Editorial Content for Guide Me Home: A Highway 59 Novel
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
The course of Darren Matthews’ day was dictated by actions of necessity, one being unpleasant and the other romantic. The former was turning in his badge as a Texas Ranger. The latter was proposing to his girlfriend, Randie. Upon Darren’s arrival home, he comes face to face with the reason for his resignation, and his romantic plans take a backseat. His estranged mother, Bell, has shown up and desires a conversation with her son about a missing person’s case. Darren barely can face her as she turned over evidence in a case that could lead to his indictment.
The relationship between Darren and Bell has been dysfunctional for years as he was raised by uncles from his father’s side as she was too young to do so. Darren views her as the irresponsible mother who only spared enough time to bestow her love of the drink to him and found countless ways to mess up his life. He doesn’t want to listen to her, but Randie urges him to hear her story. Bell works as a maid at a local sorority house where a young coed has gone missing. Darren listens with skepticism as Bell tells him about Sera Fuller, her issues with the other girls in the house and her sudden disappearance.
"[Locke's] narrative combines elements of familial discord, corporate corruption and racial intolerance in crafting a story wherein the drama steadily builds to an apex before its emotional conclusion."
Bell’s visit triggers Darren’s lingering resentments and leads to a break with Randie and an epic bender that nearly kills him. In the fallout of his binge, he realizes that he needs to look into Sera’s disappearance. It’s not to appease his mother, it's because he doesn’t want to lose Randie, who is well acquainted with injustice as the murder of her husband was marginalized until he took on the case.
Darren’s investigation brings him to Thornhill, where the Fuller family appears nonplussed at the questions related to their daughter’s whereabouts. His inquiries are not viewed favorably as local rent-a-cops soon escort him out of the area. Thornhill is a modern-day company town, and its owners would prefer that no one make waves and besmirch its reputation. Darren soon finds an unlikely ally in his search for the truth about Sera: his mother. They will need to bury the past to solve this vexing mystery.
GUIDE ME HOME is the spellbinding finale of Attica Locke’s Highway 59 trilogy, following BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD and HEAVEN, MY HOME. The story’s great depth often derives from the complicated relationship between Darren and his family history and how his struggles to come to terms with Bell’s role in his life enabled his alcohol abuse and hindered his emotional growth. Despite his shortcomings, Darren is a tenacious investigator, which is highlighted in his pursuit of Sera Fuller.
Locke emphatically writes of a world where unity can be found despite previous divisions. Her narrative combines elements of familial discord, corporate corruption and racial intolerance in crafting a story wherein the drama steadily builds to an apex before its emotional conclusion. This is an outstanding novel worthy of a wide audience.
Teaser
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is in the midst of remaking his life with the woman he loves when he is visited by someone who always has been bent on tearing his life apart. His mother. Armed with a tall tale about a missing Black college student, Sera (whose white sorority sisters insist she isn’t missing at all). Darren must decide if he can trust that his mother is telling the truth --- and what her ulterior motive may be. He gets his hooks into the investigation, along the way discovering things about Sera’s family and her hometown that are odd at best, vaguely sinister at worst. Hamstrung by local law enforcement and the Texas Rangers who likewise doubt the account of a missing girl, if Darren wants answers, he’ll need help from the person whom he swore to never trust again --- his mother.
Promo
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is in the midst of remaking his life with the woman he loves when he is visited by someone who always has been bent on tearing his life apart. His mother. Armed with a tall tale about a missing Black college student, Sera (whose white sorority sisters insist she isn’t missing at all). Darren must decide if he can trust that his mother is telling the truth --- and what her ulterior motive may be. He gets his hooks into the investigation, along the way discovering things about Sera’s family and her hometown that are odd at best, vaguely sinister at worst. Hamstrung by local law enforcement and the Texas Rangers who likewise doubt the account of a missing girl, if Darren wants answers, he’ll need help from the person whom he swore to never trust again --- his mother.
About the Book
In this stunning culmination of the award-winning Highway 59 trilogy, Detective Darren Mathews is pulled out of an early retirement to investigate the case of a missing Black college student from an all-white sorority and soon finds a town that will stop at nothing to keep its secrets hidden.
Texas Ranger Darren Mathews isn’t sure he’s been a good cop, but believes he’s got a shot at being a good man --- if he manages to dodge the potential indictment hanging over his head and if he, from here on out, pledges allegiance to the truth. It’s a virtue the country appears to have wholly lost its grip on, but one Darren sees as his salvation.
He is in the midst of remaking his life with the woman he loves, hoping for the peace of country living at his beloved farmhouse, when he is visited by someone who couldn’t hold the truth on her tongue if it was dipped in sugar, a woman who’s always been bent on tearing his life apart. His mother. Armed with a tall tale about a missing Black college student, Sera (whose white sorority sisters insist she isn’t missing at all). Darren must decide if his can trust his mother is telling the truth --- and what her ulterior motive may be, and what if that motive has to do with a grand jury deciding his fate.
Darren gets his hooks into the investigation, along the way discovering things about Sera’s family and her hometown that are odd at best, vaguely sinister at worst. Hamstrung by local law enforcement and the Texas Rangers who likewise doubt the account of a missing girl, if Darren wants answers, he’ll need help from the person whom he swore to never trust again --- his mother.
In this emotionally stirring conclusion to the singular Highway 59 series, set three years after the events of HEAVEN, MY HOME, Darren reckons with his life’s purpose as he’s forced to choose between his own peace and the higher call to do good.
Audiobook available, read by JD Jackson
