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a story that looks hard look inside Atlanta's first black police officers, pre-civil rights era with some mystery added in.
4.5 stars!
Despite wearing the same uniforms as the white police force, the first black police officers in Atlanta, GA shared none of the other benefits afforded to white officers at the time. Forced to work out of the basement of the YMCA, provided with no patrol cars, not allowed to investigate anything and not even allowed to step foot in the white police station, one has to wonder why Atlanta made them police officers at all.
Darktown delved into that mystery and many more. Boggs and Smith, both black officers, one freshly back from WWII and the other the son of a preacher, commanded absolutely no respect from anyone. Not from other officers and not even from the black community, which they were tasked with protecting. It seems that the entire world resented them for one reason or another.
One night, a vehicle took down a light pole right in front of them. Upon discovering the white driver was drunk, and had a bruised young, black woman in the car, Boggs and Smith called the white police. (Since they were not allowed to arrest the man themselves, they had no other choice.) But while waiting for the white cops to arrive, the man just drove off, and there was nothing the black officers could do about it. A few days later, the young black woman turns up dead and the black officers just can't let that go.
Leaving off the plot so as not to spoil anything, I'll focus now on how this book made me feel. I'm aware of the shameful behavior that went on in my country, but this book went into specifics, and they were very difficult to read. The treatment of blacks in that area, during that time period, (1948), was deplorable. There's no other word for it. Every single aspect of their life was controlled by whites. They couldn't look a white person in the eye. They couldn't defend themselves, verbally or physically, when wrongfully accused of something. They had to ride in the back of the bus-often while the white people in the front openly disparaged them. Some of the incidents recounted here turned my stomach.
Thomas Mullen took an unflinching look at the relationship between blacks and whites. As difficult as it was to read, I imagine it must have been even more difficult to write. To avoid making the same mistakes in the future, we have to be familiar with the mistakes we've made in the past, and this book shoves those mistakes right under our noses. Do you have the strength and stamina to look them right in the face? If you do, I highly recommend Darktown.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the free advance copy of this book.*
Despite wearing the same uniforms as the white police force, the first black police officers in Atlanta, GA shared none of the other benefits afforded to white officers at the time. Forced to work out of the basement of the YMCA, provided with no patrol cars, not allowed to investigate anything and not even allowed to step foot in the white police station, one has to wonder why Atlanta made them police officers at all.
Darktown delved into that mystery and many more. Boggs and Smith, both black officers, one freshly back from WWII and the other the son of a preacher, commanded absolutely no respect from anyone. Not from other officers and not even from the black community, which they were tasked with protecting. It seems that the entire world resented them for one reason or another.
One night, a vehicle took down a light pole right in front of them. Upon discovering the white driver was drunk, and had a bruised young, black woman in the car, Boggs and Smith called the white police. (Since they were not allowed to arrest the man themselves, they had no other choice.) But while waiting for the white cops to arrive, the man just drove off, and there was nothing the black officers could do about it. A few days later, the young black woman turns up dead and the black officers just can't let that go.
Leaving off the plot so as not to spoil anything, I'll focus now on how this book made me feel. I'm aware of the shameful behavior that went on in my country, but this book went into specifics, and they were very difficult to read. The treatment of blacks in that area, during that time period, (1948), was deplorable. There's no other word for it. Every single aspect of their life was controlled by whites. They couldn't look a white person in the eye. They couldn't defend themselves, verbally or physically, when wrongfully accused of something. They had to ride in the back of the bus-often while the white people in the front openly disparaged them. Some of the incidents recounted here turned my stomach.
Thomas Mullen took an unflinching look at the relationship between blacks and whites. As difficult as it was to read, I imagine it must have been even more difficult to write. To avoid making the same mistakes in the future, we have to be familiar with the mistakes we've made in the past, and this book shoves those mistakes right under our noses. Do you have the strength and stamina to look them right in the face? If you do, I highly recommend Darktown.
*Thank you to NetGalley and Atria for the free advance copy of this book.*
Lucious Boggs and Tommy Smith are two of eight black cops that have been recruited in the pre-civil rights era in Atlanta in the 1940's. They are met with mockery and agression by the rest of the police department, are not allowed drive squad cars and have to call their white colleagues to transport their arrested suspects. When a drunk white driver hits a lamp post late at night, their hands are tied and their white colleague Dunlow (who is known for brutalizing black citizens) doesn't even give the man a ticket but lets him go after a quick chat. The driver's passenger, a young black women, is later found dead, signs of prior physical assault apparent on her body. Police reports are altered, suspicion of professional misconduct is thrown on Boggs and Smith, and overall it seems as if someone is keen on this murder not being appropriately investigated. Boggs and Smith might find an ally in Dunlow's new partner Rake who is starting to question some of the procedures of the Atlanta police department as well but is not ready to radically overturn the societal beliefs he grow up with.
This book is full of police corruption and blatant racism. Because of these matters it is not always an easy read but most likely an accurate description of that time. The mystery was layered and overclouded by everyday issues of racial segregation that managed to successfully mask the plot twists of the story. The character portrayal was vivid and made me feel emotionally attached to some and disgusted by others.
