Crossroad Blues (Nick Travers Series) [Paperback]

Ace Atkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2010 | Series: Nick Travers Series

“In Atkins’ hands, the characters are as substantial as a down home breakfast of biscuits and ham with red-eye gravy.”—Entertainment Weekly

“Crossroad Blues is a riot of Johnson lore, driven by the sort of stories generations of blues researchers would have sacrificed their children and parents to nail down.”—Greil Marcus, Interview magazine

“One of the best crime writers at work today.”—Michael Connelly

This is the tenth anniversary edition, featuring bonus material from the author and a never-before-published Nick Travers story.

Sixty years after 1930s bluesman Robert Johnson—who, as legend has it, sold his soul to the devil at a Mississippi crossroads—was murdered after a gig at a Greenwood, Mississippi, juke joint, a college professor following rumors of nine unknown Johnson recordings goes missing in the Delta. Ex–New Orleans Saint-turned-Tulane University blues historian Nick Travers is sent to find him. Clues point to everyone from an eccentric albino named Cracker to a seventeen-year-old hitman who believes he is the second coming of Elvis Presley.

A modern, Southern reinvention of The Maltese Falcon, Crossroad Blues impressed noir fans with its nod to the masters Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett and intrigued blues lovers with its meticulous attention to detail. But most of all, with richly drawn characters, a tight plot, and snappy dialogue, Crossroad Blues is a timeless story told well.

A former Pulitzer Prize–nominated journalist, Ace Atkins is the best-selling author of seven novels, including Devil’s Garden (Putnam, April 2009).

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Florida journalist and former college football player Ace Atkins takes full advantage of the legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson's life, music, and strange death in his first mystery. And even though it bears the weight of two of the genre's most overused icons--a New Orleans setting and an ex-sports star as hero--Crossroad Blues is fresh and imaginative enough in all its other aspects to inspire hope for an ongoing series.

Yes, Nick Travers did play for the New Orleans Saints, but it wasn't an injury that turned him into a part-time detective and full-time expert on the blues. "Nick had been thrown out of the NFL for kicking his coach's ass during a Monday Night Football game," Atkins tell us. Now he teaches the occasional blues history class at Tulane, works on his biography of Guitar Slim, and plays his harmonica at JoJo's Blues Bar--a place so lovingly described that it should be real even if it isn't. When a Tulane colleague disappears on a quest for some hitherto unknown Johnson recordings in the Mississippi Delta town of Greenwood, Travers goes to look for him--and walks into a murderous mess of colorful sociopaths, including a deadly teenage Elvis lookalike and a slimy record producer who not only orchestrates violent crimes but also dares to use the blues as a marketing ploy for a chain of nightclubs. More, please. --Dick Adler --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

The legendary blues guitarist Robert Johnson has been used for fictional purposes before (e.g., in Walter Mosley's RL's Dream), but Florida journalist Atkins takes full, fresh advantage of Johnson's life, music and strange death in his first mystery. Despite the weight of two overused genre staples (the New Orleans setting and an ex-sports star as hero), this lively debut sparks hope for an ongoing series. It wasn't an injury that turned Nick Travers, who played for the New Orleans Saints, into a part-time detective and full-time expert on the blues. "Nick had been thrown out of the NFL for kicking his coach's ass during a Monday Night Football game," the third-person narrator tell us. Now he teaches the occasional blues history class at Tulane, works on his biography of Guitar Slim and plays his harmonica at JoJo's Blues Bar?a place so deftly described that it should be real even if it isn't. When a Tulane colleague disappears on a quest for a hitherto unknown Johnson recording in the Mississippi Delta town of Greenwood, Travers goes to look for him?and walks into a murderous mess of colorful sociopaths. Among them are a deadly teenage Elvis lookalike and a slimy record producer who not only orchestrates violent crimes but, worse, dares to use the blues as a marketing ploy. This tale's a pleasure for both mystery and RL fans.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 250 pages
• Publisher: Busted Flush Press, LLC; 10 Anv Rei edition (January 1, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1935415034
• ISBN-13: 978-1935415039
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #410,096 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ace Atkins is the author of nine novels, including The Ranger, the debut novel in the Quinn Colson series, from G.P. Putnam's Sons. Earlier this year, Atkins was chosen by the Robert B. Parker estate to continue the highly popular Spenser novels.

