This was such a fitting end to the Highway 59 trilogy! I This series got me interested in Southern mystery in a way that no other author has. I am so grateful for a strong black male lead character who is full of faults and utterly human; likeable and irritable at the same time! Attica Locke has a solid grasp on what it means to be Black and American in this new age that is changing drastically by the second. I appreciate the depiction of a strenuous parental relationship; accurately fraught with the nuances of love and self-preservation.

In this final book of the Highway 59 trilogy, Texas Ranger Darren Matthews joins forces with the most unlikely of allies, his mother. A newly sober Bell, who for all of Darren’s life thus far has been an untrustworthy addict, appears to ask for his help. A Black college student has disappeared from the all-white sorority where she is a housekeeper, and Bell found all the girl’s belongings in the dumpster.

Darren doesn’t trust Bell, but when his inquiries lead to dead ends and obfuscations, he senses the girl may be in real trouble. Though he has been warned against pursuing the case, Darren moves forward, baffled that the girl’s parents insist she is fine. He also can’t believe that Joseph, the patriarch, is a committed Trumper.

Still, he must tread lightly because the DA, another far right politician, is determined to indict Darren for obstruction of justice to gain currency for his congressional campaign.

Darren strives to be righteous and bring justice to Blacks in East Texas, but his best efforts are thwarted by prevalent subtle institutional and overt societal racism. His excessive drinking may be understandable if it weren’t so self-destructive, but seeking annihilation through alcohol becomes even more tempting as he learns secrets about his family that shake the very foundations of his self-concept.

GUIDE ME HOME is such a phenomenal book: it weaves politics (set in 2019), economics, and the central mystery of the missing student while infusing the book with the flavors of East Texas.

The book is also a satisfying end to the series, giving a fitting end to Darren’s story but leaving enough ambiguity for his character that the novel doesn’t seemed contrived. That is not to say I am happy the series is over! I’d love to see Darren Matthews again.

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

In Guide Me Home, Attica Locke delivers a gripping and emotionally charged conclusion to her acclaimed Highway 59 trilogy. This novel, set against the backdrop of East Texas, masterfully intertwines themes of justice, family, and the relentless pursuit of truth.

The story follows Texas Ranger Darren Mathews, who is reluctantly pulled out of early retirement to investigate the disappearance of Sera, a Black college student from an all-white sorority. As Darren delves deeper into the case, he is forced to confront his own past and the complex relationship with his mother, who brings the case to his attention.

Locke excels in her portrayal of Darren Mathews, a character who is both flawed and deeply human. His internal struggle between seeking personal peace and fulfilling his duty as a lawman adds a compelling layer to the narrative. The dynamic between Darren and his mother is particularly poignant, highlighting themes of trust, betrayal, and redemption.

Locke’s writing is evocative and richly descriptive, painting a vivid picture of the beautiful East Texas landscape juxtaposed with its ugly socio-political undercurrents and prejudice. This novel tackles timely issues such as racial tension, systemic injustice, and the quest for truth in a world that often obscures it. Locke’s ability to weave these themes seamlessly into a suspenseful and engaging plot is a testament to her storytelling prowess.

Guide Me Home is a powerful and thought-provoking read that will resonate with fans of crime fiction and literary thrillers alike. Locke’s nuanced characters and intricate plotting make this a standout conclusion to the Highway 59 trilogy. It’s a novel that challenges readers to reflect on the complexities of justice and the human condition.

Locke's writing is as sharp and insightful as ever, weaving together a gripping narrative that explores the deep-seated prejudices and systemic injustices that persist in American society. The characters, both familiar and new, are richly drawn and their struggles feel authentically human.
While Guide Me Home offers a satisfying conclusion to the trilogy, it's also a thought-provoking exploration of the complexities of race and identity in contemporary America. Locke's ability to blend crime fiction with social commentary makes this series a must-read for fans of literary thrillers and those seeking to deepen their understanding of the world around them.
Overall, Guide Me Home is a powerful and moving novel that leaves a lasting impression. It's a testament to Locke's skill as a writer and her commitment to telling important stories.

Attica Locke does it again! Thank you to NetGalley, author, and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for a honest review.

This book was a great addition to the series. I think Darren's character really showed some growth here. I also think that the case that Darren was involved in was very interesting. I expected a different outcome but still really enjoyed the book. While some parts of Darren to me are a bit unlikeable he redeems himself in different stages in the book. Not sure if this will be the end of this series but I hope not!

Thank you to the publishing team for the final book in this series/trilogy. Attica Locke's talent shines through once again with mesmerizing writing and intense, nuanced plots that both satisfy and probe, often touching on dark, even classically gothic themes.

Reading the earlier books is essential to fully appreciate the resolution of ongoing themes for the main character and to understand the plot directions and reveals in this final installment. The standout elements are Locke’s exploration of race and murder within the small-town rural setting, which adds a powerful layer to the story.

The series delves into profound themes: what it means to be a good person, especially in times and places where doing the right thing is complicated—or when being a good person might mean hurting those you care about. Locke deftly explores internal contradictions and dissonance, making this a thought-provoking and deeply engaging read.

