. It may look at it a little straighter, since it takes place right after the 2016 election. Set in the town of Jefferson, a small town relying on a dying tourism industry, it isn't just about the tensions between white and black residents, but a small group of Native American residents who managed to avoid getting relocated to Oklahoma but who have lost their original tribal lands. The plot is set in motion when a young boy disappears, whose father just happens to be a major figure in the Aryan Brotherhood. Darren and the Texas Rangers see an opportunity to use the situation to drive a wedge between members and push for information. But Darren gets much more than he bargained for and quickly realizes that there is more than meets the eye all over this town.
If you haven't read Attica Locke yet, please rectify that immediately.
September 23, 2019
"For every story about a black mother, sister or wife crying over a man who was locked up for something he didn't do, there was a black mother, sister, wife, husband, father or brother crying over the murder of a loved one for which no one was locked up. For black folks injustice came from both sides of the law, a double-edged sword of heartache and pain."
Attica Locke, Bluebird, Bluebird
In this the 2nd installment of the Highway 59 series Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is back and he is straddling that double edged sword. As lawman it is his duty to uphold the law. But as a black man he knows the law wasn't written with men like him in mind and that the scales of justice aren't always equally balanced. Generally tough as nails, his weaknesses lie in his abiding hope for his mother's love and his allegiance to the disempowered. Once again Attica Locke delivers a 5 star read that is riveting, emotional and engaging.
Special thanks to NetGalley, Mulholland Books and Attica Locke for access to this book.
December 21, 2020
“There was something shrouded about the place, like the grayish moss hanging on the cypress trees in Caldo Lake. It was impossible to untangle the truth, to follow a local's response to a simple inquiry in a straight line.”
Like Bluebird, Bluebird, this novel is a character driven, atmospheric page turner that looks at racism in Texas head-on. So good.
Like Bluebird, Bluebird, this novel is a character driven, atmospheric page turner that looks at racism in Texas head-on. So good.
September 17, 2019
Today is release day for Heaven, My Home by Attica Locke. Absolutely no one is going to be surprised by me saying that I loved this story. Locke writes stories featuring places I know and characters who feel like home for me. There is nothing better for me as a reader than experiencing a story where I recognize the wholeness of the kind of people the characters represent. Attica Locke has given me that gift in every book that she has written.
In this installment the disappearance of a young boy with ties to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas is the dilemma that drives the story. However Locke, as always, makes this simple mystery much more expansive. Darren faces the rising brazenness of the ugliest and most base natures of people who feel that by being born white they are superior when their very way of moving through the world would say otherwise. As a Texas Ranger Darren has to walk a fine line while dealing with people emboldened to behave in abhorrent ways because of what they see is being accepted by what passes as leadership in America right now; which is more than timely. Expanding on Darren's desire to stay connected to his roots, his mother's betrayal of pretty much everything that a parent should be, a marriage that is being tested when the partners no longer seem to have the same values and goals, and familial relationships that are revered but are being strained by secrets are all woven in and around the central story and it was marvelous.
Locke is one of my favorite authors and Heaven, My Home is added to my favorites list.
***I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.***
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
In this installment the disappearance of a young boy with ties to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas is the dilemma that drives the story. However Locke, as always, makes this simple mystery much more expansive. Darren faces the rising brazenness of the ugliest and most base natures of people who feel that by being born white they are superior when their very way of moving through the world would say otherwise. As a Texas Ranger Darren has to walk a fine line while dealing with people emboldened to behave in abhorrent ways because of what they see is being accepted by what passes as leadership in America right now; which is more than timely. Expanding on Darren's desire to stay connected to his roots, his mother's betrayal of pretty much everything that a parent should be, a marriage that is being tested when the partners no longer seem to have the same values and goals, and familial relationships that are revered but are being strained by secrets are all woven in and around the central story and it was marvelous.
Locke is one of my favorite authors and Heaven, My Home is added to my favorites list.
