Guide Me Home

“This one is particularly worth spending time with.”

“The story that unfolds proves that Locke is one of the rare authors who can call attention to societal injustices without letting it hamper her momentum.”

"Locke’s writing is absolutely on fire, simmering with tension, and this series is not to be missed.”

“The Highway 59 trilogy stands as a high water mark in modern mystery.”

"Locke’s main order of business here is with Darren’s reckoning and reconciliation with a past as full of deceit and false leads as even the most elaborate whodunit. We’ve missed Attica Locke’s deft and wise way with the crime novel. We want more."

"Tense, gripping…Locke writes with deep affection about her native east Texas, but also unflinchingly exposes its deep racism: the personal, political, and economic history that allows wealthy white people to manipulate people of color. Locke weaves together the mystery of Sera's disappearance with the fraught realities of Trump-era Texas, and explores Darren's complex feelings about the career he loves and the mother he has never truly known. Powerful and unsettling, full of layered characters and difficult choices, Guide Me Home is a mystery for readers who appreciate nuance and resist too-tidy endings.”

"Locke's language is precise, refreshing, and often beautiful in the final installment in the literary triumph that is her Highway 59 mystery series."

"Exceptional writing, pivotal character evolution, and a baffling mystery."

"Guide Me Home,  is the spellbinding finale of Attica Locke’s Highway 59 trilogy. . . Locke emphatically writes of a world where unity can be found despite previous divisions. Her narrative combines elements of familial discord, corporate corruption and racial intolerance in crafting a story wherein the drama steadily builds to an apex before its emotional conclusion. This is an outstanding novel worthy of a wide audience.”

“By turns gut-wrenching, emotionally real, suspenseful, and hopeful. There may not be a next book in this series, but I’m looking forward to anything Locke writes next.”

"Engrossing. . . a strong finale. . . richly plotted.”

“It’s obvious that Locke loves her home state of Texas and she describes places in a way that appeals to the senses, making it easy to visualize the beauty of a slate-blue sky. Her writing allows you to imagine the taste and smell of the vegetables that Darren grows in his garden. Equally, she is not blind to the less pleasant realities of Texas like the oppressive heat and racism… You will savor this clever and well-written trilogy.”
 

Praise for Bluebird, Bluebird

Winner of the 2018 Edgar Award for Best NovelA New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceA Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book PrizeA Washington Post 10 Best Thrillers and Mysteries of 2017A Kirkus Best Mysteries and Thrillers of 2017A Financial Times Best Book of the YearBest book of the year from Vulture, The Strand Magazine, Southern Living, Bolo Books, Publisher's Weekly, Book Riot, The Guardian, Lit Hub, The Boston Globe, Dallas News, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Minnesota Public Radio, Texas Monthly, The Daily Beast, and the South Florida Sun Sentinel

"A quick course in plotting and nimble characterizations rooted in a vividly evoked setting"

"An emotionally dense and intricately detailed thriller, roiling with conflicting emotions steeped in this nation's troubled past and present. . . . A rich sense of place and relentless feeling of dread permeate Attica Locke's heartbreakingly resonant new novel about race and justice in America. . . . Bluebird, Bluebird is no simple morality tale. Far from it. It rises above "left and right" and "black and white" and follows the threads that inevitably bind us together, even as we rip them apart."

"In Bluebird, Bluebird Attica Locke had both mastered the thriller and exceeded it. Ranger Darren Mathews is tough, honor-bound, and profoundly alive in corrupt world. I loved everything about this book."

"Attica Locke's Bluebird, Bluebird reads like a blues song to East Texas with all its troubles over property, race, and love. Taut where it has to be to keep a murder investigation on its toes, this novel is also languid when you need to understand just what would keep a black woman or man in a place where so much troubled history lies. This novel marks Love's (and Hatred's) comings and goings amongst black and white, and all the shades between. Locke's small town murder investigation reveals what lies at the heart of America's confusion over race."

"Lyrical, elemental, and pulls no punches, exposing racial tensions past and present while a killer blues soundtrack plays perpetually in the background."

"Attica Locke knows Texas, a place that has shaped both her characters and her life. Locke's new book, Bluebird, Bluebird, is evidence of her deep knowledge and love of her community and a deep talent for writing hype thrillers that also manage to be timely, relevant and keenly insightful."

"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."