October 3, 2019: Recent Reads: Heaven, My Home

[Busy with a bunch of book talks at the moment—on which more in a few weeks—so a series of brief posts highlighting great new books I’ve read this year. Add your own recent reads, whether new books or otherwise, for a crowd-sourced weekend reading list!]

I’ve written a great deal in this space about the wonderful Attica Locke, one of my favorite mystery and thriller writers and a voice that thoroughly transcends any stereotypical limitations to those genres. Any new book from Locke is likely to find its way into a series like this, but even with those high expectations I was blown away by her newest, Heaven, My Home (2019). A sequel to 2017’s Bluebird, Bluebird and another chapter in the saga of Texas Ranger Darren Matthews but, as usual with Locke, also so much more than those details would indicate, Heaven is one of those rare novels that both keeps you reading with its plot and characters yet demands that you re-read for its layer themes and histories. When you add in Locke’s work on the TV shows Empire (which she also co-created) and When They See Us (for which she wrote one of the four episodes), I don’t think there’s a more interesting and influential artist working in 2019 America. But don’t take my word for it—read this book, and all of Locke’s if you haven’t already!

Last recent read tomorrow,

Ben

PS. Thoughts on this book? Other recent reads you’d share?