I have struggled to rate this book. As a study of a man on the edge struggling with drink and violence but staying on the right side of the law it is very good, lew griffin is a new Orleans private eye who in 1964 investigates the disappearance of a poster girl for the civil rights movement.The investigation leads him to drink and we then leap to 1970, 1984, and 1990. The reader follows lew's highs and lows until at the end of the book he confronts more personal issues. The book is a very literary crime novel however as a mystery it lacks a plot which ultimately left me a little dissatisfied as i rattled to the end in this very readable book expecting loose ends to be tied together but they weren't. So don't read it if you are looking for plot driven thriller, but do read it if you are looking for an analysis of a troubled man and the issue of race in modern America.
I wanted to go to four stars as I am curious to read the rest of the series and hope that book1 is foundation for future great reads as it certainly demonstrates that as a genre crime writing can stand with the best literary writing.