Crossroad Blues

By Ace Atkins

Book Overview

"... Ahmad has created a novel that looks at race and culture and the changing face of America. It's a story that's easy to devour but hard to forget... " - Richmond Times-Dispatch Ranjit Singh, a former Indian Army Captain trying to escape a shameful past, lives with his family among the migrant workers of Martha's Vineyard, working as a caretaker of the vacation homes of the rich and powerful. Needing a place to stay, Ranjit moves his family into an empty Senator's home. Happily, but illegally ensconced in the house, he tries to forget his brief affair with Anna, the wife of an African-American senator, and focus on providing for his family. But one night, their idyll is shattered when mysterious armed men break into the house, looking for an antique porcelain doll. Forced to flee, Ranjit is pursued and hunted by unknown forces, and becomes drawn into the Senator's shadowy world. To save his family and solve the mystery of the doll, he must join forces with Anna, who has her own dark secrets. As the past and present collide, Ranjit must finally confront the hidden event that destroyed his Army career and forced him to leave India.Tightly plotted, action-packed, smart and surprisingly moving, The Caretaker takes us from the desperate world of migrant workers to the elite African-American community of Martha's Vineyard, and a secret high-altitude war between India and Pakistan.

• Format: Mass Market Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312971923
• ISBN13: 9780312971922
• Release Date: February 2000
• Publisher: Minotaur Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 4.2" x 6.8"

Customer Reviews

A lot of fun

I normally don't read "amateur" mysteries (where the investigator is some regular schlub who has no business investigating anything) but this really stuck with me, mainly because of the idea of an ex-pro football player living in New Orleans and playing the blues all day long. It also provided easy-to-digest blues history in addition to the humor (one of the bad guys is a psychotic 19-year-old Elvis wannabe), but the contempt Nick shows for the Blues Shack, a corporate blues nightclub chain, struck me as a thinly-veiled diatribe against the House of Blues, right down to the Shack having Sunday gospel breakfasts. Even so, it's a great start to what should be a spectacular series.

Atkins writes just like ringin' a bell

The blues frame and color the writing rhythm Atkins falls into so beautifully in Crossroads, words sliding off the page like a drop of condensation on the side of a bottle of Dixie, or a long, low note from a solitary harp. It's a great, well-researched story populated with real characters who are as easy to read about as they are to envy. The thrills and lusts and hangovers and disappointments in Atkins' world will be so real to you that finishing the book will seem like a funeral. I cannot wait for the rebirth promised by the next one. Do yourself a favor and buy this book.

a must for diehard blues fans

I stumbled across this in the public library "new mystery" section, read it, loved it, and promptly ordered a copy for myself to keep. It will go on the shelf with my blues history books and my hundreds of blues albums. It's a fun read, well seasoned with blues lore. If you play a little slide, blow a little harp, love those Delta blues, or have ever "searched for Robert Johnson", you'll want to check this out. Can't wait for the next one (or for Nick's bio of Guitar Slim"!).

Finally, an intelligent mystery with a sense of humor!

After reading the galleys, my first thought was, what a talented young writer. Ace Atkins' clever use of dialect, humor, and detail does more than unravel a mystery. He creates characters who are worth reading. Nick Travers is smart enough to make you think,interesting enough to make you want more, and funny enough that you'd want to have a beer with him. Atkins also manages weave together the past and present worlds of Blues, the Delta and New Orleans into a story that really makes you wonder about the world of Robert Johnson and what really happened. And, Jesse is the hippest, funkiest villan I've read in years! Crossroad Blues is well worth reading.