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arisbookcorner 's review for:
Darktown
by Thomas Mullen
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).