Synopses & Reviews
Los Angeles Times Book Prize Finalist (Mystery/Thriller)
Edgar Award Nominee (Best First Novel)
The Orange Prize for Fiction (Shortlist)
“A near-perfect balance of trenchant social commentary, rich characterizations, and action-oriented plot.... Attica Locke [is] a writer wise beyond her years.”
— Los Angeles Times
“Atmospheric… deeply nuanced... akin to George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane.... Subtle and compelling.”
— New York Times
Writing in the tradition of Dennis Lehane and Scott Turow, Attica Locke, a powerful new voice in American fiction, delivers a brilliant thriller—and the Booklist “Best Debut Crime Novel of 2009”—that readers will not soon forget.
Review
“First-novelist Locke presents a searing portrait of a man struggling to reconcile the bitterness of his life experiences with the idealism of his convictions. Like Dennis Lehane, she skillfully deploys the conventions of the thriller while also presenting biting social commentary, a sure sense of place, and soulful characters.” Booklist (starred review)
Review
“Locke shines . . . this is a rare occasion where the hype is deserved. . . . Locke seamlessly weaves history, suspense, and passion in this promising tale that will linger long after this season.” Essence
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“Publishers like to pepper their hypewithwords like ‘superlative, ‘auspicious, ‘universal, and ‘dazzling (all used about this book), claims that are usually ignored. This time, though, theyre absolutely right. If you only read one suspense novel this summer, make it Black Water Rising.” Mystery Scene Magazine
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“[A] deeply nuanced story . . . As Scott Turow has done, Ms. Locke uses small, incremental deceptions to draw her main character into big and dangerous mistakes . . . Subtle and compelling.” New York Times
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“Locke gives readers a well-paced suspense tale. . . . Lets hope Locke has more novels in her. Any author who can make readers actually like a low-rent lawyer has talent to spare.” St. Louis Post-Dispatch
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“A crackling thriller from Attica Locke. . . . Lockes writing is sharp and authentic; you can practically hear the Southern drawl emanating off the page . . . a writer well need to keep an eye on” Sacramento Book Review
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“Black Water Rising reads like a hard-boiled thriller, but the real trick resides in Lockes ability to personalize an overlooked part of American history and show how far-reaching, how entrenched, it is in todays social, political, and cultural fabric.” San Francisco Bay Guardian
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“An astonishingly accomplished debut . . . Its a completely absorbing, gorgeously written early 1980s story . . . Locke will earn well-deserved comparisons to Dennis Lehane for this work . . . This author is destined for literary stardom.” Dallas Morning News
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“A crackling good Houston-based mystery that captures the spirit of the boomtown era of the early 1980s . . . Intriguing . . . In the guise of a summer mystery, [Locke] subtly examines the history of race relations and the transition to an integrated America.” West University Examiner
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“This is the first novel by Locke, a screenwriter; it is, Charles McGrath said in The Times, ‘even better than the slick book its author set out to write.” New York Times, Paperback Row
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“This debut thriller charges out of the gate, boldly establishing Locke as a name to look out for in years to come.” Sarah Weinman, National Post
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“Black Water Rising [is] a strong and whip-smart debut from Attica Locke. Set in the authors native Houston, its both a compelling mystery and a sharp, literate portrait of the social layers within that citys black community.” Seattle Times
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“Locke deftly moves between past and present action . . . [putting] her in the company of master thriller writers such as Dennis Lehane or Scott Turow. . . . Attica Locke [is] a writer wise beyond her years.” Los Angeles Times
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“[An] extraordinary debut. . . . This kind of racial authenticity and insight is rarely seen in the genre outside of Walter Mosley and Dennis Lehane. Plus, [Locke] really knows how to build suspense.” Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
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“Locke, a screenwriter with both film and TV credits (including a forthcoming HBO miniseries about the civil rights movement) steers a gritty drama to a satisfying end . . . Locke remains an author to watch.” Publishers Weekly
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“Black Water Rising is an excellent book by any measure, but as a debut, it is nothing short of astonishing.” BookPage
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“Lockes debut thriller ends in a satisfying whirlwind of drama.” Library Journal
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“Locke flawlessly melds social commentary into an action-packed crime fiction, never allowing the briskly paced Black Water Rising to be bogged down by her scintillating look at racism…. Locke proves herself an author to watch with Black Water Rising, clearly one of the years best debuts.” South Florida Sun Sentinel
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“Attica Locke is a vivid storyteller. . . .Without pretence, she provides an engaging story about one mans enduring struggle for justice and equality. Its a must for your summer reading list.” Associated Press
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“Attica Lockes first novel, Black Water Rising, which Janet Maslin called ‘subtle and compelling in The New York Times, is an even better book than its author had in mind...The book cleverly replaces the kind of cold-war paranoia that used to animate thrillers with racial paranoia instead.” New York Times
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“Locke expertly etches a portrait of her anxiety-ridden protagonist, and she animates the complex plot with the assurance of a practiced screenwriter.” Kirkus Reviews
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“Black Water Rising is a stylish, involving literary thriller with a strong emphasis on human politics and character. An auspicious debut from Attica Locke.” George Pelecanos, author of The Turnaround
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“What a ride! Black Water Rising is a superlative debut; a wonderful treatise on the Texas 1980s; the best bad town novel in some time. Attica Locke is a stand-out in every imperative-young-writer way.” James Ellroy, author of American Tabloid and L.A. Confidential
Synopsis
Attica Locke a writer and producer of FOX s Empire delivers an engrossing, complex, and cinematic thriller about crime and racial justice
Los Angeles TimesBook Prize Finalist (Mystery/Thriller)
Edgar Award Nominee (Best First Novel)
The Orange Prize for Fiction (Shortlist)
A near-perfect balance of trenchant social commentary, rich characterizations, and action-oriented plot.... Attica Locke is] a writer wise beyond her years. Los Angeles Times
Atmospheric deeply nuanced... akin to George Pelecanos or Dennis Lehane.... Subtle and compelling. New York Times
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Synopsis
Jay Porter has long since made peace with not living the American Dream. He runs his fledgling law practice out of a dingy Houston strip mall—where his most promising client is a low-rent call girl—and he's determined to leave the sins of his past buried: the guns, the FBI file, the trial that nearly destroyed him. That is, until the night he saves a woman from drowning and inadvertently opens a Pandora's box. Her secrets reach into the upper echelons of Houston's corporate power brokers and ensnare Jay in a murder investigation that could cost him his practice, his family . . . even his life.
Black Water Rising is a brilliant debut thriller that marks the arrival of an electrifying new talent.
About the Author
Attica Locke is the author of Black Water Rising, which was nominated for a 2010 Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was shortlisted for the UK's Orange Prize; and the national bestseller The Cutting Season, which won the 2013 Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. She is a coproducer and writer on the Fox drama Empire. A graduate of Northwestern University, she is on the board of directors for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, where she lives.