Customer Reviews

White Shadow

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

WHITE SHADOW is a very different work for Ace Atkins, who has garnered critical and popular acclaim with his Nick Travers novels, a very readable series featuring a protagonist who is by turns a music professor and a somewhat reluctant private eye. What we have here is a more serious, much darker worldview.

It is a fictionalized account of the infamous and unsolved Charlie Wall murder, which occurred in Tampa, Florida in 1955. Wall, a one-time criminal kingpin specializing in the areas of bootlegging and illegal gambling, was found bludgeoned to death in his home, putting the city in an uproar and causing the ethically challenged police department to shift into overdrive to determine who was behind the deed. There was a surfeit of suspects, given that Wall had made a number of enemies, particularly among the Cuban and Sicilian gangsters who maintained a de facto control of the streets of Tampa while warily vying with and eying each other.

The narrative of the crime and its subsequent investigation are presented from different points of view. The primary of these are L.B. Turner, a reporter for The Tampa Daily Times, and Ed Dodge, a tough city detective who clings to ethics and truth in a sea full of sharks. There are others, however, including a beautiful young woman with a quiet, smoldering passion for revenge, and criminals who have various reasons for rejoicing in Wall's death, even as they work at cross-purposes. For even as Wall's murder is investigated, it has repercussions that quietly but surely affected events on an international scale --- even to this day --- among people and within places that did not even know of Charlie Wall's flamboyant existence and brutal end.

The foregoing elements, taken together, would be enough to make WHITE SHADOW a compelling read. Atkins, however, does much more here. The research that was involved in its writing is remarkable, as is its result, which is the literary recreation of a time and place removed from the present by a half-century. Atkins recreates the imagery and rhythm of Tampa in 1955 so unerringly that, at times while I was reading this work, the world outside of its pages looked foreign by comparison. Atkins's characterizations are all memorable and jolting; switching points of view continuously throughout the book, Atkins unerringly bestows each character with their own voice, so much so that one narrative smoothly follows another without the confusion that a lesser writer might otherwise impart on a reader.

That said, the primary element of WHITE SHADOW that ultimately lifts it to the summit of fictional works is its imagery. Atkins evokes the spirit of such varied figures as E. L. Doctorow (without, thankfully, sacrificing imagery for clarity), Cormac McCarthy, Elmore Leonard and James Ellroy. Violence is sudden and sure; there are double-crosses from beginning to end; and there is romance, or what passes for it.

A note on the latter: there are many types of love affairs that take place here, and it is with this element that Atkins infuses his greatest irony in its most subtle sense. For it is between the least likely of couples that the most --- and only --- successful relationship in WHITE SHADOW occurs. You'll know it when you read it.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

For years Charlie "White Shadow" Wall ran the Tampa, Florida mob. Now Charlie retired as he knows that being the kingpin is a young man's game with him finding it increasingly difficult to stay alive from the assorted rivals and employees who want to dethrone him. However, in April of that year, someone stabbed elderly Charlie killing him.

Detective Ed Dodge and Tampa Tribune reporter Leland Hawes investigate the homicide that each assumes ties back to the White Shadow's mob days; could someone have feared that Charlie knew too much and with Kefauver making noise in DC was about to reveal secrets. Dodge and Hawes travel the city to include the infamous Latin Quarter of Ybor City, Sunset Park and more before heading to Havana as they follow clues that look promising but seem to go nowhere with the mob watching every step they take just in case.

Though a fine mystery based on the real homicide of Wall in 1955 Tampa, WHITE SHADOW feels more like a historical tale with a whodunit subplot as the story line contains a who's who of 1950s Florida and Cuba. The investigation is terrific, but it is the tidbits from the era and the persona like Castro who brings what seems now like ancient history (the Dodgers are still in Brooklyn winning their only world series while located there while L.A. is not even a strategic objective). True crime fans, the historical mystery audience, and readers who appreciate a look back at the "Happy Days" of the Eisenhower era will appreciate Ace Atkins fine "reenactment" thriller.

Harriet Klausner

WOW! Whattabook! It's hard to grab all of the adjectives needed to praise this novel. Just read it!

This could be the best fictionalized non-fiction telling of more recent Florida History since `A Land Remembered' by Patrick Smith.

