GUIDE ME HOME (released on Sept 3rd) The third in the Highway 59 series, Attica Locke is back with her signature descriptive writing and social commentary. The central mystery wasn’t quite as compelling to me as the first two in the series, but I was thrilled to be reunited with her prose and complicated characters. The audio is also fantastic; highly recommend that route.

Attica Locke has completed a masterpiece!
Guide Me Home is a most satisfying conclusion to the stellar Highway 59 series.
Book three has everything—a compelling protagonist in Darren Matthews/a Black Texas Ranger, an atmospheric setting/Texas and the beautiful writing of a deft storyteller.
All of Attica Locke's novels shine a light on current realities with Guide Me Home even more so.
A series worth savoring!

This was my first book in the highway 59 series and I had no problems reading it as a standalone. Yes, this is a police procedural, but it felt like so much more. The author wove some tough topics into the this storyline and I think it will really resonate with people. I really liked the mystery aspect to the book - half the time I wasn’t sure if our missing person was actually missing! No spoilers, but this kept me guessing until the end!

The third book in the Highway 59 series is an interesting one...and it has a different feeling than the first two (Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven, My Home). Texas Ranger Darren Mathews has retired early following an indictment that’s still following him. But, he’s called back to investigate the disappearance of a Black student from an all-white sorority. It’s much more about Darren, his personal life, his family, and his future than either of the previous two books in the series. The mystery of the missing sorority girl leads Darren down an intriguing path, but that’s not the entire crux of this book. Guide Me Home is more character-driven and less of a mystery than slow burn suspense. Caveat: the Prologue was hard for me to get into but, it doesn’t read like the rest of the book. Keep going. If you like more literary crime fiction / police procedurals, this series is for you.

I downloaded this book purely because I loved the first two in the series and didn't read anything about it - not even that it was the final book in the series. I wish I had known more about this book going in because it really is a different tone from the first two (more introspective/existential, less focused on the investigation itself IMO) and so I was disappointed. Here's an interesting article about Locke's thought process with the final installment for Darren Mathews: https://www.bookpage.com/interviews/texas-ranger-darren-mathews-wants-out-of-his-genre/

Darren Mathews' mother asks him to investigate a missing college student from the sorority that she works at. His relationship with his mother makes it difficult and at first he doesn't think there's anything wrong, but then things don't add up and he starts wondering if there's something more going on with the missing student and the company her parents work for. Overall, a another good addition to the series although this one focuses a lot more on Darren's relationship with his mother and the mystery seems overshadowed.

Thank you to @novelsuspects and @mulhollandbooks for the copies to review.

Whew, what a conclusion to the Highway 59 series. Darren Matthews has become a familiar character to me, and with J.D. Jackson (one of my favorites) doing the fabulous narration, I’m truly sad this is finished. I love Attica Locke’s writing, she covers tough subjects well while creating characters with depth that you are endeared to, flaws and all. I did not know how this was going to end, as we have had a bumpy ride with Darren and his mother, and I won’t spoil it for you but I did not expect this from either of them in here. I also did not expect the ending, and it did not disappoint. This can be read as a standalone, but as you can probably tell from this review, it is best to read this as part of the overall trilogy, and it is well worth your time in doing so.

4.75

It's been 5 years since the release of Heaven, My Home, so I was excited and sort of nervous for the release of what is seemingly the end of Darren Matthews's story. Since it has been a while since I'd read the first two books, I was really appreciative of the gentle callbacks to previous events throughout the text. I think it also makes this book stand well on its own though I would still recommend reading the series in order to get the full impact. And also because Attica Locke is a phenomenal writer and those books are excellent.

Where in the first two books, the mystery takes center stage and Darren's personal life and struggles are a solid B plot, that flips in this book. In Guide Me Home we see Darren start to face the consequences of his actions in the other books and we see him struggle to navigate those waters and we get to see more of his estranged mother and I loved it. Throughout the reading experience I found any time the plot started going back to the missing girl plot, I just wanted to know more about Darren and his parent's story.

This installment deals heavily with the stories we tell ourselves and how that can change a person's perception of the truth and I ate it up. I will read everything this woman writes and cannot wait to see what she comes up with next. Although I would love to see more of the political machinations that she was setting up here because I feel like that was left very unresolved.

I love Attica Locke's writing and the way she crafts an atmosphere. Yes this series is about Darren Matthews, but it is impossible to separate Darren Matthews from Highway 59 and his upbringing in East Texas and the way she writes about that is so evocative.

Listen, there are 100% times when you want a book that makes you use 0% of your brain - when you're just looking for no-thinky-sessy-good-time vibes.

This book is not one of those books.

The mystery’s plot is dark, interesting and complicated.

The Texan setting: Dark, interesting and complicated.

The main characters: Dark, interesting and complicated.

The social commentary? You guessed it. Dark. Interesting. Complicated.

I need characters I can root for, and, while former Texas Ranger Matthews is messed up with regards to family, alcohol, and racism, he's definitely one I want to flourish.

I just need him to get his ish together.

At least the bits he can control.

