White Shadow

I know Ace Adkins through his rich tapestries of mystery and blues from the Mississippi delta in the Nick Travers series, but didn't realize he'd written a few standalone historical fiction novels - including "White Shadow." And let me tell you, I've been missing out on a literary treat. "White Shadow" is a brilliantly written: humid, moody, mysterious - classic crime noir that perfectly captures the Golden Age of this genre in which it is set. Yes, it's a bit long, detailed, and complex, but it captures in words the mood and spirit of the era as well as Bogart and Bacall could do it in a grainy back-and-white film. The scene is Tampa, 1955, the setting the true story of Charlie Wall, a local legend of organized crime during prohibition, brutally murdered in his Tampa home in a crime that was never solved. Adkins tells the story through LB Turner, a young and tenacious reporter for the struggling Tampa Times. "It's all cigar smoke and light and shadows and ticking Hamilton watches and the smell of the salty bay blowing over forgotten crime scenes" in this gem of a novel - the meticulous research beaten only by a gritty cast of loners and losers, of mobsters, murderers and movers-and-shakers. From the cigar factories of Tampa's Ybor City to Havana's pre-Castro Cuba's swanky clubs and lavish hotels - of Myron Lansky and George Raft - to the winter home of a traveling carnival, Adkins simply nails it: prose so steamy you can smell the blood and rum and sex. And plenty of it. "White Shadow" is one of those rare novels that educates while it entertains. Who knew - or ever heard of - the goings on of mafia boss Santo Trafficante and the Tampa/Havana connection, or the early days of young lawyer Fidel Casto hanging in Florida's clubs and bars, the the gentleman mobster Charlie Wall himself, a local legend and harmless old man when he was so viciously dispatched. I've been a long time fan of the honey-smooth southern poetry-prose of James Lee Burke and Tom Franklin - it is easy to put Ace Adkins in - and perhaps at the top of - this rarified air. In short, a fine example of original American writing telling an original American story - not to be missed.

White Shadow is a great read. Ace Atkins is a crime writer straight out of the James Ellroy mould with this work, which looks at the death of a former bootlegger and organised crime in Florida when Batista was still ruling the roost in Cuba. I've read several works by Ace Atkins, who's also penned novels for the estate of Robert B Parker. Honestly, he does them well and has a wonderful ear for dialogue and his plots are well crafted, but White Shadow and his Quinn Colson series suggest that he should concentrate on his own stuff. I think he stands head and shoulders above most of the crime writers I've read recently.

White Shadow. Ace Atkins. Putnam, 2006. 384 pages. This is the second work of historical fiction based on a real-life crime written by Ace Atkins that I've read. Devil's Garden was about Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle's trial for the death of a would-be actress in 1921. White Shadow is about the 1955 murder of Tampa Florida organized crime boss Charlie Wall. Living in Tampa Bay, this book is of particular interest because of the connections to history and locations in Ybor City in particular and the area in general. I've read several books, attended talks, and taken tours on the subject of the organized crime that dominated much of Tampa's 20th century history, so a lot of this book is very familiar, and it's always fun to make historical connections as I travel around the city. Having read two Atkins books, I've drawn some conclusions. In Ace Atkins' world, the 1920s and the 1950s were very similar, whether the location was San Francisco or Tampa. Everybody was always depressed, angry, miserable, and morally ambiguous. Everybody had lots of really bad and unpleasurable sex with lots of different people, and that sex usually involved tears, violence, and lots and lots of alcohol and/or drugs. Love doesn't exist, but drugs, alcohol, guns, gambling, prostitution, and many other vices were openly available everywhere. Everybody talked like Rocky and Mugsy, the gangsters in the Bugs Bunny cartoons, all of the time (In Tampa, though, it was with a Cuban or Italian accent.). I know Atkins is a huge admirer of the detective noir genre and especially Dashiell Hammett, but it's just soooo much for sooooo long - the books go on and on and on, far too long. I really want to like his books more than I do. His most recent book, a Cold War spy thriller, is set in Atlanta in the 1980s. I haven't decided if I'm up for reading what Atkins does to make that setting depressing for me.

White Shadow is the third book offering from Ken Cable. He writes entertaining adventure stories. The first 2 books Lost and Track of the Hunter, were very entertaining, also very hard to put down once you starting reading them. They are easy reads, and I recommend them to adults and young readers alike. There are valuable lessons to be learned from all 3 books for young and adult people about courage, respect for elders and animals, and to always remember to have hope. Never give up on what is the right thing to do, and always obey and respect the law. Exciting adventures in the mountains of the High Sierras. The author is a naturalist and has spent much of his life camping in the mountains of California and other areas of the world studying the habitat. Again, I highly recommend all 3 books to all of you who enjoy adventure tales about the wilderness, animals, and appreciate when hope and determination results in the right outcome. Happy Reading.

One of the best Gangster mafia stories I've ever had the pleasure reading. Had no clue about the whole Florida Cigar City mobster scene until I bought this book.

I liked the book because of its historical context. It was a little slow at first but the second half of the book made it worth reading.

OK

What a writer Ace Atkins is. This book is about the year leading up to the end of the gangsters era in Cuba just before the revolution. A beautifully atmospheric book which seems to capture the times that organised crime ruled in Florida and Cuba. Violence and corruption were everywhere including the police. Loved it.

This is good. Suspense. Unputdownable, until right about to where you almost get to the end, the thrill wains and the end -a bit disappointing

keep it dark - its a black pudding

I read The Ranger by Ace Atkins and enjoyed it, so looked for more books by the same author. Was disappointed with this one. By no means a "page turner", I found it hard going in places, especially the "reminiscences" sections in italics, which seemed to have little importance to the plot.