By Attica Locke
When I didn't want to slap him, I was cheering for him.
In Black Water Rising, Attica Locke has given us the pitiful and powerful Jay Porter. A former intrepid voice for civil rights, these days those days are forgotten. These days Jay plods along in his strip mall law practice, struggling to find his voice in his career, his marriage . . . his life. But then Jay takes his wife (Bernie/B) on a surprise nighttime birthday riverboat ride down the bayou. There are shouts and shots on the bank, and a splash. Jay dives in for a rescue. As he struggles out of the murky water, arm around his mysterious catch, present and past collide. Jay confronts it, but to do so he must rise out the morass of his past? Can he?
Black Water Rising is intrigue, excitement, and education. It is race, politics, and big oil. It is cover-up, and fear, and mystery on multiple levels. It is a beautiful picture of courage to confront the past and the power that comes with it.
I picked up Black Water Rising after reading and enjoying Locke's Bluebird Bluebird. She did not disappoint. The title comes from a simile we find deep in the story, "like black water rising in streets." I loved Locke's use of language, the characters she created, the dialogue, and the pace of the story. Dion Graham's narration is outstanding!
I'm hooked. Next up, Pleasantville.