Pick this up if you enjoy a smart mystery, great character development, and a convincing historical setting! - 4/5 stars!
This book is full of police corruption and blatant racism. Because of these matters it is not always an easy read but most likely an accurate description of that time. The mystery was layered and overclouded by everyday issues of racial segregation that managed to successfully mask the plot twists of the story. The character portrayal was vivid and made me feel emotionally attached to some and disgusted by others.
Pick this up if you enjoy a smart mystery, great character development, and a convincing historical setting! - 4/5 stars!
Someone, maybe a podcast, recommended this to me? I listened to the audiobook, which is beautifully read by . If you're thinking of reading it, I recommend the audiobook.
I won this book in a Goodreads Giveaway a very long time ago. I kind of wish I had read it a few years ago when things in the US weren’t quite so openly depressing but alas I read it now and it hurt my heart so much.
Dark Town is a mystery and an unflinching look at race relations in the not so long ago past. Even worse, much of it is depressingly still very relevant today.
It takes place in the 1940’s when segregation and racism was on full awful display. And if today’s news gets you down, reading this book right now sure won’t help your state of mind. There is so much prejudice and hatefulness in this story that it will make you angry and sad. This is not a book you want to pick up thinking you’ll escape into. A murder occurs and the author delves deep into everyone involved in the situation. What is uncovered is a whole lot of cover ups, corruption, and other assorted ugliness.
It’s very well written and the descriptive language is so very excellent.
"A harsh word would knock him over"& "He hit the door like it owed him money."
You should definitely read it if you enjoy a good gritty historical murder mystery. But I’m warning you, it’s probably going to make your blood boil.
Dark Town is a mystery and an unflinching look at race relations in the not so long ago past. Even worse, much of it is depressingly still very relevant today.
It takes place in the 1940’s when segregation and racism was on full awful display. And if today’s news gets you down, reading this book right now sure won’t help your state of mind. There is so much prejudice and hatefulness in this story that it will make you angry and sad. This is not a book you want to pick up thinking you’ll escape into. A murder occurs and the author delves deep into everyone involved in the situation. What is uncovered is a whole lot of cover ups, corruption, and other assorted ugliness.
It’s very well written and the descriptive language is so very excellent.
"A harsh word would knock him over"& "He hit the door like it owed him money."
You should definitely read it if you enjoy a good gritty historical murder mystery. But I’m warning you, it’s probably going to make your blood boil.
This is becoming my favourite kind of book, a period mystery that brings the past to life. In this case the setting is Atlanta in the 1950s, and the book focuses on the first black officers in the Atlanta PD. The book has a duo at its centre - two young officers, one black, one white, both trying to balance their jobs, their consciences and the political realities of the world they live in. They're believably flawed and the mystery as it unfolds is satisfying and credible. All in all a really enjoyable read and a fascinating glimpse into the past.
A very interesting historical fiction novel about the first black police officers in Atlanta that combines my two favorite genres: history and mystery. Boggs and Smith hunt down the killer of a young black woman with the help of one of the more “progressive” white officers. The book explains the tropes of what white allyship looks like, the futility of thinking things are “better” here or now, and the fact that the more things change the more they stay the same.
This is a historical fiction retelling of the very first black officers hired onto the Atlanta PD.
They are only allowed to carry guns (no squad cars) and walk their beat. When two black officers discover a dead body in "darktown" (the black area of the city) and realize it was the same woman they saw earlier that night with a busted lip in the company of a white man they start investigating her death on their off time.
The Atlanta PD is full of crooked cops and racists how far can they go before they start getting unwanted attention? Is the investigation worth losing their jobs or even their lives?
4⭐️’s
They are only allowed to carry guns (no squad cars) and walk their beat. When two black officers discover a dead body in "darktown" (the black area of the city) and realize it was the same woman they saw earlier that night with a busted lip in the company of a white man they start investigating her death on their off time.
The Atlanta PD is full of crooked cops and racists how far can they go before they start getting unwanted attention? Is the investigation worth losing their jobs or even their lives?
4⭐️’s
Strong historical mystery. Was thoroughly intrigued by both the mystery/police investigation and the experience of black officers in mid-century Atlanta.
*Read for library book group (though I was already interested and therefore glad we picked it!)*
*Read for library book group (though I was already interested and therefore glad we picked it!)*
IQ "'Sometimes it's the ones who claim they're progressive who are the worst, because they act like they are very boundary between the possible and the impossible, and they never let you cross them. Know what I mean?'" (Timmons, 209)
Boggs is fairly well developed as a character along with Rakestraw. But Smith and Dunlaw remain caricatures which is confusing since I thought Bogg and Smith were both protagonists. Dunlaw I didn't care as much about once I realized he was getting little backstory aside from having a brusque and racist father and a very random connection to a Black child (I strongly disliked that plotline, it felt unnecessary and distracting). I also have mixed feelings about the character of Rakestraw. On the one hand I don't feel as though the author is condoning Rakestraw's prejudice by featuring a white character who engages in benevolent racism but I'm also not sure what his character adds to the novel aside from a mouthpiece for the author to use to do the right thing from time to time. I also felt as though some of the historical anecdotes are sloppily written in, I love history but I like it delivered more naturally than in long-winded conversations from random characters. That tends to feel (and read) unnatural for the flow of conversation.
