When I finally found myself with extended free time to dive in, I was fully immersed and enjoyed the story. But I was also distracted by other things in 'real life,' which limited my reading time and affected my concentration. When I sat down to read I frequently had to refresh my memory on what I'd read the day before. There was a lot happening in this novel, and I had a little difficulty keeping track of all the characters and the political machinations. And being set in 1996 with occasional references to the Bush family and then-president Bill Clinton, reminds us all of how American politics will change four years later. Jay's investigation turns up a whole bunch of unpleasantness from political favors to racism to family drama, and through a series of twists and turns we eventually learn the true story of the girl's disappearance, and others receive their just desserts for their political misdeeds.As in Black Water Rising, Attica Locke weaves important societal themes into the story, tackling issues of prejudice and civil rights.

The grandfather is an influential political figure in Pleasantville, and well connected to others in Houston and Texas politics. When a young man is implicated in the girl's disappearance, his grandfather asks Jay to represent him. Jay sees a potential link to two previous cases where the young women were later found murdered. On election night, a young campaign worker disappears from a Pleasantville street corner.

Fast forward to 1996, when personal circumstances have kept Jay out of the courtroom for nearly a year. Jay Porter, a Houston lawyer, was first introduced to readers in Black Water Rising, a story of oil industry crime and corruption set in the 1980s.

Pleasantville a novel