The Mystery, Crime, and Thriller Group discussion

Feel free to spoil away about this book here.

Hi all - looking forward to what you think about Bluebird, Bluebird. I'll dip back into this thread after I've finished the book which will be in a couple of days.

I will like it if someone can throw more light on how accurate is the racism depicted here. I felt a lot of awards it won was a product of its depiction of race relations. However as a complete outsider I am not sure how much dramatic liberty was taken with the whole situation, maybe someone can provide us with an authentic and grounded perspective.

And here is my Review https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Finished the book and was halfway disappointed in the ending. I admire Ranger Darren's persistence to want to find the truth and the "real" killer but I do find it very odd the way in which he goes about handling his investigation; it seems too much of his personal angst goes into looking into the series of events for both murders, but I'm glad he found the real killers in the end. I did not enjoy the racial aspects throughout the book due to my own personal experiences; making it a very difficult read. I was also disappointed that the book just ended with Darren's birth mother just showing up at a celebratory dinner to blackmail him. I am not interested to read any further books by this author. This is MY opinion, of course. Taking nothing away from those readers who enjoyed all the aspects of this book.

I have a problem with his experience as a ranger. I t seems he's very unsure of himself and what cop takes the wife of the murdered man sleuthing with him.

I just finished listening to the audiobook of Bluebird, Bluebird. I was surprised by how much I disliked this book given all the awards it received. I will wait to make more specific comments, wanting to give others a chance to make comments and, like Kimiko, not take anything away from those who have enjoyed it. Haven't written my review yet, but I imagine I will give it a very low rating.

Linda wrote: "I have a problem with his experience as a ranger. I t seems he's very unsure of himself and what cop takes the wife of the murdered man sleuthing with him."

The wife tagging along with the cop bothered me a lot too though I enjoyed it a bit more in spite of that.

@Gail P Your views are very balanced. I would just like to add that all sort of bigotry (be it against race, religion, sexual orientation or anything else) can be traced back to the reasons you stated - Hatred passed on a heirloom that is both inexplicable and irrational.

And you are right bigotry can often be passive too. It's probably even more tougher to weed out because people practicing it genuinely believe their insular mindset is nothing more than a personal lifestyle choice.

Bluebird, Bluebird
As someone who grew up in East Texas in the 50s, I find the portrayal of race relations to be accurate--especially the strange combination of racism and intimacy between the races when they live side-by-side in a confined space. The ascendance of the Aryan Brotherhood in the current supportive climate feels accurate, too, though in this book that turns out to be something of a red herring. I liked this book a lot.

D.B. wrote: "Bluebird, Bluebird
As someone who grew up in East Texas in the 50s, I find the portrayal of race relations to be accurate--especially the strange combination of racism and intimacy ..."

A thought I had about this book is that it would have been better if it had been set in the 1960's. My sweetheart grew up in East Texas in the 50's also and felt the way the culture was portrayed seemed a better fit for that era. Not that there isn't racism today, but some of the specifics felt dated. In that era, the KKK would have stood in for the Aryan Brotherhood. But then again, a black Texas Ranger would have also been out of character back then.

I liked the book. I also thought it was realistic, even though I have never been to Texas.

I admit my assumptions (ass of you and me, hehe) are based on years of reading other mysteries set in Texas, and news stories like:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murder_....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sutherl...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_El...


Some of these Texas shooting stories revealed local culture and grieving rituals. From these stories it is clear to me local politics and religious faith is HUGE in small-town Texas but these same folks know or care nothing at all about the rest of the world. They appeared to resent outsiders very much.

The Sutherland Springs church shooting was very recent and it remains in my thoughts, primarily because of several interviews with locals, very short ones, of those who survived the shootings.

Everyone genuinely local that the media was able to convince to talk to reporters said, basically, paraphrasing,

-I still hate gun control and you outsider guys put that in your story. I support the NRA! No one is gonna take away my guns!

-Why don’t you journalists go away and leave us alone!

There were a lot of people who talked and talked and talked on camera, and it turned out none of them were from Texas. Most of them were religious folk from all kinds of religious faiths from all over the country who came to pray with the Sutherland Springs survivors.

These religious outsiders fly in to wherever a lot of people die, it turns out, who spoke to the journalists at length. I had no idea there was such a thing - amateur disaster consolation volunteers who go wherever schools or churches are shot up. It reminded me of ambulance chasers and those guys who follow fire engines to fires when they hear a siren close by (a real thing, I knew a fire truck chaser aficionado, and I worked for lawyers, who really did follow ambulances and police cars).

I finally wrote my review! As I said earlier, I was disappointed in this book, the reasons for which are reflected in part in our discussion and spelled out in my review. Now I'm wondering if I will give Locke a second chance with book two in the series Heaven, My Home, which is also getting rave reviews!

Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

aPriL does feral sometimes wrote: "I liked the book. I also thought it was realistic, even though I have never been to Texas.

I admit my assumptions (ass of you and me, hehe) are based on years of reading other mysteries set in Tex..."

Would love if you posted your excellent review, April! It softened me up a little in my feelings about the book. :)

*blush*

Thank you, Suzy!

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...