Robert Johnson was a legendary blues figure who died under mysterious circumstances when he was 27. Music historians have always tried to figure out what happened. It appears that one of the music professors at Tulane University, Michael Baker, was chasing down a new lead in the Mississippi Delta. When he doesn’t return, one of the other professors, Dr. Randy Sexton, asks blues tracker Nick Travers to go and see if he can find out what happened.Baker was indeed hot on the trail of some rumored unreleased recordings that were made prior to Johnson’s death. They are in the hands of an old albino man, which makes him a target for several other people who want these priceless recordings. Among them is Pascal Cruz who owns a commercial venture in New Orleans that appeals to tourists called “Blues Shack’. He’s hired some real dumb thugs to help get the Johnson material, among them a man obsessed with Elvis, Jesse Garon.The characters never really came alive for me, but Atkins’ writing is good, particularly as he paints the local color and describes the old blues scene. The premise of blending fictional characters with a blues legend worked flawlessly."Jazz was a fluted glass of champagne. Blues was a cold beer. Working-classmusic.. .It was a bearing of soul, a soul raw from a deceitful woman, being broke, and a painful loneliness of a man living in sensory deprivation."
Book number One in the Nick Travers series by Ace Atkins - 4 stars. This book is an excellent way to start this series (and Atkins career as a novelist). A mystery set in New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta region - looking for the lost recordings of legendary blues-man Robert Johnson (and of course solving the murder of a professor who was also seeking those recordings). Of course we meet Nick Travers, former NFL defensive lineman, currently Professor of the History of Blues at Tulane, and part time harmonica player at Jojo's Blues Bar. This book moves back and forth thru the Delta - from New Orleans into Mississippi and Memphis with a love for the area and the blues that shines through every word of the book. This is the type of story that makes me want to know more about Robert Johnson and the history of the blues, but mostly makes me want to read more about Nick Travers.
It is a mistake to use a work of fiction as a platform for minor pet peeves and personal passions. From an overblown reverence for the blues that reaches an embarrassingly sacred level to pretentious disdain for tourists, hipsters, and academics, this book is a bitch session for a schmuck. Oh god, and the character Elvis, and quoting Robert Johnson. I mean, I love Robert Johnson, he is very important to blues, but to quote the following lyrics, "I went down, I went down, I went down to the crossroads" is absurd because they are just not at all deep. Mind you, these are not scene setting quotes at the begining of chapters but rather qithin the text. RIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDICULOUS.
—Joshua Rubin
This was one of the best debut novels I've read. Nick Travers is one of the best mystery characters, I've come across. Cool,tough,funny...and knows his blues. A former pro football player, that now happens to teach Histoty of Blues at Tulane. With Atkins' research into blues history and the the mystery that surrounds Robert Johnson. The '30's blues legend. With the Delta landscape as a backdrop, the talk of the 'ol timers...you could hear the slide guitar and harp in the background.To quote Kinky Friedman, "If Raymond Chandler came from the south his name would be Ace Atkins."
—Lee
This book fulfilled my "book based on its cover" requirement for the 2015 book challenge. Going into this book, I had no expectations whatsoever. I was pleasantly surprised. It was suspenseful and incorporated a lot of Blues history into it, which I liked. It dealt with the story of Robert Johnson which I thought was great.The writing was somewhat hard to follow at times, and there were many incomplete sentences, which was a bit jarring, but seemed to fit the personality of the protagonist, a football player turned blues historian. Overall it was an enjoyable read for downtime.
—Aerial
