The Texas Job by Reavis Z. Wortham

 

First Line: The buckskin's hooves landed with soft thuds on the sandy East Texas road.

 

It's 1931 when Texas Ranger Tom Bell rides into an East Texas oil boomtown where thousands of men have flocked to find work. He's hunting for a fugitive murderer, and it's obvious that the sheriff and his men aren't going to be any help.

 

But his search for the wanted man uncovers more than he bargained for. Something's not right in this town, and since it does tie into his own search, Bell can't help but ask a few questions here and there. Unfortunately, his investigation stirs up a hornets' nest of resistance. Now Tom Bell is a wanted man himself.

 

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For anyone familiar with Reavis Wortham's Red River mystery series, the name Tom Bell will be a familiar (and welcome) one. Bell is an old man in the 1960s setting of the Red River mysteries, but The Texas Job shows him as a young man in 1931 with more than a touch of Wyatt Earp-like invincibility. 

 

Wortham aptly describes the boomtown sensibility of Texas oil fields, of everyone out to make as much money as fast as they possibly can. And where there are boatloads of fast money, there are boatloads of outlaws, from petty criminals all the way up to the gangsters of organized crime. These are the days of Pretty Boy Floyd, of Ma Barker, John Dillinger, and Bonnie and Clyde. The Texas Job gives readers shootouts and ambushes and twisted, evil plots to grab control of the rights to all that oil and money. And if all that sounds a bit far-fetched, I'd suggest a little additional reading... David Grann's Killers of the Flower Moon, for instance. 

But if this sounds like too much action and not enough setting and characterization, think again. The opening scene of The Texas Job is beautiful and lyrical. Wortham paints such a vivid picture that I easily found myself on horseback riding along with Tom Bell. Yes, there is beauty to be found in this book, as well as love, kindness, greed, and ugliness.

And then there's Tom Bell. A man who has to think on his feet in order to stay alive. A man who doesn't see skin color, and as a result meets unforgettable eleven-year-old Booker Johnston, and Booker's friends and family. The bad guys in this book are the types you love to hate, and you want to see them come to bad ends, but it's Bell's interactions with the marginalized there in town that bring a smile to my face and make the story come to life.

If you're a fan of Wortham's Red River mysteries, you already know you have a treat in store for you in The Texas Job. If you haven't made the acquaintance of Tom Bell, there's no time like the present. You're not only going to like him, you're going to want more.

The Texas Job by Reavis Z. Wortham

eISBN: 9781464215711

Poisoned Pen Press © 2022

eBook, 416 pages

 

Historical Thriller, Red River prequel

Rating: A

Source: Net Galley

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

First Line: Geneva Sweet ran an orange extension cord past Mayva Greenwood, Beloved Wife and Mother, May She Rest with Her Heavenly Father.

Like most other folks who live there, Darren Mathews is well aware that East Texas plays by its own rules when it comes to law and order. That's why he moved as far away as he could... until duty called him home. Now he's a Black Texas Ranger on suspension when his allegiance to his roots puts his job in jeopardy.

Mathews travels up Highway 59 to the small town of Lark where the murders of a Black lawyer from Chicago and a local white woman have stirred up plenty of trouble. Mathews needs to solve the crimes before Lark's racial fault lines shatter. If he can do this, he can also save himself in the process.

I'm glad I waited to read Bluebird, Bluebird until now. Until the actions of #BlackLivesMatter have begun to spark this nation to change. Attica Locke takes those of us who have lived basically sheltered lives and shows us what it's really like for Blacks in the South, and it's not pretty. If you're Black, you have to navigate an entirely different roadmap from the rest of us. How did I feel as I read this book? As if I were suddenly thrown onto a different planet. As Darren Mathews walked into a bar that's home to the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas to local blind-eye law enforcement to Geneva Sweet's restaurant, I was with him, and I was on edge. You see, my way of thinking is that, if Blacks are treated like third-class citizens here in Lark, who's to say that someone who's not from these parts (even though she's white) will be treated any differently? I didn't feel any safer than Darren did, and that's a good bit of storytelling on Locke's part.

Mathews is an interesting character who certainly doesn't always do the sensible thing-- even when he knows how "the system" works in this area. Raised by his uncles, he's got a strong sense of justice, and he doesn't know when to quit. He can also see both sides of a situation: when things get tough for a white character, he can see that the man is being treated the exact same way the Black suspects were-- and that's not right.

Bluebird, Bluebird is a fast-paced intricate mystery that hooked me almost immediately, but be forewarned. If you don't like cliffhangers, this book ends on a doozy. Personally, I don't mind taking another trip up Highway 59. I have got to find out how Attica Locke continues Mathews' story in Heaven, My Home.

Bluebird, Bluebird by Attica Locke

eISBN: 9780316363266

Little, Brown and Company © 2017

eBook, 318 pages

Police Procedural, #1 Highway 59 mystery

Rating: A+

Source: Purchased from Amazon.