The Cutting Season

A Novel

By: Attica Locke

Narrated by: Quincy Tyler Bernstine

Length: 12 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

In Black Water Rising, Attica Locke delivered one of the most stunning and sure-handed fiction debuts in recent memory, garnering effusive critical praise, several award nominations, and passionate reader response. Now Locke returns with The Cutting Season, a riveting thriller that intertwines two murders separated across more than a century.

Caren Gray manages Belle Vie, a sprawling antebellum plantation that sits between Baton Rouge and New Orleans, where the past and the present coexist uneasily. The estate's owners have turned the place into an eerie tourist attraction, complete with full-dress re-enactments and carefully restored slave quarters. Outside the gates, a corporation with ambitious plans has been busy snapping up land from struggling families who have been growing sugar cane for generations, and now replacing local employees with illegal laborers. Tensions mount when the body of a female migrant worker is found in a shallow grave on the edge of the property, her throat cut clean.

As the investigation gets under way, the list of suspects grows. But when fresh evidence comes to light and the sheriff's department zeros in on a person of interest, Caren has a bad feeling that the police are chasing the wrong leads. Putting herself at risk, she ventures into dangerous territory as she unearths startling new facts about a very old mystery - the long-ago disappearance of a former slave - that has unsettling ties to the current murder. In pursuit of the truth about Belle Vie's history and her own, Caren discovers secrets about both cases - ones that an increasingly desperate killer will stop at nothing to keep buried.

Taut, hauntingly resonant, and beautifully written, The Cutting Season is at once a thoughtful meditation on how America reckons its past with its future, and a high-octane pause resister that unfolds with tremendous skill and vision. With her rare gift for depicting human nature in all its complexities, Attica Locke demonstrates once again that she is "destined for literary stardom" (Dallas Morning News).

©2012 Attica Locke (P)2012 HarperCollins Publishers

AMAZING

The depth of character, the drama, the injustice, the history. This is a fabulous, fabulous book and a great mystery. I’m so glad we have writers like this alive today.

Great Story

This is one of the best stories I have listened to. She is a wonderful story teller.

Clever but lacks some punch

First, I have to say the performance was terrific. Really brought the story to life. Well done.

The story was clever and well researched with a lot of interesting, deep characters. However, the plot slows down a lot in part 1. It picks up quite a bit in part 2, but ultimately finishes with several loose ends in an unequal way. The masterfully done historical parallels drawn are seemingly wasted. Almost seeming to be written by accident.

Overall entertaining, but with a lot of foul balls instead of home runs.

Suspense, atmosphere, characters all great!

Would you consider the audio edition of The Cutting Season to be better than the print version?

I have read another book by Attica Locke,and it enjoyed it immensely. However, I must say that the narrator greatly enhanced my appreciation of this novel.

What did you like best about this story?

The setting -- a southern plantation; and the suspenseful mix of past and present crimes, with a hint of class warfare.

What about Quincy Tyler Bernstine’s performance did you like?

Pace of speech, accents.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

A Gothic tale of the new/old South.

Any additional comments?

I never did get the main character's affection for that old plantation. It just seemed like a dreadful place and I thought that it was bizarre for her to think that it was a fit place for a child.
This is not a book that will gain fans for old Dixie -- not that I was ever one!

Too bad, disappointing....

This is probably a reasonably good book. Unfortunately, the audio version was made difficult to listen to because of the quirks of the narrator. Couldn't wait to finish -- actually I did finish only because I'm so cheap. I spent the credit on this thing, I thought I should listen to the end -- which means, of course, I paid for it twice. Once in cash, the second time in wasted time.

This is one of those that when you start to notice the puffing, the strange phrasing and way-too-dramatic cadence the narrator employed, it's all you can focus on. Parts of the book grabbed me, and I listened intently for short periods, but then once the literary crisis was over, my mind reverted to concentrating on the weird narration again.

It could be that the producers wanted this kind of narration -- that's possible. Quincy Tyler Bernstine uses the cant of the professional storyteller, you know, the elderly crone who sits by the fireside and spins ethnic tales of old, folklore, using a sing-song cadence. That kind of narration might work if it comes in eight minute segments, when you're sitting on the library floor with all the other nice little boys and girls. But to listen to it for over 12 hours is painful, not to mention seriously annoying.

Very disappointing. I thought the blurb about the book sounded interesting. Maybe it was, in the printed version. But now I know to stay away from this narrator in the future.

Great Read

If you enjoyed The Help you will have to read this. Caren Gray, an African American woman along with her daughter (Morgan) returns to Caren's home of her youth, Belle Vie. Belle Vie is antebellum Louisiana plantation preserved as both historical location — even down to its slave cabins — and high-end banquet site
Caren returns to her childhood home (where her mother was a cook) and childhood friends (the heirs to Belle Vie) as the banquet manager. She is surrounded with her family legacy where her ancestors were slaves.
When the body of a young woman is found on the edge of Belle Vie property mysteries of the past and present collide.
While being concern for her and Morgan's safety on 18 acres of isolated land, Caren must face her personal issues (baby daddy, first boy crush and, what to do with her life), solve a murder from the past and present.

Left hanging at the end....

While I loved the book, I hated the ending. Why couldn't Caren and Eric be together? What happened to Donovan after all the madness? The ending was flat. What was Caren going to do when she got to Washington?

Very Good

What made the experience of listening to The Cutting Season the most enjoyable?

The pace. It did a good job with the pace of the drama. There were times where I was listening to it in bed and getting scared. I slept with all the lights on. It was great!

Who was your favorite character and why?

Karen. The main character. She was a single mom and I could relate. The personal things she was trying to battle was really honest and raw.

Have you listened to any of Quincy Tyler Bernstine’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

N/A

If you could take any character from The Cutting Season out to dinner, who would it be and why?

If not Karen, her ex-husband. Other than the fact he was engaged to his pregnant girlfriend, I'd totally date him.

Any additional comments?

It had a really slow beginning. At first I was confused and wondered when things were going to get moving. But once they did, I couldn't put the book down! Hence why I only gave it four stars.

keeps you guessing

a very good story kept me on my toes and guessing and trying to figure who the killer really was I dident like the ending could have been better

Great storytelling!

Superb and believable plot. Characters who are real and dialogue that propels the plot forward. A twisty enthralling mystery on top of a mystery.