Attica Locke is always a slam dunk, home run , hole-in-one… Every sports analogy that I don’t understand but I know that means it’s a hit.
This story was intricate and complicated… yes need to read the two previous novels before this one. I can’t believe how long it took them to tell Darren how his father died.
Bell Callis… sigh. I wanted to believe in here but she was jumping from my good to my bad side and I don’t know where she ended up.
I’ll say I like how both cases wrapped up. Very satisfactory ending.

Reading Guide Me Home was like sitting down at the dining room table filled full of your favorite foods and people. I was so happy to return to Texas and see how the story ends for Darren Matthews. This third book really focused on the family dynamics, in particular, the relationship between Darren and his mother. I think so much focus was put into this party of the story that the pace was a bit slower than the two previous books. But I love the character growth on this one. Satisfying ending, it's a great comfy read.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for an opportunity to read an arc and give an honest review.

The final book in the Highway 59 trilogy follows Texas ranger Darren, a Black man forced into early retirement who starts investigating a case on his own when he finds out the only Black girl living at a sorority house nearby has gone missing. All his choices in the previous novels come to a head and we get a satisfying conclusion in regard to his career and personal relationships. With the political undertones and social commentary, this is an extremely timely read - perfect for an election year. I would read one hundred books in this series, but if it has to end this was the perfect way to do it.

*Thanks to NetGalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review

YESSSS this was the wrap-up I didn't know I needed! This installment fixed all my issues with book #2. I had some beef with the mom plotline in that book, but it's wrapped up really well in this one. No one--and I mean NO one--writes about Texas like Attica Locke, and I eat it up every time. Her writing has such a strong sense of place and this book is no exception. The mystery in this book was more interesting to me than the mystery in book #2, and I thought the author did a great job of addressing current topics (namely the Trump presidency). And I always appreciate when people call out Greg Abbott for making life worse for Texans :)

Highly recommend this whole series and especially this finale!

Being a fan of Attica Locke, I tore through this, the conclusion of her Highway 59 trilogy. Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is drawn to the investigation of the (maybe) disappearance of a black coed. Unlike her other books, I can't say that this one is a page-turner. The story is a bit heavy on Darren's tribulations and his personal demons, at times bogging down the story. In contrast, the plot I thought did not receive as much attention, and felt thin, particularly coming at the heels of a couple of complex, multilayered missing person thrillers this summer. I wish more effort was directed at the storyline and it's development, rather than the author's politics.

3.5 rounded up.

My appreciation to Netgalley and Mulholland books for providing the ARC for review.

This was a good 3rd installment in the highway 59 series. I think it might be the last one? It was interesting to see how Darren's choices caught up with him after three years, along with his drinking and family history. I felt that the mystery, would intriguing in it's own right, played a backup role in the novel and the main issue was Darren coming to terms with a lot of things in his life, including the fact that what he knew about his parents could have been wrong. The book brought in the heavy issues of being Black in Trump's presidency and the struggles of trying to fight racism and also just survive as a Black Texas ranger. There was a lot about alcoholism which was sad but I appreciated the rawness of how Darren was described as he tried to sober up. It is a heavy book but a good one. Sometimes I got frustrated with some of the tangents that had a ton of explanatory info on them, but it also seemed realistic for how his mind would have been wandering. Sometimes I felt that the tangents were used to avoid revealing a clue and that was annoying. But still, I will read anything by Attica Locke!

The Highway 59 Trilogy Momentous Conclusion!

Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is reeling from his mother's backstabbing. He is trying to claw his way out of the life he has made to become a good person and a loving partner. When his mother shows up at his home with a story about a missing college student, he does his best to ignore her. It's not long though, before he is stuck in the middle of the mystery of what happened to Sera - a black college student whose sorority sisters insist is not missing.
Locke spins a haunting story and wraps up so many loose ends in a gritty and gripping thriller!
#mulhollandbooks #guidemehome #atticalocke

Darren Mathews has been living with a heavy weight on his conscience - an important piece of evidence connecting him to a crime is in the hands of the District Attorney. All fingerprints and other identifying items have been wiped, but Darren knows the truth and struggles with the knowledge.
Struggling with alcohol abuse, teetering on the edge of estrangement from the woman he loves, he turns in his badge as a Texas Ranger in the vain hope that relief from the responsibilities of his job will help ease his situation.
Yet he finds himself drawn into an unofficial investigation into the disappearance of a young Texas woman, who has not been seen on her college campus for several days. Her personal possessions have been found dumped in a trash can.
Mathews' mother, with whom he has a lifelong strained relationship has asked her son to find out what happened to the girl.
The book is a push/pull between love and distrust; between alcohol and sobriety; between fruitful work and spinning wheels.
As he tries to find the girl, Mathews begins to find out long buried truths about himself and his family. Not every tangle is completely unraveled, but Locke has concluded her trilogy in a manner which satisfied this reader.
Thank you to Net Galley and to Mulholland Books for my copy.

Guide Me Home is the third and final installment of Attica Locke's Highway 59 series featuring Darren Matthews. I'm sorry to see this series end as Locke is one of the best at characters, setting, and plot.
Darren has so much on his plate. He's juggling his guilt, a possible indictment, his hope for a commitment from the woman he loves, his drinking, and his justified resentment of his mother.

