Attica Locke

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THE CUTTING SEASON by Attica Locke – NOW IN PAPERBACK

THE CUTTING SEASON (Harper Perennial; on-sale: September 17, 2013; Trade Paperback; 9780061802065), the extraordinary second novel from rising star Attica Lock – and Dennis Lehane’s first pick for his new HarperCollins Publishers imprint – tells a spellbinding, multi-layered tale of murder, greed, inequity, and injustice while contemplating the lingering reverberations of slavery and how far we have – or haven’t – come as a nation. This fantastic novel is finally available in paperback! Crosscutting between past and present, Locke’s new thriller mines rich psychological, moral, and emotional terrain as it showcases her exceptional ability to blend vivid prose, a canvas of fascinating characters, incisive social commentary, and impeccable sense of place into a deeply insightful, relentlessly suspenseful literary blockbuster. Belle Vie is a plantation of genteel beauty and manicured grounds that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. For some it represents the values of the South before the Civil War, for others it’s a reminder of slavery’s dark legacy, a time when enforced labor fueled the economy. But when Caren Gray, the estate’s manager learns that the body of a young woman has just been found lying face down in a shallow grave, her throat cut clean, it’s suddenly the site of a murder investigation. There’s no telling who wanted the victim dead. A local could be making a violent statement about migrant workers, trucked in and out seasonally, only to take jobs away from families that have worked cane for generations. Or it could be someone striking out against Groveland, the corporation that managed to talk the first family in the area into selling their farm to the highest bidder. When the investigation takes an unsavory turn, Gray is compelled to discover what, if anything, the woman’s violent death has to do with an earlier mystery, one that originated in the slave quarters nearly two hundred years ago. It’s a twenty-first century mystery that forces Caren to delve into the murky waters of the plantation’s past – and her own – all while creeping frighteningly closer to the realization that the killer may be a lot closer than she ever could have imagined. As every last secret is finally revealed, bringing the novel to its astonishing conclusion, THE CUTTING SEASON reaffirms that Attica Locke is indeed, as James Ellroy proclaimed upon her debut, “a stand-out in every imperative-young-writer way.” Let me know if you would like a copy of the book. Please contact me about scheduling an interview with Attica Locke.
Date Recorded: 9/17/2013

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