All that being said I could not put this novel down. Putting the mystery element aside for a second, I had no idea conditions for the first Black police officers were so difficult (specifically in Atlanta although I'm sure things weren't peaches and cream in the North either), of course I knew things would have been difficult but it was appalling to discover just how bad things were. The daily indignities they suffered whether not being 'allowed' to drive a squad car, arrest white people or work in the same building as the white officers, are enraging. This book managed to mesmerize me while also working me into a rage at all the injustice present. The book is also remarkably clear-eyed about the double consciousness of serving as a Black police officer,"[t]hat's all that Officer Lucius Boggs had the power to do for his fellow Negro citizens: give them a slightly different hell" (105). And at one point in the book Smith needs Boggs to remind him why they're doing this and he rattles off a list of horrific unsolved crimes committed against Black people over the years. It is both inspiring and dispiriting. The Black officers are also all too aware that their community either despises them or doesn't understand why they want to serve on law enforcement (or both). This all makes for an internal battle with psychological repercussions that the author portrays quite poignantly. And then to top it all off, it's a real page turner although the ending is rushed. Unlike TV procedurals where you're introduced to a few suspects and spend time with each, the killer turns out to be someone we barely know which is frustrating. But for the most part the action is evenly spread, clues revealed at an agonizingly slow rate that tantalizes the reader and keeps you reading/guessing.
DARKTOWN is an absolutely engrossing mystery and work of historical fiction that covers bigotry, 1950s crime (bootlegging, gambling, prostitution), police corruption, white liberals and the duality of being a Black man and a cop. The racism makes for an extra grim and tense read but it never feels glorified or exaggerated solely for the sake of plot. The setting, both steamy Atlanta and Jim Crow enhance the novel greatly and allow for a stronger connection to the story that it's harder to shake off once done reading. This book also caused me to once again grapple with the role of Black cops and how I feel about them which was some unexpected (but not unwelcome) heaviness for a crime read. I already got Lightning Men from the library and I look forward to reading it next (and hopefully this does become a TV series).
Boggs is fairly well developed as a character along with Rakestraw. But Smith and Dunlaw remain caricatures which is confusing since I thought Bogg and Smith were both protagonists. Dunlaw I didn't care as much about once I realized he was getting little backstory aside from having a brusque and racist father and a very random connection to a Black child (I strongly disliked that plotline, it felt unnecessary and distracting). I also have mixed feelings about the character of Rakestraw. On the one hand I don't feel as though the author is condoning Rakestraw's prejudice by featuring a white character who engages in benevolent racism but I'm also not sure what his character adds to the novel aside from a mouthpiece for the author to use to do the right thing from time to time. I also felt as though some of the historical anecdotes are sloppily written in, I love history but I like it delivered more naturally than in long-winded conversations from random characters. That tends to feel (and read) unnatural for the flow of conversation.
All that being said I could not put this novel down. Putting the mystery element aside for a second, I had no idea conditions for the first Black police officers were so difficult (specifically in Atlanta although I'm sure things weren't peaches and cream in the North either), of course I knew things would have been difficult but it was appalling to discover just how bad things were. The daily indignities they suffered whether not being 'allowed' to drive a squad car, arrest white people or work in the same building as the white officers, are enraging. This book managed to mesmerize me while also working me into a rage at all the injustice present. The book is also remarkably clear-eyed about the double consciousness of serving as a Black police officer,"[t]hat's all that Officer Lucius Boggs had the power to do for his fellow Negro citizens: give them a slightly different hell" (105). And at one point in the book Smith needs Boggs to remind him why they're doing this and he rattles off a list of horrific unsolved crimes committed against Black people over the years. It is both inspiring and dispiriting. The Black officers are also all too aware that their community either despises them or doesn't understand why they want to serve on law enforcement (or both). This all makes for an internal battle with psychological repercussions that the author portrays quite poignantly. And then to top it all off, it's a real page turner although the ending is rushed. Unlike TV procedurals where you're introduced to a few suspects and spend time with each, the killer turns out to be someone we barely know which is frustrating. But for the most part the action is evenly spread, clues revealed at an agonizingly slow rate that tantalizes the reader and keeps you reading/guessing.
DARKTOWN is an absolutely engrossing mystery and work of historical fiction that covers bigotry, 1950s crime (bootlegging, gambling, prostitution), police corruption, white liberals and the duality of being a Black man and a cop. The racism makes for an extra grim and tense read but it never feels glorified or exaggerated solely for the sake of plot. The setting, both steamy Atlanta and Jim Crow enhance the novel greatly and allow for a stronger connection to the story that it's harder to shake off once done reading. This book also caused me to once again grapple with the role of Black cops and how I feel about them which was some unexpected (but not unwelcome) heaviness for a crime read. I already got Lightning Men from the library and I look forward to reading it next (and hopefully this does become a TV series).