Reviews

Midnight Atlanta by Thomas Mullen

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evanscat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

4.0

avalydia's review

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3.5

Another strong sequel in this series. I was a little confused by Mullen's choice to

not mention Denny Rakestraw at all when his wife was brought up a handful of times and even made an appearance during a scene - it was very weird after he'd been a major character in the first two books

. Other than that, though, I enjoyed the story and the focus on Tommy Smith in his new job. I hope there'll be another one in the series!

fowlermillbabe's review against another edition

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5.0

You've got to love a fiction book with recommended reading in the back.

jeffburns's review

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4.0

Midnight Atlanta: Darktown Trilogy, Book 3 of 3. Thomas Mullen. Little, Brown, 2021. 400 pages.

In 2016, crime and thriller fiction writer Thomas Mullen published Darktown, a fictionalized account of the lives and hardships of the first 8 black police officers in Atlanta, hired in 1948. Like the first 8 real men, Mullen's fictional characters were not allowed in the police station, relegated to the basement of a YMCA instead. They were not allowed to wear their uniforms off duty, drive police cars, or question or arrest white Atlantans, and they were only supposed to work in black neighborhoods. Most of their fellow police officers were KKK members or at least sympathizers. Their beat was solely "Darktown," and their creation was largely was largely a political ploy to win black votes after Georgia's racist primary election system was dismantled by the courts.

He picked up their story again with 2017's Lightning Men, which focused on the conflicts caused as black families moved closer and closer to "white neighborhoods," conflicts enflamed by the KKK and by a Neo-Nazi paramilitary hate group called the Lightning Men, for their SS-style emblems. Midnight Atlanta takes place a few years later, in 1956, with the backdrop of the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the ascendancy of Dr. MLK Jr to leadership in the growing civil rights movement, and the Red Scare.

Each story is extremely well told and stands as a good mystery thriller. Although Mullen is quick to point out that he is not an historian and doesn't try to be, his work is definitely influenced and inspired by real life and reflects how things were. The fact is, that although Atlanta's civic and business leaders worked hard to create the image of "The City Too Busy To Hate," there was still enough hate to go around.

(The Darktown trilogy's TV and movie rights were purchased in 2016 by Jamie Foxx and has been "in production" ever since. Current status unclear.)

skattkatten_'s review against another edition

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4.0

Tredje boken om den svarta polisstyrkan i Atlanta på 50-talet och fortfarande lika spännande och berörande.

beccaboo2216's review against another edition

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4.0

The writing is superior in this novel as compared to the last two! I mean just beautifully written. I loved how the story switched between narrator and characters, it definitely kept me interested and thinking! Beyond that, the level of realism and the character description / development was fantastic. I feel like I was involved in the story and the characters were my friends.

I also appreciated how this novel was less graphic and less triggering to read than the last two. Yet the reality of 1952 in Atlanta was still captured fully.

4.5 stars rounded down only because the story was a tad bit slow in the middle and the narrative / murder mystery aspect was somewhat complex. Despite it being complex, the ending was clear cut and was played out well!

Overall so glad I've kept up with the series and I will continue to read it if book 4 is ever written!!

canada_matt's review

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

Thomas Mullen’s historical fiction uses America and all its foibles as a strong backdrop. This series hones in on the race relations of the post-war era and magnifies how life in the Deep South proved to be dangerous and full of hate. Mullen has impressed me with the first two novels in this series, having me come back for another instalment, where things are changing in all regards. Atlanta is a hotbed for civil unrest and racial divide, but there has been movement, albeit slow. Creating a ‘Negro force’ to keep the Blacks feeling safe by some of their own appears to have been the solution, but there remains a strong resentment by whites, both citizens and on the force. Mullen tackles this and a number of historical events to provide a stellar third novel in the series.

Race relations in America remained precarious in the postwar Southern states. After much pressure to integrate, Atlanta Police developed a ‘Negro division’ in 1948, where Black officers were trained, but they had significant limitations surrounding their jobs and how they could effectively police. As resentment boiled over, these cops were stuck in Darktown, helping their own in an attempt to bring some form of judicial equality to Atlanta and serve as an example for others.

While some progress has been made by 1956, Atlanta is still teeming with racial unrest. Reverberations of Rosa Parks’ actions not to move back on a bus and the momentum young Martin Luther King Jr (an Atlantan himself) is receiving as he preaches for civil rights and equality has the country bursting at the seams. After Arthur Bishop, the editor of a powerful Black newspaper, is killed, questions surface as to what might have happened. Tommy Smith, who left the ‘Negro division’ to serve as a journalist, wants answers and is willing to come face to face with those white cops that tormented him to get them. Why would anyone want to kill Bishop? Might he have been sitting on a story that could blow things wide open?

Smith is not the only one trying to get answers. His former partner, Lucius Biggs, has been trying to work up an angle on Bishop’s murder, helped by white sergeant, Joe McInnis. Both men have issues of their own, especially after McInnis was sent to open the Negro division as a form of punishment in 1948, Now, eight years on, things are getting better and many wonder why he is still there. McInnis and Boggs must also try to deal with federal agents’ incursion into their territory, as many spout communist worries that could have been a reason Bishop met his demise. Neither Boggs nor McInnis are buying it, nor are they ready to play games around trying to loop young Martin Luther King Jr. up in some scheme to keep Atlanta peaceful.

When an arrest is made in the Bishop murder, it is his long-time wife who is saddled with the crime. It would seem the Bishops‘ marriage was on shaky ground and she could have wanted him out of the picture, with a new man on the horizon. While Smith works his own angle, Boggs tries to find actual evidence to show that Mrs. Bishop is being framed and that there is a larger threat lurking in the shadows. It’s midnight in Atlanta and all this could soon come crashing down, if answers are not forthcoming. Another great novel by Thomas Mullen that pits race against reality.

I love historical fiction, particularly when a great mystery is attached. Thomas Mullen has effectively done this for me, keeping things flowing with ease and providing me with something well worth my while. There are a number of strong themes that emerge here, as history begins to take shape in an America that still has not settled the racial divide after its Civil War. Mullen’s narrative guides the reader into all these nooks and crannies, in hopes of shedding light on something insightful, but still troubling for anyone who is not entirely aware of how bad things got at one point. Many characters continue to propel things in a number of directions, all to help the reader better understand what’s been going on and how things remain strained between the races. While both Boggs and Smith receive added character development, Joe McInnis, who was a minor character in the first two books, receives more of his own limelight and the reader can see his own struggles as a white officer who has no issues with the ‘Negro division’. Race is a dividing line and shuns those who do not ‘know their place’. Strong plots emerge and keep the story moving, while providing some wonderful twists and unpredictable moments. I cannot say enough about this book, this series, or this time period. Thomas Mullen has done so well and I hope other readers reach for this series, if only to enlighten themselves.

Kudos, Mr. Mullen, for shining a light on a truly dark subject. I cannot wait to read more of your work and hope additional books in this series are forthcoming.

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