***I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.***
Where you can find me:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @monicaisreading
Instagram: @readermonica
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
September 21, 2019
And I Need To Shout About This Book Now
As promised I inhaled the followup toBluebird, Bluebird Bluebird, Bluebird—Heaven, My Home (September 17)–because I love Attica Locke and this is one of the best crime series being written. And since BB had left that very clever twist, which I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, I desperately needed the next book. Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is back, starting basically where the last book left off, and his decisions and lack of decisions have come home to roost. He also has a new case, a missing young boy, in a town brimming with racial tension. Locke is brilliant at creating tense mysteries where the setting is as alive, and important, as the characters without distracting–but rather enhancing–the mystery element. You get history, a great mystery, smart twists, rich characters, and a deep exploration of the justice–and injustice–system of our country. I can’t wait for the FX series adaptation of these books–there so much to explore! And in case it wasn’t obvious, if you’re a fan of Locke’s this is so worth the prebuy, or making sure your library is purchasing it so you can get first on that list. And if you’ve yet to read Locke, she’s one of the best crime writers so chop-chop.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
______________________
Review to come BUT for now:
Attica Locke is one of the best crime writers.
This is one of the best crime series being written.
If you loved Bluebird, Bluebird get thee on your library list or pre-order nooooooow!
If you like mysteries that make the setting as important as the characters this is a must read.
As promised I inhaled the followup toBluebird, Bluebird Bluebird, Bluebird—Heaven, My Home (September 17)–because I love Attica Locke and this is one of the best crime series being written. And since BB had left that very clever twist, which I haven’t been able to stop thinking about, I desperately needed the next book. Texas Ranger Darren Matthews is back, starting basically where the last book left off, and his decisions and lack of decisions have come home to roost. He also has a new case, a missing young boy, in a town brimming with racial tension. Locke is brilliant at creating tense mysteries where the setting is as alive, and important, as the characters without distracting–but rather enhancing–the mystery element. You get history, a great mystery, smart twists, rich characters, and a deep exploration of the justice–and injustice–system of our country. I can’t wait for the FX series adaptation of these books–there so much to explore! And in case it wasn’t obvious, if you’re a fan of Locke’s this is so worth the prebuy, or making sure your library is purchasing it so you can get first on that list. And if you’ve yet to read Locke, she’s one of the best crime writers so chop-chop.
--from Book Riot's Unusual Suspects newsletter: https://link.bookriot.com/view/56a820...
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Review to come BUT for now:
Attica Locke is one of the best crime writers.
This is one of the best crime series being written.
If you loved Bluebird, Bluebird get thee on your library list or pre-order nooooooow!
If you like mysteries that make the setting as important as the characters this is a must read.
April 15, 2025
Darren Mathews is a black Texas Ranger, on desk duty from the events in the first book (Bluebird, Bluebird), when he is sent to east Texas. A nine-year-old boy (Levi King), son of a white supremacist, Bill “Big Kill” King, an imprisoned leader of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas, has disappeared. The last person to see him and main suspect is Leroy Page, an elderly black resident, with ties to the local native American community. Mathews is there to gather intelligence on the ABT, with the pretense of finding Levi. There is a lot of politics in this book: pressure to indict the black man for kidnapping or harming an "innocent" child. Mathews' character is very complicated, especially with his father and existing beliefs about the human decency of blacks as he is sure that Page is innocent. Not as good as the first book.
February 3, 2020
As soon as I had finished Bluebird, Bluebird, the first book in this series, I purchased Heaven, My Home on my e-reader and continued binge-reading on the aeroplane. Locke is a wonderful writer, imbuing both novels with taut, emotionally wrenching plots that are also deeply humane and thought-provoking. I was transported into a different world, from which I emerged, hours later, feeling dazed and grateful.
December 7, 2019
The second book in Attica Locke's Highway 59 series featuring black Texas Ranger Darren Mathews begins just a few months after Bluebird, Bluebird left off. Darren and his wife Lisa are trying to work out their marital problems: Darren has agreed to work a desk job in Houston looking into hate crimes committed by the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas and is trying to cut back on his drinking. His biggest problem remains the evidence that his mother is holding over his head--evidence that could lead to prison time for Darren if found by the authorities.