It covers Tampa, Ybor City and Gibsonton history. Most of the figures in the story are real: Charlie Wall, Santo Trafficante, Hampton Dunn, George Raft, Fidel Castro, etc. Ace Atkins ties all of this together with a narrative that puts you at the scene in `54. It's a terrific book!

Many folks do not know of Florida's rampant ongoing crimewave that goes back to the 1500s and that thief Desoto. Mob activity has been but a small part of it all. Atkins really brings it alive. There are no flamingos on the beach in this novel. Then again there are no flamingos on any beach in Florida. Here's an opportunity to visit the REAL Florida, circa 1954.

This is a crime story set in Tampa, Florida, in 1955. It is a transition period. The older crime bosses are aging and noting that the ways of doing business are changing. Events are coming to a boil in Cuba. The story is based on real incidents and involves news reporters, police, criminals, and Cubans. There are some scenes set in Havans. Fidel Castro makes an appearance late in the story.

A retired crime boss has been murdered in his home. The police seek a motive and a killer. He had information that could be damaging to many people. There are questions about what happened to the information and about who he was talking to. It can be dangerous if an old man gets drunk and rambles on about what he knows.

The story moves back and forth between news reporters, police, criminal elements, and the Cubans (particularly a young woman refugee). Some of the police are on the take, and some of the criminal elements are not playing by the rules. News reporters investigate at their peril, and Cubans form their own society.

Some people get what they deserve. others walk away clean, and there are questions about betrayal of establishments and betrayal of ideals. The retired crime boss leaves behind some messages.

The novel was a nominee for the 2007 Barry Award for best mystery novel.

Atkins never disappoints; whether it's Nick Travers tracking down a killer or his latest, "White Shadow", a fictionalized history of the strange and savage death of Florida kingpin, Charlie Wall. Watkins command of texture and prose is exceptional and delightful. If you love the printed word arranged in beautiful weaved phrases you will love this book. Atkins loves the area and has an artist's passion for this work.

Ace Atkins is a blossoming superstar. And, he's young so his best is yet to come.

"White Shadow". Buy it, read it, let the prose wash over your mind. -- W. L. Ripley

Starts promisingly but meanders into subplots galore and peripheral characters that only distract the reader from the "point". Speaking of which, I think the point is to include every scrap of local color and historical data that Atkins compiled for the book. It's as if no detail is too extraneous to be omitted, and every notorious character of the period must be included. A little judicious editing would have been much appreciated.

I am a native of Tampa, born 75 years ago. I was in high school during the era of White Shadow. I found this book to be as accurate as my memory serves me, very interesting, I learned some new things about Tampa. Have recommended it to friends and relatives from Tampa. So far some of their reviews have claimed this book to be excellent. Hope to see Mr. Atkins at the book festival at University of South Florida, St. Petersburg campus.This Saturday, the 22nd of October.

Ace Atkins uses the real-life murder of Tampa, Florida crime boss Charlie Wall as the basis for an atmospheric novel set in the Tampa of the mid-1950s. An idealistic young reporter and a hardened police detective attempt to solve the crime, each in his own way.

Atkins is most successful in recreating the Tampa of fifty years ago with a mix of interesting characters set against a very convincing backdrop, and the book is well worth reading just for the portrait he creates. Even Fidel Castro makes an appearance. (Castro apparently visited Tampa in the late fifties, attempting to drum up support for his revolution.)

Atkins is a bit less successful in creating a riveting story. The book is based on actual events, and the author may try just a bit too hard to be faithful to the facts. The book would have been a better read had he taken a bit more artistic license. Crime fiction fans who are accustomed to the sort of resolution that one usually finds at the ends of these books may be a bit disappointed with the conclusion of the book. Still, it's a good read that will inevitably provoke some comparisons with the L.A. noir of James Ellroy.

Like the other one or two star reviews, I thought the author included every little bit of detail of the period, 1955 -56, from Castro to the victim, and the book is thus very inconclusive and I simply did not care for it. At the end you are still not certain who the killer was, but I stuck with it, and like so many other books I ended up not liking wish I had quit after about 3 chapters. I have also read Infamous by the author and gave it a five star, so try that book instead.

Living in the area where White Shadow takes place makes the reading of the story even better since it gives me landmarks and familiar areas of reference. Ace Atkins writes in a style that holds your interest...a non-fictional story written in fictional style...This book is definitely worth reading!