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3.97 AVERAGE
3.97 AVERAGE
Rating a 3.75-4 stars. The story itself is intriguing and fascinating, especially living in Atlanta. My issue with the book is it's a real slow starter and doesn't pick up until the last fourth of the book. That is the only reason why my rating is where I have it.
The book is set in 1948, pre civil rights era. The Atlanta Police Department is forced to hire 8 black officers, yet these men were only officers in name only. They had the uniform and the badge, but had no rights allotted to officers. They weren't even allowed in the police station and had to shack up in the YMCA. When a black girl is found murdered and her body dumped in a trash dump, two of the new officers take it upon themselves to investigate her murder. At times this book was really hard to read due to the harsh racial discrimination and how it was written. I understand the story couldn't be told without it, but it doesn't make it any easier to read. It was also hard because it makes you question how much of this behavior is going on today, which is sad. The book was good and painful.
The book is set in 1948, pre civil rights era. The Atlanta Police Department is forced to hire 8 black officers, yet these men were only officers in name only. They had the uniform and the badge, but had no rights allotted to officers. They weren't even allowed in the police station and had to shack up in the YMCA. When a black girl is found murdered and her body dumped in a trash dump, two of the new officers take it upon themselves to investigate her murder. At times this book was really hard to read due to the harsh racial discrimination and how it was written. I understand the story couldn't be told without it, but it doesn't make it any easier to read. It was also hard because it makes you question how much of this behavior is going on today, which is sad. The book was good and painful.
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
Thanks to Atria for this early copy. Although this book is set in 1948 it is comparable to today in the topic of racism. A mystery/whodunnit that is extremely good!
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism
Moderate: Rape
In 1948 the mayor of Atlanta, Georgia hired eight black police officers in a pact to secure votes in black neighbourhoods. The officers, at least one of whom was a veteran of World War II, were restricted to patrolling black areas of the city and could not, under any circumstances, arrest white people. This startling hypocrisy extended to the officers’ squad room, the basement of the local YMCA as segregation meant that they were prohibited from entering the main police headquarters.
Thomas Mullen’s ‘Dark Town’ is an intelligent and literate thriller set in Atlanta just after the city has, controversially, employed these first eight ‘coloured’ police officers. It is a time when “antilynching legislation … kept failing in Washington” and the commanding officer concentrates on “trying to make sure his Negro officers didn’t screw up while also trying to keep the white officers from flat-out attacking his “men.” ”
Lucius Boggs and his partner Tommy Smith witness a white driver crash into a lamppost in ‘Dark Town’, the negro quarter they patrol. The driver, whose young black female passenger appears to have been beaten, refuses to wait while Boggs contacts the ‘real’ police. When the girl later turns up dead Boggs decides to investigate, strictly against the regulations. Meanwhile, Dennis Rakestraw, a white police officer, also a war veteran, becomes increasingly disillusioned by the actions of his openly racist partner, Lionel Dunlow. And, when it becomes apparently that Dunlow has some connection to the car driver and, by extension, the murdered girl, Rake’s and Boggs’ investigations overlap.
Mullen’s characters and setting are incredibly well realised. The Atlanta background feels real and the racism experienced by the black officers, overt and casual, is authentic. The characters, even the worst of them, are rounded with understandable, albeit in many cases disagreeable, motivations. The resentment and suspicion felt by both the white and black communities towards each other, that suspicion extended to the ‘Uncle Tom’ officers by many of their neighbours, the ‘threat’ felt by whites witnessing the expansion of the black middle-class - the author paints all of these vividly. A satisfying and thought provoking historical novel about a period I knew very little about. Highly recommended.
Thomas Mullen’s ‘Dark Town’ is an intelligent and literate thriller set in Atlanta just after the city has, controversially, employed these first eight ‘coloured’ police officers. It is a time when “antilynching legislation … kept failing in Washington” and the commanding officer concentrates on “trying to make sure his Negro officers didn’t screw up while also trying to keep the white officers from flat-out attacking his “men.” ”
Lucius Boggs and his partner Tommy Smith witness a white driver crash into a lamppost in ‘Dark Town’, the negro quarter they patrol. The driver, whose young black female passenger appears to have been beaten, refuses to wait while Boggs contacts the ‘real’ police. When the girl later turns up dead Boggs decides to investigate, strictly against the regulations. Meanwhile, Dennis Rakestraw, a white police officer, also a war veteran, becomes increasingly disillusioned by the actions of his openly racist partner, Lionel Dunlow. And, when it becomes apparently that Dunlow has some connection to the car driver and, by extension, the murdered girl, Rake’s and Boggs’ investigations overlap.
Mullen’s characters and setting are incredibly well realised. The Atlanta background feels real and the racism experienced by the black officers, overt and casual, is authentic. The characters, even the worst of them, are rounded with understandable, albeit in many cases disagreeable, motivations. The resentment and suspicion felt by both the white and black communities towards each other, that suspicion extended to the ‘Uncle Tom’ officers by many of their neighbours, the ‘threat’ felt by whites witnessing the expansion of the black middle-class - the author paints all of these vividly. A satisfying and thought provoking historical novel about a period I knew very little about. Highly recommended.
This book was brutal, as one could expect from any noir/detective story, especially one that takes place in the Jim Crow era of Atlanta, GA. As soon as I read an NPR piece on the history behind this one, when the first black cops were allowed to carry guns and wear uniform, but not drive squad cars, carry out investigations, or arrest white people, I was intrigued. The book did not disappoint - while it is a story of racism and a fairly standard detective plot, it also reveals a lot about each individual character and their background and motivations. I highly recommend this one, even if you're not usually a mystery novel reader. This was one of the best books I read all year - check it out!!
Outstanding look at race relations in the 1950s Atlanta, GA. The narrator Andrea Holland did a wonderful job portraying the different characters and building the world of Sweet Auburn Ave. I am so pleased I listening to this book as it made the experience so much more!
Historical fiction and police procedural wrapped up in a tense, grim package. The story is set in Georgia in 1948, shortly after the first black officers were reluctantly added to the Atlanta Police Department. I almost put the book down, thoroughly creeped out by the casual racism of the time and place, and the cruelty of the overwhelmingly white police force. I'm glad I persevered, however, because Mullen writes a taut grabber of a tale. It wasn't lost on me that I was reading it on the 50th anniversary of the racial upheaval in Detroit: astonishing how much is unchanged all these years later.
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book upset me too much to keep reading it.