THE LEVEE: A NOVEL OF BATON ROUGE [Paperback]

MALCOLM SHUMAN (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Shuman (Burial Ground) works the familiar plot of an older man returning to his childhood community to resolve an old crime with limited success. True-crime author Colin Douglas is still haunted by his memories of a pale white form he and his teenage companions saw on a 1959 camping trip outside Baton Rouge, La. Douglas later learned that this ghostly apparition coincided with the brutal murder of Gloria Santana, the Spanish teacher at his high school. The father of one of Douglas's friends, the local doctor, who'd been having a fling with Santana, was arrested and released after the authorities concluded that one of two obvious suspects (with heavy-handed Dickensian names, Rufus Sikes and Darwin Drood) was responsible for the murder. Officially, the case was never solved. Douglas's return stirs up bad memories for those he left behind. The solution may shock some readers, but the surprise element comes at the expense of plausibility. (Mar.)
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Review

"This is the kind of novel you want to read again, immediately, just to see how the author did it." --Booklist (Starred review)

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Product Details

• Paperback: 211 pages
• Publisher: Academy Chicago Publishers (November 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 089733583X
• ISBN-13: 978-0897335836
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #901,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars BATON ROUGE MURDER MYSTERY, June 30, 2009

By 

Pamela A. Poddany "Book Freak!" (Toledo, Ohio) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: THE LEVEE: A NOVEL OF BATON ROUGE (Paperback)

THE LEVEE

We meet Colin Douglas, who is in his 60's and writes true crime books. He is a witness to the execution of a murderer; a subject for one of his books. This disturbing event brings back his own childhood trauma and he decides to finally take the bull by the horns and go back to his home town to confront his demons.

This book shifts back and forth from past to present quite nicely. We meet a young, teenage Colin, growing up in the deep South. He and his friends love to camp at the levee. One night at the levee they hear noises, see lights, see a car take off at top speed. Colin musters up all of his courage and goes down to the cemetery to see what has been going on -- only to be frightened away. The next day they realize a murder was in the process. Colin and his friends lives are never the same again.

Present-day Colin goes back to his home town and tries to dig up dirt on the murder. Things are still not as they seem and the more people he talks to, the more confusing this murder becomes. Colin tries to put together the pieces of this disturbing puzzle. He contacts some of his former friends to see if they have further information they can relate to him. Does Colin ever learn the truth? Will he believe the truth when he hears it? Is the right person convicted of this horrible crime? Is the murderer still free? Will justice ever be served? Read the book and find out.

This is a short but entertaining mystery book. I kept trying to figure out who the murderer was and never guessed correctly. I was shocked!

One thing about the format of this book -- I really enjoyed how the author would end each chapter with a small cliff-hanger, making me want to continue reading till I found out what was going to happen next.

If you enjoy a good mystery, full of questions and conflicts, this is a book that you would enjoy!

Thank you!

Pam

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Thrilling Page Turner, June 4, 2009

By 

Kristi Gutierrez (Baton Rouge, LA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: THE LEVEE: A NOVEL OF BATON ROUGE (Paperback)

As with all of Malcolm Shuman's other books, it was fast paced, extremely exciting, and I had a hard time putting it down. If you enjoy reading a great mystery, Mr. Shuman has other novels published under M.K. Shuman and M.S. Karl. Being a Louisiana native myself, it was very enjoyable to read about places that I am very familiar with.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Levee, January 6, 2009

By 

Lori Delaune "Lori" (St. Amant, LA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: THE LEVEE: A NOVEL OF BATON ROUGE (Paperback)

I really liked this book. I think the language could have been toned down alittle. But it was a sad story told very well.