The first of those books hits bookstores in 2012 along with Atkins' sequel to The Ranger.

A former journalist who cut his teeth as a crime reporter in the newsroom of The Tampa Tribune, he published his first novel, Crossroad Blues, at 27 and became a full-time novelist at 30.

While at the Tribune, Ace earned a Pulitzer Prize nomination for a feature series based on his investigation into a forgotten murder of the 1950s. The story became the core of his critically acclaimed novel, White Shadow, which earned raves from noted authors and critics. In his next novels, Wicked City, Devil's Garden, and Infamous, blended first-hand interviews and original research into police and court records with tightly woven plots and incisive characters. The historical novels told great American stories by weaving fact and fiction into a colorful, seamless tapestry.

The Ranger represents a return to Ace's first love: hero-driven series fiction. Quinn Colson is a real hero--a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan--who returns home to north Mississippi to fight corruption on his home turf. The first Quinn Colson novel, a contemporary book with a dash of classic westerns and noir, hits stores June 9th.

Ace lives on a historic farm outside Oxford, Mississippi with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, an intelligent mystery with a sense of humor!, August 6, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Marietta, Georgia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossroad Blues: A Nick Travers Mystery (Hardcover)

After reading the galleys, my first thought was, what a talented young writer. Ace Atkins' clever use of dialect, humor, and detail does more than unravel a mystery. He creates characters who are worth reading. Nick Travers is smart enough to make you think,interesting enough to make you want more, and funny enough that you'd want to have a beer with him. Atkins also manages weave together the past and present worlds of Blues, the Delta and New Orleans into a story that really makes you wonder about the world of Robert Johnson and what really happened. And, Jesse is the hippest, funkiest villan I've read in years! Crossroad Blues is well worth reading.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Series of Blues Mysteries, February 19, 2003

By 

Lisa B. Graham (Orlando, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Crossroad Blues (Nick Travers Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

"Crossroad Blues" is a fascinating & engaging read because it contains many elements that keeps the reader interested - short chapters, punchy dialogue, intriguing character development & rich descriptions of the Mississippi Delta. The author seamlessly weaves the musical essence of the 1930s blues scene with a complete immersion into present day New Orleans culture. We are treated to a glimpse of life behind the facade erected for tourist consumption, & see gritty realism. We blues fans applaud this mystery series!

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Someone Goes On a Trip, November 19, 2000

By 

Bernard M. Patten "Book worm" (Seabrook, TX United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Crossroad Blues (Nick Travers Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

Some people say there are only two types of stories: A new kid comes to town and someone goes on a trip. Crossroad Blues belongs in the later class because Nick Travers travels around New Orleans and the delta in search for a missing colleague. It's not as interesting as the chase for an albino whale. But then again what is? Along the way, we readers learn lots about he history of the Blues and the mysterious disappearance of one of the blues greats, Robert Johnson. Hard core to the core, situated in a typical decaying and corrupt urban setting, Crossroad Blues takes us to the other side of the railroad tracks where men and women are rough, nihilistic, and very very tough. The author,like most hard boil authors, does at every opportunity seem to want to rub our noses in the you know what. In Hard Boiled the main character does (predictably) have relationship problems. Nick is no exception. But in his case the relationship appears stylized, artificial, and tacked on. Unfortunately, the book is not balanced in other respects. After it hit us over the head a number of times, it lets us down at the end. And most annoying are the several plot defects that surface, especially the coincidental meetings of important characters at just the right times. Poor editing is another problem: rough edges should have been caught and repaired. All in all, though, for a first novel, it's quite entertaining. In fact, not bad. Ace Atkins, shows promise, and will probably, as he matures become one of our best hard boilers.