Black Water Rising    by Attica Locke Order:  USA  Can Harper, 2009 (2009) Hardcover, CD     Reviewed by Barbara Lingens Attica Locke has imagined a very interesting story, and her novel is quite an achievement for a first-time author. A night-time call for help on the brackish waters of a bayou in Houston starts Jay Porter's quest to be the person he thought he was before being wrongly imprisoned for civil rights activity in Houston in the '70s. As a lawyer barely making enough to pay the rent for his shabby office while trying to make his wife comfortable in the last months of her pregnancy, it is quite a stretch for him to take on a complex network of wrongdoing, especially since he has never overcome the fear that has owned him since his arrest. He has lost contact with family, his friends deserted him and so did his self-esteem. The complete description of the incident that caused Jay's arrest takes a long time to emerge, and along the way there are a lot of twists to the plot. But Locke keeps the threads of the story pretty well in hand, and we willingly and quickly turn the pages to find out what really happened back in the '70s and what Jay will do about it now. I think the ending is quite beautiful. Note: Opinions expressed in reviews and articles on this site are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of BookLoons. Find more Contemporary books on our Shelves or in our book Reviews