This is the first book I've read by Attica Locke, and I really enjoyed it. It's the story of a lawyer, Jay Porter, who's at a low ebb in his life when he becomes caught up in a series of events, including a murder, a criminal trial, some political dirty- and double-dealing, for which he's quite unprepared. As the novel opens, he is gripped with grief for his dead wife and struggling to care for his two children.
It all starts with a break-in at his office in an old Victorian house. He calls the police, and they come, look over the house, fill out a report, and leave. Then he goes upstairs and finds an intruder who laughs at him before escaping out an upstairs window. Downstairs, he begins to clean up the broken glass only to realize that the front window was broken from inside, not outside. He then finds a business card with his address written on the back. The front of the business card shows the name of a lawyer at Cole Oil. a local polluter whom he had successfully sued in a class action suit but which has failed to pay any part of the settlement amount.
He's disturbed and confused by all of this, but his grief-induced numbness is something he's feeling more strongly than fear or anger.
Shortly thereafter, an African-American girl is reported missing, and she was last seen in Pleasantville, an attractive middle-class African-American neighborhood in Houston. This affects Jay greatly because he knows many people in Pleasantville and because this is the third such disappearance in several years, and his wife, as she lay dying, was particularly affected by the trauma of the parents of one of the other victims.
Much to his surprise, he finds himself involved in the disappearance/murder case, and eventually, manages to resolve the class action suit.
This book is wonderfully plotted, and very exciting. I enjoy accounts of courtroom tactics, and there's some of that here in the presentation of the criminal case he defends.
What makes this novel different from an ordinary police procedural is that Porter defends his client without solving the case, and, more importantly, the urban setting and the sharply drawn characters. Sometimes Porter tells you who these people - who he's mostly known for years - are, but mostly, their character is revealed through their actions, which is much more interesting.
If you like Scott Turow, or if you liked John Grisham's Sycamore Row, you'll probably enjoy Pleasantville.
Attica Locke is also the author of Black Water Rising, also featuring Jay Porter, and Cutting Season. And she's also a writer and co-producer for the TV show Empire.
It all starts with a break-in at his office in an old Victorian house. He calls the police, and they come, look over the house, fill out a report, and leave. Then he goes upstairs and finds an intruder who laughs at him before escaping out an upstairs window. Downstairs, he begins to clean up the broken glass only to realize that the front window was broken from inside, not outside. He then finds a business card with his address written on the back. The front of the business card shows the name of a lawyer at Cole Oil. a local polluter whom he had successfully sued in a class action suit but which has failed to pay any part of the settlement amount.He's disturbed and confused by all of this, but his grief-induced numbness is something he's feeling more strongly than fear or anger.
Shortly thereafter, an African-American girl is reported missing, and she was last seen in Pleasantville, an attractive middle-class African-American neighborhood in Houston. This affects Jay greatly because he knows many people in Pleasantville and because this is the third such disappearance in several years, and his wife, as she lay dying, was particularly affected by the trauma of the parents of one of the other victims.
Much to his surprise, he finds himself involved in the disappearance/murder case, and eventually, manages to resolve the class action suit.
This book is wonderfully plotted, and very exciting. I enjoy accounts of courtroom tactics, and there's some of that here in the presentation of the criminal case he defends.
What makes this novel different from an ordinary police procedural is that Porter defends his client without solving the case, and, more importantly, the urban setting and the sharply drawn characters. Sometimes Porter tells you who these people - who he's mostly known for years - are, but mostly, their character is revealed through their actions, which is much more interesting.
If you like Scott Turow, or if you liked John Grisham's Sycamore Row, you'll probably enjoy Pleasantville.
Attica Locke is also the author of Black Water Rising, also featuring Jay Porter, and Cutting Season. And she's also a writer and co-producer for the TV show Empire.
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