Pleasantville - Hardcover

"Attica Locke's 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

"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

"I was first struck by Attica Locke's prose, then by the ingenuity of her narrative and finally and most deeply by the depth of her humanity. She writes with equal amounts grace and passion. . . . I'd probably read the phone book if her name was on the spine."--Dennis Lehane

"The impressively astute Attica Locke writes . . . in much the same way that Mr. Lehane [does]. . . . Each is willing to use the murder mystery as a framework for much more ambitious, atmospheric fiction."--New York Times

"Compelling. . . . A mystery that expands the whole idea of the mystery, reaching from the present deeply into the past. . . . Great writing, the kind that gives you goose bumps."--Los Angeles Times

"[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

""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

"Dripping with southern Gothic atmosphere. . . . Equal parts murder mystery and family drama, the novel also draws readers in through its considerations of African-American history and life in post-Katrina Louisiana."--USA Today

"[A] haunting mystery, where the murder of a migrant worker brings past and present into hair's-breadth proximity. "--People

Outstanding . Ms. Locke elegantly parcels out key information about her characters one piece at a time. --Wall Street Journal"