Now Darren has been requested to look into the disappearance of a young white boy in Hopetown. As in the first novel, racial tensions play a huge role in what is going on in this small community and the townspeople are none too happy to have Ranger Darren digging around in their business. Is this a hate crime? Is the boy dead? Darren's friend Greg of the FBI thinks so and zeroes in on the last person to see the boy alive.
Peopled with rich characters and atmospheric tensions, this new book grabs the reader right from the beginning. I would highly recommend reading book one first as the story line continues from one book to the other. I'm looking forward to learning what happens next in the series!
Now Darren has been requested to look into the disappearance of a young white boy in Hopetown. As in the first novel, racial tensions play a huge role in what is going on in this small community and the townspeople are none too happy to have Ranger Darren digging around in their business. Is this a hate crime? Is the boy dead? Darren's friend Greg of the FBI thinks so and zeroes in on the last person to see the boy alive.
Peopled with rich characters and atmospheric tensions, this new book grabs the reader right from the beginning. I would highly recommend reading book one first as the story line continues from one book to the other. I'm looking forward to learning what happens next in the series!
May 17, 2021
This book is utterly spectacular.
September 14, 2019
Attica Locke is a force to be reckoned with and the first mystery in the Highway 59 series, Bluebird, Bluebird was outstanding, so I jumped when I saw this, the second in the series available to review. My thanks go to Net Galley and Mulholland Books for the review copy. It will be available to the public Tuesday, September 17, 2019.
Darren Mathews is a Black Texas Ranger, and his work is to unmask and prosecute members of the sinister Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. When the story opens we see that our protagonist is still drinking; he and his wife Lisa, who were estranged during the last book, have reached a détente of sorts. He will still drink, but it will be civilized consumption in front of his wife. A glass of beer. There. See, was that so bad? He has it handled. In exchange, he agrees to bring his work off the road, and so he is assigned to a supervisory position directing other officers in pursuit of the ABT. He doesn’t want to drive a desk, but it’s a concession he makes for her.
But Darren has gotten himself into an awkward spot, a compromising one. His mother—a woman that did not raise him but with whom he has recently developed a relationship of sorts—says it’s a shame that nobody has found the .38 used to kill Ronnie Malvo. Mack, who is dear to Darren, is a suspect in that homicide, and his mother has the gun. He tells himself that his frequent contact with her is a sign that they have a closer relationship and that the money and gifts he brings her are a pleasure for him to provide. But it’s not true; actually, his mother is blackmailing him.
And before you know it, he’s drinking hard, anywhere and everywhere that Lisa can’t see it.
Everyone that reads a lot of fiction in general or mysteries in particular develops a mental list of things they are tired of seeing. I for one could die happy if I never saw another alcoholic protagonist; I am also weary of seeing mean mothers. Why does every author have to take a pot shot at motherhood? But for every item on my list, there’s an exceptional writer that gets a pass because their prose is so solid, their voice so clear and resonant, their pacing so flawless, their characters so credible. Locke is one of those writers. (And to be fair, there are other features on my no-no list that Locke avoids nicely.)
So there’s the iffy marriage; there’s the bottle; there’s the blackmailing mama. But that’s not the half of it. Darren is sent into the field, despite his protests and his promise to Lisa, because there’s a missing child--the child of a member of the ABT-- who has last been seen in a historically Black community, and the Rangers need a Black lawman to ease the way of the investigation. The Rangers don’t have a lot of Black officers to call out.
So next thing we know Darren is out in the boondocks, serving as a companion officer to a Caucasian sheriff that doesn’t really want much to do with Darren. In fact, the local power brokers, all of them white, are visibly uncomfortable in his presence, particularly when he enters private homes. And he knows that information is being withheld from him, not only by these people but also by Leroy Page, an elderly African-American man that was the last one to see Levi alive.
Locke is noteworthy for the way she creates a sense of disorientation, a smoldering murk that starts with the setting—swampy, dark, wet—and extends into the characters that withhold information and make remarks that are both overly general but also sometimes loaded with double meaning that he can’t decode. And into all of this mess comes his best friend Greg, a Caucasian FBI man that has been sent in to explore the possibility of a hate crime here.
