(27. - 1270.) Guide Me Home by Attica Locke - In 2019 Texas Ranger, Darren Mathews, is tired. Donald Trump’s actions as President have worn him down. The Aryan Brotherhood of Texas task force was shut down after Trump was elected before it could indict anyone. The local DA, having failed in 2017 and 2018 to get him indicted for obstruction, is running for Congress and threatening another grand jury. Darren is deeply concerned by the polarization of America as the 2020 elections near. He is weary of being a black man with a badge trying to safeguard black folks. He feels guilty over how he handled a handgun he thought was involved in murder. He was dishonest in an investigation. Jim Beam has become his best friend. He has lost hope. He turns in his badge.
Randie, the wife of a murder victim in the first book of the series Bluebird, Bluebird, has become his lover. She joins him in his country family home outside Camilla in East Texas. It is time for a new life.
His mother, Bell, appears. She is trying to get back in his life. He resolutely declines, unwilling to forgive a lifetime of maternal bad behaviour. He cannot believe she has given up drinking.
Bell wants him to investigate the disappearance of a young black woman student from a white sorority house at Stephen F. Austin University because no one in Texas officialdom cares. Darren is uninterested.
He loves Randie, has his grandmother’s ring and is ready to propose to her, but a discussion over the missing girl while he is drinking turns into an argument. Darren can be a mean drunk and, after a cruel remark, Randie leaves. He blacks out during a two day binge.
When he awakes he starts searching for the missing girl, Sera Fuller, with the aid of Bell. They form one of the most complex teams in crime fiction. His mother let his uncles take him when he was a day old. She provides information on his father who died before Darren was born that shakes him to his core. There are abundant feelings of guilt for both of them. Locke writes powerfully over the fraught mother / son relationship.
His mother, Randie and his Uncle Clayton all love him but each relationship is fractured. Can he, does he want to, will he work on each relationship?
Sera’s parents work for a meat processing plant, Thornhill, that has company housing. They are appreciative of the company even though a terrible smell pervades the company town. Sera’s father is a Trump supporter.
The desperation of America’s working poor concerning access to medical care is an overwhelming issue for the black families. We have issues in the Canadian health care system but not like the United States.
Darren is forced to face what happened in the murder investigation of Bluebird, Bluebird. It is a rare book that addresses consequences for the police.
Darren was a good Texas Ranger but a former Texas Ranger has no authority. A former black Ranger has even less status but he refuses to give up on the investigation. More and more he wonders why the white leaders of Thornhill are concerned about a teenage black girl.
Standing on your own without help from others is ingrained in the black and white psyches of America. To a Canadian it is a puzzle. You can be independent while standing with others.
There is a trial with a witness who surprises everyone.
The layers in the conclusion are amazing. Each was entirely credible but I never saw them coming. A conscience is a heavy burden for a good man.
The trilogy of Darren Mathews has a fitting ending in Guide Me Home. Attica Locke is a remarkable writer.
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