He hands in his Texas Ranger badge, which is unwillingly accepted, and plans on going home and asking Randi to marry him. To his chagrin, his mother is there and Darren can hardly bare to look at her, he is so angry.

His mother explains that she is sober, but Darren doesn't trust her, and when she says she's worried about a young black girl in a white sorority who has gone missing, Darren doesn't really believe her. His anger about his mother combined with his drinking reaches the point that he may have permanently damaged his relationship with Randi, and she leaves.

Eventually, Darren realizes that he wants to know more about the missing woman and begins checking into her disappearance.

Locke is an exceptionably fine writer with a love of Texas that does not deny the problems of race. Guide Me Home departs from her previous books in the series as it concentrates on Darren's drinking, his animosity toward his mother, and his concerns about whether or not he will be indicted. He feels terribly sorry for himself, but discovering what happened to the young woman keeps him focused.

While Darren's self-pity is entirely human and understandable, it took up perhaps more time than needed. On the other hand, his finally learning to open himself to new information about his family background made for genuine growth.

There are uncomfortable truths about the rise of White Nationalism in Texas and elsewhere. Despite Locke's love of Texas, the Aryan Brotherhood and similar groups have been evident in all three novels in the trilogy. The characters are flawed and complex, and Darren is far from perfect, yet one can't help cheering for him, hoping for the best.

Recommended, but appreciation of the novel may depend on your political leanings.

Publication date: Sept. 3, 2024

Thanks to NetGalley and Mulholland Books

Previous books in the series:

Bluebird, Bluebird

Heaven, My Home

Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Attica Locke is back with the final chapter in the tale of Darren Mathews, a Texas Ranger with occasionally questionable tactics but well-intentioned nonetheless. Desperate to find some sense of normalcy following a rough chain of events, he is hopeful to rebuild the relationship with his wife and move on from his past. He seems to be doing so when a familiar face drags him back into a potential missing persons case, and he finds himself once again navigating the dark underbelly of racial tensions in Texas.

Locke is such a powerful master of the Southern noir genre and she bends her story into this gritty, tense dialogue once again. We finally see the story end for Mathews here and any reader of the first two titles in this trilogy should find the ending satisfactory. I'm looking forward to future titles from Locke.

I loved the evocative writing, but I was most drawn in by the characters, flawed but trying their best to make a difference in a hostile world. The characters’ evolution over this trilogy was believable and satisfying. Darren, of course, is the star of the book, but I was just as interested in the supporting characters, especially his newly sober mother. This was a riveting and moving tale about seeking justice when the odds are stacked against you and when your country seems bent on destroying you.

In the third and final volume of the Highway 59 trilogy, the Black Texas ranger at the center of it is in trouble. He's being investigated for a crime which depends on evidence provided by his estranged mother, he's drinking too much, he's desperately worried about the state of the country during Trump's administration, he wants to live with his girlfriend, but she won't commit to sharing his home, a farmstead where he is deeply rooted, and to top it all, he's conflicted because he tampered with evidence and lied about it. When it all becomes too much, he quits his job. But then his mother shows up, asking him to look into a missing Black student who complained about bullying from her white sorority sisters before disappearing.

He begins to look into it, even though he is filled with fury at his mother and is sure he can't trust her. The trail takes him to a planned community for workers at a chicken and pork processing plant that looks eerily like something from the 1950s by way of a 1920s company town.

I confess I got a little tired of Darren's anguish at times, and the ending is thought-provokingly unresolved, but Locke's descriptions of East Texas continue to bring to life a natural world and the Black Texans who call it home as well as weaving together richly complex characters in a complicated story that addresses the role of race in a time and place where the stakes are especially high.

Texas Ranger Darren Mathews is facing a potential indictment and he’s desperately holding on to his life when he receives a visit from his estranged mother who feeds him a story about Sera, a possibly missing Black college student whose white sorority sisters claim she isn’t missing at all. Darren has to determine if his mother’s story is true and he begins investigating both Sera and her shady hometown, uncovering troubling information, some of which may impact his own case.

“…the fever dream that had been the years since Donald Trump was elected,” is the time period during which this story is set and Mathews (and Locke) have a clear point of view about it. It’s one I agree with, as I think most right thinking people do, but there will likely be some who pick up the book and take exception to the politics. If you are that someone, then don’t read this, you won’t like it.

I read BLUEBIRD, BLUEBIRD, but didn’t read the second book in the series, and felt like I was fine and would have been OK with this as a standalone, although I was happy to have the rich backstory of Darren’s relationships with his uncles.

I’m a bit torn about this book. The language and the writing are lovely. For example, the description of the bricks of the sorority houses as different, delicious foods, loved that. Locke makes you feel, smell and taste the Texas heat and dust. But the plotting this time seemed a bit juvenile. Are people that openly racist in Texas? And Thornhill was just so blatantly illegal, most teenagers would have understood it, but tons of adults didn’t? I couldn’t buy that. So, I couldn’t entirely embrace this.