Dark End of the Street: A Novel [Paperback]

Ace Atkins (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: William Morrow Imprint of HarperCollins; FIRST EDITION edition (2002)
• ISBN-10: 006051826X
• ISBN-13: 978-0060526092
• ASIN: 0060526092
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,325,143 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

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Rewarding adventure--blues, the south, & murder, November 30, 2002

By 

booksforabuck "BooksForABuck" (Long Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Dark End of the Street (Nick Travers) (Hardcover)

Music historian Nick Travers tracks down legendary blues musicians for a living so he isn't too surprised when his friend Loretta asks him to find her brother--except that her brother has been rumored to be dead for years. Still, Nick can't turn down a request from Loretta and heads from New Orleans to Memphis where Clyde James had last been seen. What he finds in Memphis, though, is a woman being held captive, recent murder, and a political campaign with Dixie Mafia money coming out the seams. Nick will have to call on more than music detection skills to survive this mess--let alone help things come out right.

Author Ace Atkins writes convincingly of an American south where the old and new rest uneasily with one another, where race relations are personal, and where dreams of the confederacy still motivate men to arm and train. Atkin's characterization is rich and full. In addition to Nick, the sociopathic Perfect Leigh and Jesse Garon are especially well drawn and fascinating. The rich background of the blues, of southern cooking, of friendship, and of the quiet desperation that marks so many lives makes DARK END OF THE STREET feel terribly authentic.

There is a lot going on in this novel--as Nick slams from trouble to trouble, barely ahead of a bullet. At times, the plotting can get a little confused. At other times, Nick's plots might be a little too cute. Still, Atkins's strong writing can make even the most unlikely plot turns feel natural. Watch out because DARK END can grab you by the throat and kick you in the rear.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Danger in Memphis, October 10, 2004

By 

Untouchable (Sydney, NSW Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dark End of the Street (Nick Travers) (Hardcover)

In this 3rd book in the Nick Travers series, Ace Atkins sends his blues historian to Memphis and incorporates a little soul into his series. One night while sitting in his long-time friend Jojo's bar, Jojo's wife Loretta drags Travers aside to ask him to find her brother for her. She had recently received a visit from a couple of men looking for him and wanted to make sure he was alright. However, the word was that her brother, broken down soul legend Clyde Jones had died recently in Memphis where he had been living as a homeless shell of a man. No one could confirm Clyde's death for him when Travers asked around, in fact, his questions made some people downright uncomfortable.

Meanwhile in Tunica a young woman by the name of Abby who is still trying to come to grips with the murder of her father and mother is being stalked by Perfect Leigh. Perfect works for Levi Ransom a member of the Dixie mafia and a very dangerous man. Abby is eventually captured and is in the process of being interrogated, none too gently, when Nick's path crosses hers in dramatic circumstances, immediately casting him as her knight in shining armor and Ransom's bitter enemy.

The story quickly progresses from a missing person's case to a fight for survival as Nick gets caught between the Dixie mafia and a white supremist group who call themselves the Sons of the South. Apart from a small continuity problem towards the end where we seemed to jump from scene to scene without any logical reason, this is another enthralling music-base mystery.

Ace Atkins is starting to make a habit of coming up with some very off-beat characters to play his villains, rather reminiscent of James W. Hall and his unique portrayal of rogues. In his previous book, LEAVIN' TRUNK BLUES, Atkins introduced us to Annie and Fannie, a couple of killer prostitutes with a love of Archie comics and, in Annie's case, a special relationship with her knife. Now, in DARK END OF THE STREET we get a hit man who is not only a devotee of Elvis Presley but who believes Elvis is a divine being. Although the man is obviously an efficient and remorseless killer it's rather difficult to take a man seriously when he's kneeling and praying to his higher being, Elvis Presley.

He has also done a terrific job of capturing the atmosphere of Memphis through the style of music Travers recalls, the bars he frequents on Beale Street and the house styles that are noted as he moves through the city. I enjoyed experiencing the feeling of visiting Memphis almost as much as the story around which the visit was based.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Ace!!!, November 20, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Dark End of the Street (Nick Travers) (Hardcover)

I agree with Elmore Leonard, who, on the jacket of DARK END OF THE STREET, says that Ace Atkins is an ace of a writer. This novel is a riveting page-turner of the first magnitude that also dazzled me with its fine writing and wonderful characterizations.