I’ve now read #s 1&3 in the Highway 59 series. I’m looking forward to tracking down #2 and seeing where #4 leads us. Back to Thornhill, I’m guessing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland books for this dark/interesting/complicated ARC.

A fitting end to the trilogy that introduced us to Darren Matthews and the beautiful, troubled parts of East Texas that he inhabits. Locke creates a story that is a timely as it is compelling. She explores the new depths (that look like the old depths) of unfettered capitalism in the 21st century through a company town with profits to maximize and secrets to hide. Darren's complicated relationship with his mother becomes even more tangled as they work together to discover what happened to a college girl no one is willing to admit is missing and how her disappearance may be linked to that company town where her whole family works and resides. An excellent end to an excellent trilogy.

Having started the trilogy in 2017 with Bluebird, Bluebird, then Heaven My Home, I felt obligated to read Guide Me Home to simply complete the trilogy. True to Locke’s style, Guide Me Home settles into her familiar storytelling style to blend family drama, nasty “politricks”, mystery/intrigue, and personal struggles against the Texas landscape.

Our flawed and mildly tortured protagonist, Darren Matthews, Texas Ranger, reluctantly confronts his sorted past. Returning home, he encounters Bell, his estranged mother and begins an awkward path toward reconciliation (of sorts) with her and regains purpose in the pursuits of the whereabouts of a young woman at Bell’s place of employment. Not only is familial dysfunction and the fallout from it explored in detail, Locke brings current events into the novel and Matthews is confronted with elevated partisan politics, institutionalized racism, economic marginalization, and divisiveness (sadly taken from today’s headlines and nightly news venues). These are broken characters navigating an imperfect world. The drama is messy and the issues are complex and interwoven – there’s a lot to unpack and would make great book club discussion topics. In this world, actions have deadly consequences as Darren (good-hearted and well-intentioned) walks a dangerously thin line as son, Black man, and principled lawman seeking justice within an unjust system.

Thanks to the publisher, Mulholland Books, and NetGalley for an opportunity to review.

Attica Locke is interested in more than just writing a crime procedural. That's admirable. A big sub-theme of this series is America's relationship with race generally, and Donald Trump specifically (at least the previous book; it's been a long time since I read <i>Bluebird, Bluebird</i>, and I don't remember if it had any mention of Trump's election). For <i>Heaven, My Home</i>, published in 2019 and set in between Trump's election and inauguration, the political bit was timely and effectively incorporated into the plot. In this book, though, it feels a little forced. Part of that is that despite being published in 2024 it's set in 2019, seemingly for no other reason except to still take place during Trump's presidency. It's hard to say that Trump is in the past, when he's a normal polling error away from winning another election a month from now, but the feeling I got was still that Locke was kind of stuck - like she thought, wait, no, I have more to say I forgot to stick in last time, I gotta do some more. And it's not very subtle, this time around, as if a character shows up, and is a Republican, you know they are going to be part of the ultimate cabal of villainous politicians and businesspeople -- which gets particularly weird when a fictional US senator from Maryland is included, and I thought Locke was going with a general "government corruption" theme, but no, he's a Republican too. Never mind that Maryland hasn't elected a Republican senator in more than 40 years.

The mystery part of the book tends to take a back seat to the political part, but the real focus is on the character of Darren Mathews and his family history - to its detriment, unfortunately. I never really cared so much about Darren's relationship with his mother, because she's such a cartoonishly terrible mother in the previous books, so I couldn't get all that invested in that aspect of the plot. In theory this is the final book in the "Highway 59" series, so it's a shame for it to kind of fizzle out. Attica Locke has shown she's got chops elsewhere though, so I'll hold out hope for what she does next.

A great ending to the trilogy. The mystery was interesting, but the best part of the book was Darren’s developing relationship with his mother.

This is the third book in the Highway 59 series. Darren Matthews, the main character of the series explores the case of a missing college student along with his mother who he doesn’t have a close relationship with. Their estranged relationship occupies most of the book. At times I forgot there was a mystery to be solved.

I was satisfied with the novel but not blown away. I feel like there is still more story that can be told about Highway 59 and Darren Matthews. Also, the author’s disdain for certain political figures is evident in this book. At times that disdain slows the progression of the story.

Guide Me Home chronicles the unlikely collision of two lives: Darren, a Texas ranger who has recently surrendered his badge, and Sara, a young woman whose disappearance seems to be a topic that's off-limits—even with the people who should care most. Attica Locke has skillfully braided together multiple strands of conflict: Darren's struggle with alcohol and his long-standing estrangement from his mother, the uniquely Texan brand of racism, and the suffocating experience of life in the Thornhill residents.

Locke resists short-cuts and pat answers, giving her readers the opportunity to inhabit the tensions of generations-long dysfunction. I was disappointed with the frequent political references which, sadly, may serve to make the book seem dated in the long run.