Part of Locke’s magic is her perceptive nature and the way she segues political events into the storyline. And so the pages fairly vibrate with betrayal when Greg, who knows from Darren that Leroy has not been forthcoming and won’t permit a warrantless search of his home, says that Leroy is guilty of a hate crime. The current administration takes a low view of such matters, Greg points out, and after all, Leroy referred to him as the “HCIC; Head Cracker In Charge.” Darren takes exception:
“Cracker and nigger are not the same, and you know it,” Darren said.
“If we don’t prosecute hate crimes against whites—if that’s what this is,” Greg said, just to get Darren to hear him out, “if we don’t prosecute crimes against white lives to the degree that we do those against black lives—“
Darren laughed so hard the bourbon nearly choked him.
“They need to see the FBI taking every hate crime seriously.”
“So this is the Jackie Robinson of federal hate crime cases?”
It’s preposterous, of course. For one thing, as Darren points out, there’s no body. The child may be alive. But he is shaken by his friend’s behavior, and when Lisa drives out to visit on her day off, Darren is further concerned by how intimately she and Greg regard one another. It’s one more thing he doesn’t need, and at this point he has nobody left, apart from his very elderly uncle, who tells him the truth and isn’t hiding anything. He does his best to help Leroy, but Leroy doesn’t trust him and is also not telling him everything, and he’s forced to recognize that this elderly man that reminds him of his uncles and Mack is, after all, another stranger.
Meanwhile, Darren makes a decision that knocks up against the ethics that his upbringing and his profession demand.
The tension builds and there’s no putting this book down. I stayed up late because I couldn’t sleep until I knew the outcome, which I did not see coming.
Locke is brilliant and seems to me like a shoo-in for a Grand Masters Award. This book and the one before it are highly recommended.
Darren Mathews is a Black Texas Ranger, and his work is to unmask and prosecute members of the sinister Aryan Brotherhood of Texas. When the story opens we see that our protagonist is still drinking; he and his wife Lisa, who were estranged during the last book, have reached a détente of sorts. He will still drink, but it will be civilized consumption in front of his wife. A glass of beer. There. See, was that so bad? He has it handled. In exchange, he agrees to bring his work off the road, and so he is assigned to a supervisory position directing other officers in pursuit of the ABT. He doesn’t want to drive a desk, but it’s a concession he makes for her.
But Darren has gotten himself into an awkward spot, a compromising one. His mother—a woman that did not raise him but with whom he has recently developed a relationship of sorts—says it’s a shame that nobody has found the .38 used to kill Ronnie Malvo. Mack, who is dear to Darren, is a suspect in that homicide, and his mother has the gun. He tells himself that his frequent contact with her is a sign that they have a closer relationship and that the money and gifts he brings her are a pleasure for him to provide. But it’s not true; actually, his mother is blackmailing him.
And before you know it, he’s drinking hard, anywhere and everywhere that Lisa can’t see it.
Everyone that reads a lot of fiction in general or mysteries in particular develops a mental list of things they are tired of seeing. I for one could die happy if I never saw another alcoholic protagonist; I am also weary of seeing mean mothers. Why does every author have to take a pot shot at motherhood? But for every item on my list, there’s an exceptional writer that gets a pass because their prose is so solid, their voice so clear and resonant, their pacing so flawless, their characters so credible. Locke is one of those writers. (And to be fair, there are other features on my no-no list that Locke avoids nicely.)
So there’s the iffy marriage; there’s the bottle; there’s the blackmailing mama. But that’s not the half of it. Darren is sent into the field, despite his protests and his promise to Lisa, because there’s a missing child--the child of a member of the ABT-- who has last been seen in a historically Black community, and the Rangers need a Black lawman to ease the way of the investigation. The Rangers don’t have a lot of Black officers to call out.
So next thing we know Darren is out in the boondocks, serving as a companion officer to a Caucasian sheriff that doesn’t really want much to do with Darren. In fact, the local power brokers, all of them white, are visibly uncomfortable in his presence, particularly when he enters private homes. And he knows that information is being withheld from him, not only by these people but also by Leroy Page, an elderly African-American man that was the last one to see Levi alive.
