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Pleasantville: A Novel
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HarperCollins 2015
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Description

WINNER OF THE HARPER LEE PRIZE FOR LEGAL FICTION

Wall Street Journal BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

From Attica Locke, a writer and producer of FOX's Empire, this sophisticated thriller sees lawyer Jay Porter—hero of her bestseller Black Water Rising—return to fight one last case, only to become embroiled in a dangerous game of shadowy politics and a witness to how far those in power are willing to go to win.

Fifteen years after his career-defining case against Cole Oil, Jay Porter is broke and tired. That victory might have won the environmental lawyer fame, but thanks to a string of appeals, he hasn't seen a dime. His latest case—representing Pleasantville in the wake of a chemical fire—is dragging on, shaking his confidence and raising doubts about him within this upwardly mobile black community on Houston's north side. Though Jay still believes in doing what's right, he is done fighting other people's battles. Once he has his piece of the settlement, the single father is going to devote himself to what matters most—his children.

His plans are abruptly derailed when a female campaign volunteer vanishes on the night of Houston's mayoral election, throwing an already contentious campaign into chaos. The accused is none other than the nephew and campaign manager of one of the leading candidates—a scion of a prominent Houston family headed by the formidable Sam Hathorne. Despite all the signs suggesting that his client is guilty—and his own misgivings—Jay can't refuse when a man as wealthy and connected as Sam asks him to head up the defense. Not if he wants that new life with his kids. But he has to win.

Plunging into a shadowy world of ambitious enemies and treacherous allies armed with money, lies, and secrets, Jay reluctantly takes on his first murder trial—a case that will put him and his client, and an entire political process, on trial.

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Format:
Adobe EPUB eBook, Kindle Book, OverDrive Read
Street Date:
04/21/2015
Language:
English
ISBN:
9780062259356
ASIN:
B00M70LUBO
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APA Citation (style guide)

Attica Locke. (2015). Pleasantville: A Novel. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation (style guide)

Attica Locke. 2015. Pleasantville: A Novel. HarperCollins.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities Citation (style guide)

Attica Locke, Pleasantville: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2015.

MLA Citation (style guide)

Attica Locke. Pleasantville: A Novel. HarperCollins, 2015.

Note! Citation formats are based on standards as of July 2022. Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy.
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        Attica Locke is the author of Black Water Rising, which was nominated for an Edgar Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was short-listed for the UK's Orange Prize, and also the national bestseller The Cutting Season, which won an Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. She is a producer and writer on the Fox drama Empire. She is on the board of directors for the Library Foundation of Los Angeles, where she lives.

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fullDescription

WINNER OF THE HARPER LEE PRIZE FOR LEGAL FICTION

Wall Street Journal BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

From Attica Locke, a writer and producer of FOX's Empire, this sophisticated thriller sees lawyer Jay Porter—hero of her bestseller Black Water Rising—return to fight one last case, only to become embroiled in a dangerous game of shadowy politics and a witness to how far those in power are willing to go to win.

Fifteen years after his career-defining case against Cole Oil, Jay Porter is broke and tired. That victory might have won the environmental lawyer fame, but thanks to a string of appeals, he hasn't seen a dime. His latest case—representing Pleasantville in the wake of a chemical fire—is dragging on, shaking his confidence and raising doubts about him within this upwardly mobile black community on Houston's north side. Though Jay still believes in doing what's right, he is done fighting other people's battles. Once he has his piece of the settlement, the single father is going to devote himself to what matters most—his children.

His plans are abruptly derailed when a female campaign volunteer vanishes on the night of Houston's mayoral election, throwing an already contentious campaign into chaos. The accused is none other than the nephew and campaign manager of one of the leading candidates—a scion of a prominent Houston family headed by the formidable Sam Hathorne. Despite all the signs suggesting that his client is guilty—and his own misgivings—Jay can't refuse when a man as wealthy and connected as Sam asks him to head up the defense. Not if he wants that new life with his kids. But he has to win.

Plunging into a shadowy world of ambitious enemies and treacherous allies armed with money, lies, and secrets, Jay reluctantly takes on his first murder trial—a case that will put him and his client, and an entire political process, on trial.

reviews
      • premium: False
      • source: Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year
      • content:

        "Stellar.... As is Ms. Locke's creative wont, the crimes at hand prove a mere prelude to darker deeds." — Wall Street Journal Best Books of the Year

        "Outstanding.... Ms. Locke elegantly parcels out key information about her characters one piece at a time." — Wall Street Journal

        "Splendid.... A thoughtful, penetrating mystery." — USA Today

        "This taut thriller. . . is knitted with enough shock and awe and backroom politics to keep you reading and guessing all weekend long." — Essence

        "A nuanced and empathetic look at the unequal, contentious social layers of Houston's African-American population." — Seattle Times

        "Compelling.... Locke, a writer and co-producer of the Fox drama "Empire," gracefully melds politics and racial issues with greed and a family rooted in secrecy for a gripping, believable plot." — Associated Press

        "Locke knows how to craft a thrilling story.... With Pleasantville she's crafted a legal thriller that shifts between personal tragedy and political corruption always with an eye on the subtle detail or the big reveal." — Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

        "Locke, a sharp and gifted writer, delivers a complex, suspenseful legal thriller that offers a sophisticated appraisal of our deeply flawed political process, one that is likely to resound with readers." — Starred Booklist