A Masterful Exploration of Loss and Love
Attica Locke's Guide Me Home is a stunning work of literary fiction that delves deep into the complexities of human emotion. With her signature lyrical prose, Locke weaves a tale of grief, resilience, and the enduring power of love.
The novel's exploration of family, identity, and the search for meaning is both poignant and profound. Locke's characters are richly drawn, their struggles and triumphs resonating deeply with the reader.
The novel's pacing is masterful, drawing the reader in with its evocative imagery and compelling narrative. The ending is both satisfying and bittersweet, leaving a lasting impression long after the final page.
Guide Me Home is a must-read for anyone seeking a thought-provoking and emotionally resonant novel. It is a testament to Locke's talent as a writer and her ability to craft stories that stay with you long after you've finished reading.

I am an Attica Locke fan and have read almost everything she’s written. This book was a great ending to the Highway 59 series. The story gives the reader a lot to think about and resolves storylines in ways that are realistic but not cheesy. I’ll continue to be a Locke fan and read whatever she writes next.

Guide Me Home is the third and final book in Attica Locke’s Highway 59 trilogy about Darren Mathews, a Texas Ranger who is black. We first met Darren in Bluebird, Bluebird in 2017, which went on to win Edgar and CWA Steel Dagger awards. But since then, things have changed for Darren. The sense of pride that he once felt in being a Texas Ranger is gone. His past, both personally and professionally, has been built on a foundation of lies. Guide Me Home is an exploration of how Darren responds to this shifting foundation.

It’s obvious that Locke loves her home state of Texas and she describes places in a way that appeals to the senses, making it easy to visualise the beauty of a slate-blue sky. Her writing allows you to imagine the taste and smell of the vegetables that Darren grows in his garden. Equally, she is not blind to the less pleasant realities of Texas like the oppressive heat and racism.

Darren is a flawed character with good intentions who has done a few things that he regrets. He tries to numb his self-hatred with alcohol. With the possibility of a criminal charges hanging over his head, he turns in his badge. He intends to focus on his farm and Randie, his girlfriend who is coming for a visit. Darren arrives home to discover that his estranged mother, Bell, is also at his house.

The relationship between Bell and Darren is toxic. His father died before his birth and Darren’s uncles deemed Bell an unfit parent, so they raise him themselves. He sees Bell as an untrustworthy alcoholic and is angry about the role Bell played in the incidents leading up to him quitting the force.

However, the woman waiting at the farmhouse with Randie is very different from the mother he knew. Bell has been sober for a couple of years and has a job working as a maid in a sorority house in Nacogdoches. She is worried about a student who has gone missing. Much to Darren’s surprise, Bell had felt a connection with the studious young black girl.

Initially, Darren declines his mother’s request and goes on a bender instead. When he sobers up, he decides that he could make a few calls to see if there is any truth in his mother’s concerns. Much to his surprise, he learns that one of the residents at the sorority had filed a police complaint against her housemates for bullying. Her name is Sera Fuller. Loath as he is to admit it, his mother was right to be suspicious about her disappearance.

Darren ends up conducting an unofficial investigation and reluctantly accepts assistance from Bell. In spite of what she has done in the past, you will find yourself hoping that they can build trust in one another. There are some painful and touching moments between them.
Although the primary focus of Guide Me Home is the disappearance of Sera Fuller, it is worth noting that a strong political thread runs through the novel. There are references to the Ku Klux Klan marching through Charlottesville unmasked in 2017, and the rise in hate crimes.

Sera’s father is a Trump supporter. Her family lives in Thornhill. On the surface it appears as an idyllic town but there is an underlying sense of rot. The town is the vision of a well-connected political couple who own the primary business there. Locke makes connections between corporate greed and how politics runs in the United States. Not all crimes happen in dark alleys. Some happen through legislation.

Locke does provide background information about what led to Darren’s loss of pride, so you could read this book as a standalone but will get a better understanding of the history between the various characters by reading Bluebird, Bluebird and Heaven My Home first. You will savour this clever and well-written trilogy.

I love, love, Attica Locke. I’ve been a fan since I first read Bluebird, Bluebird, and if you’ve read all the Jane Harper and Tana French and are looking for your next atmospheric, literary, mystery fix, you can’t do better than picking up an Attica Locke. But not this one! This is the third entry in her Highway 59 trilogy, so starting here will be full of spoilers and you won’t get the full effect.

The Highway 59 trilogy is in my opinion Locke’s magnum opus. It’s been a long time to wait for the third entry, as Locke has been writing for TV. As you might expect, the dialogue snaps, and I love the voices of all the characters.

A brief summary of the Highway 59 trilogy--Darren Matthews is a black Texas Ranger. Yes, it’s about as complicated as you might imagine. He was raised by his two uncles after his father died in Vietnam before he was born, because his mother was an addict. He has complicated difficult relationships with his whole family, and that includes his trusty bottle of Jim Beam. When a black girl goes missing from the all white sorority house where his mother is a maid, he knows that nothing good can have happened to her.

My experience of Texas does not go any further than the Austin airport, but these books are absolutely dripping with atmosphere, to the extent I feel like I’ve seen the state. Locke is a native so she writes the state with both warts and with love, with disdain for the worst parts and with pride for the best. This is a satisfying conclusion to Highway 59, and I hope Locke will continue to write novels.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for this honest review.

The final installment of the Highway 59 trilogy is the best in my opinion - I love Attica Locke's writing style and style and substance delivered here.

Thanks to Netgalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.