Locke is noteworthy for the way she creates a sense of disorientation, a smoldering murk that starts with the setting—swampy, dark, wet—and extends into the characters that withhold information and make remarks that are both overly general but also sometimes loaded with double meaning that he can’t decode. And into all of this mess comes his best friend Greg, a Caucasian FBI man that has been sent in to explore the possibility of a hate crime here.
Part of Locke’s magic is her perceptive nature and the way she segues political events into the storyline. And so the pages fairly vibrate with betrayal when Greg, who knows from Darren that Leroy has not been forthcoming and won’t permit a warrantless search of his home, says that Leroy is guilty of a hate crime. The current administration takes a low view of such matters, Greg points out, and after all, Leroy referred to him as the “HCIC; Head Cracker In Charge.” Darren takes exception:
“Cracker and nigger are not the same, and you know it,” Darren said.
“If we don’t prosecute hate crimes against whites—if that’s what this is,” Greg said, just to get Darren to hear him out, “if we don’t prosecute crimes against white lives to the degree that we do those against black lives—“
Darren laughed so hard the bourbon nearly choked him.
“They need to see the FBI taking every hate crime seriously.”
“So this is the Jackie Robinson of federal hate crime cases?”
It’s preposterous, of course. For one thing, as Darren points out, there’s no body. The child may be alive. But he is shaken by his friend’s behavior, and when Lisa drives out to visit on her day off, Darren is further concerned by how intimately she and Greg regard one another. It’s one more thing he doesn’t need, and at this point he has nobody left, apart from his very elderly uncle, who tells him the truth and isn’t hiding anything. He does his best to help Leroy, but Leroy doesn’t trust him and is also not telling him everything, and he’s forced to recognize that this elderly man that reminds him of his uncles and Mack is, after all, another stranger.
Meanwhile, Darren makes a decision that knocks up against the ethics that his upbringing and his profession demand.
The tension builds and there’s no putting this book down. I stayed up late because I couldn’t sleep until I knew the outcome, which I did not see coming.
Locke is brilliant and seems to me like a shoo-in for a Grand Masters Award. This book and the one before it are highly recommended.
September 18, 2024
The series continues with timely material — an African American Texas Ranger in the newly minted age of tRump.
March 10, 2022
A good mystery and interesting characters. Not a good guy in the bunch. Starts out about a missing boy but leaves him out of most of the story. I did like it but found it a little too over the top with the us against them angle. I felt at times that I was being told how to think, or that the racist part of the story was the point of the story rather than it being a great mystery in a racist environment. So I found I did not like it as much as Bluebird, Bluebird in which I felt the mystery was in the forefront.
Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger, has a lot on his plate in this one. I love the complexity of his character but in this one his behavior and judgements of others were not always easy to like or understand. There were a few times in this mystery I had to scratch my head. A time or two where it seemed like this Texas Ranger was making assumptions for his own convenience. Will not give spoilers here but I felt there were times the mystery veered off course. Still a good mystery that could have been tighter and a little less leading for this reader.
Darren Matthews, a black Texas Ranger, has a lot on his plate in this one. I love the complexity of his character but in this one his behavior and judgements of others were not always easy to like or understand. There were a few times in this mystery I had to scratch my head. A time or two where it seemed like this Texas Ranger was making assumptions for his own convenience. Will not give spoilers here but I felt there were times the mystery veered off course. Still a good mystery that could have been tighter and a little less leading for this reader.
October 10, 2019
I was so excited for this since I loved Bluebird, Bluebird. And it started out really well. Locke is great at creating tension, I think she handles the racial issues brilliantly and seamlessly integrates them into a plot that is believable and interesting to read. I really liked Darren, the black Texas Ranger, she writes him as flawed and complicated, but also with enough good qualities that the reader can empathize with him and want him to succeed. I don't know what happened towards the end, but it all sort of fell apart for me. An important discovery is made almost totally off screen . And the ending is lacklaster. A plotline carrying over from the first book has some more information revealed, and Darren thinks about it in what I would consider sexist. He also is very much "these young people don't know anything" while old people can do no wrong. Obviously, having flaws is necessary for a character to be realistic, but I think we're supposed to agree with Darren. And I don't, and I'm not interested in spending more time with a character like this. The rest of the book is just not good enough to be worth it for me.
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