        "A thriller wrapped in an involving story of community and family dynamics. Locke serves up a panorama of nuanced characters and writes with intelligence and depth." — Kirkus Reviews

        "Gripping...a twist-filled plot will keep readers eagerly turning the pages." — Publishers Weekly

        Locke makes every scene count with a complex plot that unfolds surprises at every turn and packs a satisfying conclusion.... Highly recommended for fans of fast-paced mysteries with strong geographic angles and appealing underdogs. — Library Journal (starred)

        "[A] deeply nuanced story . . . As Scott Turow has done, Ms. Locke uses small, incremental deceptions to draw her main character into big and dangerous mistakes . . . Subtle and compelling." — New York Times

        "Attica Locke's first novel, Black Water Rising, which Janet Maslin called 'subtle and compelling' in The New York Times, is an even better book than its author had in mind...The book cleverly replaces the kind of cold-war paranoia that used to animate thrillers with racial paranoia instead." — New York Times

        "Locke deftly moves between past and present action . . . [putting] her in the company of master thriller writers such as Dennis Lehane or Scott Turow. . . . Attica Locke [is] a writer wise beyond her years." — Los Angeles Times

        "Black Water Rising is a stylish, involving literary thriller with a strong emphasis on human politics and character. An auspicious debut from Attica Locke." — George Pelecanos, author of The Turnaround

        "I was first struck by Attica Locke's prose, then by the ingenuity of her narrative and finally and most deeply by the depth of her humanity. She writes with equal amounts grace and passion. . . . I'd probably read the phone book if her name was on the spine." — Dennis Lehane

        "The impressively astute Attica Locke writes . . . in much the same way that Mr. Lehane [does]. . . . Each is willing to use the murder mystery as a framework for much more ambitious,...

      • premium: True
      • source: Publisher's Weekly
      • content:

        February 2, 2015
        Locke’s gripping thriller opens on election night 1996, when a teenage girl disappears from Pleasantville, a predominantly black Houston suburb. Her body is found, raising eerie comparisons to two other unsolved murders, and attorney Jay Porter, introduced in 2009’s Black Water Rising, reluctantly agrees to represent murder suspect Neal Hathorne. Neal, the grandson of Pleasantville power broker Sam Hathorne, is campaign manager for his uncle, who’s facing a run-off mayoral election against the district attorney whose office is prosecuting Neal—raising the possibility that the murder charge, based on flimsy evidence, is a political stunt. Jay, a former civil rights activist struggling to keep his law practice afloat, navigates a convoluted maze of dark money, family secrets, and high-powered manipulation that threatens his and his loved ones’ safety. Locke rushes her treatment of the murders and a subplot about the pregnancy of Jay’s teenage daughter’s best friend, but the twist-filled plot will keep readers eagerly turning the pages. Agent: Richard Abate, 3 Arts Entertainment.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        April 1, 2015

        Jay Porter is winding down his law career--it's time, he thinks; his wife has died, progress on one of his last big cases seems to have slowed to a crawl via court appeals, and he's lost the fire to ever set foot in a courtroom again. But when the scion of one of Pleasantville's founding families is charged with murder after a teenage campaign worker disappears on election night, Jay can't quite help himself. With only the slightest push from Pleasantville's elite, he is suddenly defending a criminal case that intersects election law, too. Jay's Hail Mary in the case unearths more than he, or any of Pleasantville's residents, had bargained for. Locke's third book and the second featuring the deeply sympathetic Jay Porter (Black River Rising) is an enthralling multilayered thriller that captures the zeitgeist of a shifting sociopolitical landscape in a historically black suburban community in Texas in the mid-1990s. Locke makes every scene count with a complex plot that unfolds surprises at every turn and packs a satisfying conclusion. VERDICT Highly recommended for fans of fast-paced mysteries with strong geographic angles and appealing underdogs. [See Prepub Alert, 10/13/14.]--Amy Brozio-Andrews, Albany P.L., NY

        Copyright 2015 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

      • premium: True
      • source: Library Journal
      • content:

        November 1, 2014

        Locke's debut, Black Water Rising, was up for Edgar, NAACP, Orange, and Los Angeles Times Book honors, while The Cutting Season was named an Honor Book by ALA's Black Caucus and won the Ernest Gaines Award for Literary Excellence. Her third novel brings back Black Water Rising's Jay Porter, on his first murder trial ever when he's asked to defend a young man who stands accused after a girl goes missing in Pleasantville, an upscale black enclave in Houston.

        Copyright 2014 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

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shortDescription

WINNER OF THE HARPER LEE PRIZE FOR LEGAL FICTION

Wall Street Journal BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

LONGLISTED FOR THE BAILEY'S WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION

From Attica Locke, a writer and producer of FOX's Empire, this sophisticated thriller sees lawyer Jay Porter—hero of her bestseller Black Water Rising—return to fight one last case, only to become embroiled in a dangerous game of shadowy politics and a witness to how far those in power are willing to go to win.

Fifteen years after his career-defining case against Cole Oil, Jay Porter is broke and tired. That victory might have won the environmental lawyer fame, but thanks to a string of appeals, he hasn't seen a dime. His latest case—representing Pleasantville in the wake of a chemical fire—is dragging on, shaking his confidence and raising doubts about him within this upwardly mobile black community on Houston's north side. Though Jay...

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      • description: Fiction / African American & Black / Mystery & Detective