3.75 stars

Darren is a black man and a Texas Ranger. Though he is on suspension, he gets a tip that there have been two murders one county over – a black man and a white woman. Bodies found in the river a few days apart. Initially, he heads over just to see what things are looking like. Turns out there is an active chapter of the Aryan Brotherhood of Texas (a modern-day KKK) in this small town where there hasn’t been even one murder in decades. When he does get the go ahead from his Ranger supervisor to help investigate, the local sheriff isn’t thrilled.

I mostly liked this, but some of the flashbacks to previous happenings didn’t completely hold my interest. I liked Darren, but didn’t like some of the other characters much. I feel like dark and gritty are good words to describe this one. I do plan to continue with book 2 at some point. ( )

I might have enjoyed it more reading it on the page? I enjoyed her explication of the protagonist's identity as a Black Texas and member of law enforcement more than the procedural. The Randi character was not as compelling as she should have been, and the Lisa character also didn't have much to offer. I also wasn't sure what to make of the flashbacks from other characters' pov: were these to be seen as fact/reliable? I'd like to read the next one to see where she takes the character because his journey was the most interesting part. ( )

There were parts of this book I liked a lot. The problem I had was there were several things in the plot that threw me completely out of the story. Several instances of characters doing really unintelligent things that made the story feel a little worn and cliched. I did love the setting and the tension caused by racism was ratcheted up to a heart pumping read. Glad I read it but loved the first half and was a little less than excited about the 2nd half. ( )

All the elements of the book fit so well together, the tension & frustrations are real, takes the classic all families have secrets & misdirections to keep me guessing to the end ( )

As usual I forget where I heard about this book. I think I was interested because it tells the story of a black Texas Ranger investigating a couple of murders in a rural east Texas town that pretty much have to be racially motivated. I thought the setting sounded interesting, and the portrayal of Lark, Texas could have set the novel in 1959 rather than the present day, and indeed the motivations and emotions running through the murders seem like they could go back that far. I read through the entire novel (billed as a “thriller” in some of the jacket copy but aside from a few armed standoffs not particularly pulse-quickening) but I can’t give it more than 3 stars here. I wasn’t exactly right about the killer but I was close enough. There was one minor but irritating continuity error that bugged me. And the ending sets it up as if there might be a sequel, or even the first of a series starring the Ranger protagonist, who I wasn’t really all that interested in. So, I’ll stick to better written mysteries. ( )