Urban Houstonian Reviews: Black Water Rising
By urbanhoustonian at August 17, 2009 | 2:01 AM | Print
Black Water Rising by Attica Locke should have been two novels. Locke forced two tenuously linked plots into the book to the detriment of both. What makes this all the more disappointing is the book is actually very well written.
The novel begins with attorney Jay Porter taking his wife Bernie on a cruise of Buffalo Bayou for her birthday. Things take a turn for the worse when they hear gunshots and a woman’s screams, followed by a splash nearby. Jay helps a women who has fallen into the Bayou, and his life is never the same. Jay gets pulled into a murder mystery that draws him toward the most powerful people in Houston.
Through the course of Jay’s investigation into what is going on, he also gets pulled into a labor dispute on the Houston Ship Channel. The black union is fighting for better/equal pay along with their white brethren. A walkout is imminent, and Jay’s father-in-law, begs him to help when a young boy is beaten by some white workers. We discover Jay was heavily involved in the civil rights in college where he fell in love with Cynthia Maddox, who just happens to be the current Mayor of Houston.
Each storyline is well thought out, but the existence of the other inhibits either from succeeding. There is more that could have been added to each story to make them great. What I found most enjoyable was the relationship between Jay and Cynthia. There is a palpable sexual and emotional tension between the two that really reverbrates through the novel. It would have made for an interesting thread through each story, but it ends up being a weak link between the two plots.
At the end of the day, I cracked Black Water Rising with very (possibly too) high expectations. I enjoyed following Jay’s adventure through the streets of Houston in 1981. I ended up wanting more, but I do truly believe there are two really great stories in Black Water Rising. This is Attica Locke’s first book, and I will be interested to see what future novels have to offer.
