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Summary: The Blues and a Mystery too!
Review: Do you like the Blues? Do you like Robert Johnson? Do you like a good mystery novel? Than pickup a copy of "CROSSROAD BLUES (A NICK TRAVERS MYSTERY)" by Ace Atkins. Atkins is a twenty-seven-year-old staff writer for the Tampa Tribune and this is his first novel.The story takes place in New Orleans and introduces Nick Tarvers; an ex-New Orleans Saint turned blues historian. Tarvers is asked to track down another professor who has disappeared in the Delta while following a rumor of nine unknown Robert Johnson songs. Along the way, Tarvers meets some really strange characters, which includes a nineteen-year-old hitman who believes he is the second coming of Elvis. Atkins combines the supposed details of Robert Johnson death, by flashback, with the search of the missing professor and this concludes with finding the answer to the greatest mystery in all of blues history.
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Summary: Blues Myster Thriller I
Review: Dr. Randy Sexton is head of the Jazz and Blues Archives at Tulane University in New Orleans. One of his associates, Michael Baker, a tenured professor in music history, went to the Mississippi Delta to research Robert Johnson, a blues musician who many believe was murdered in 1938. Michael went missing and Dr. Sexton is worried because the Mississippi police aren't, so he sends Nick Travers, who teaches the history of blues at Tulane, to find him. Thus begins Nick's adventurous career as a white mole immersed in black music that, so far, has spawned four Ace Atkins novels.
CROSSROAD BLUES maintains a fast-paced mystery plot while giving rich insights into the jukes of the Mississippi Delta, the blues and the colorful characters who created this music. Atkins writing is a bit rough in CROSSROAD BLUES, which is littered with whacky similes that I found irritating at first, although eventually wry, and some of his sentence fragments are mysteries in themselves. Nevertheless, I recommend the Nick Travers series for its unique approach to the mystery thriller genre.
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Summary: Must Reading for all Sunflower & Delta Blues Fest Peoples
Review: For anyone who follows blues and blues origins, this book is everything its title implies. Kinda like those old "Old Milwaulkie" beer commercials, any book titled "Crossroad Blues" puts itself to very high expectations for blues fans. This book exceeded those expectations for me. Is seems that almost every character actually could have existed in some way. One can also learn some history reading this book. Very enjoyable, Ace! (oh yeah, War Eagle!)
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Summary: A great new series
Review: I admit I am a blues lover but, even if I wasn't I would still enjoy this book. Ace Atkins is a great writer who brings his characters to life. His hero is Nick Travers, former NFL player, blues professor and sometimes harmonica player. He is trying to find a missing fellow professor who is searching for Robert Johnson and disappears. Nick gets caught up in the Johnson mystery as well as the mystery of the missing professor. The killer cast includes an Elvis wannabe who prays to Elvis. This book is fast paced, funny and a bit haunting.
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Summary: A great new series
Review: I admit I am a blues lover but, even if I wasn't I would still enjoy this book. Ace Atkins is a great writer who brings his characters to life. His hero is Nick Travers, former NFL player, blues professor and sometimes harmonica player. He is trying to find a missing fellow professor who is searching for Robert Johnson and disappears. Nick gets caught up in the Johnson mystery as well as the mystery of the missing professor. The killer cast includes an Elvis wannabe who prays to Elvis. This book is fast paced, funny and a bit haunting.
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Summary: I gotta differ....woof, woof
Review: I am a total blues fanatic, have read a number of fiction and non-fiction books about Robert Johnson, and love mysteries. That plus all the good reviews lead me to run and buy this book. What a disappointment. My fellow reviewer from Atlanta hit the nail on the head regarding Atkins' use of the "Handbook of Awful Metaphors" (so why give it 4 stars?). Some of them were painful- a "blue milkshake"? The story was an interesting idea that just didn't pan out. The end was totally disatisfying and seemed to have been thrown together just to get it over with. It was clever to name the poor Deputy Willie Brown, and there were some nice touches, but I would highly recommend Mr. Atkins read Stephen King's new book "On Writing" for some "do's and don't's".
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Summary: A lot of fun
Review: 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.
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Summary: a must for diehard blues fans
Review: 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"!).
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Summary: A good read
Review: In 1938 Mississippi, the king of blues, Robert Johnson is murdered. No one was ever convicted of the crime. Six decades later rumors abound among musicologists that nine unknown Johnson recordings have been found in Delta country. A Tulane University professor vanishes while tracking down the rumor. Former Saints football player Nick Travers loves to play his harmonica while studying the Blues. However, he goes out of tune when he is propelled by inner demons to follow the trail of the missing professor, a colleague at the school, in an effort to locate the missing person and the missing recordings. However, the Delta may prove dangerous if Nick is not careful because a teenaged, Elvis impersonating hit man wants no one in his way. CROSSROAD BLUES is a fabulous amateur sleuth mystery that is extremely enjoyable. The story line is filed with action, and the locales (New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta) are brilliantly described. Nick is a fabulous character and the homage to the Blues will please BB King. Ace Atkins has started a new series that will draw many fans that will not be singing the blues. Harriet Klausner
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Summary: A Refreshing Blend of Mystery and Music.
Review: One of the greatest mysteries in the music world is the life and death of Robert Johnson, whose twenty plus single recordings are a major influence of the blues as well rock and roll. How did Johnson learn to play so well? Did he he indeed go to the crossroads and sell his soul to the devil. Why, when he recorded his songs, did he sit facing the wall. Are there more recordings hidden some place? Why did he die? Was he murdered? If so who did it? Into this real mystery Atkins spins a tale with his PI, musician, and Blues History professor, Nick Travers, searching for a lost collegue. Into the mix he brings intriguing charecters who are as real as the Mississippi Delta cotton fields. You can almost feel the mud squishing between your toes and heat rise of the fields. Blended in is the legend of Johnson, and the missing recordings as well as his sudden death. Also you will see the shadow of David "Honeyboy" Edwards, a frequent traveling partner of Robert Johnson. In the real world "Honeyboy" is still alive and making music. Well in to his 80's his abilities on the guitar are still remarkable. This is a well written first novel.
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