Resurrecting Langston Blue.

Resurrecting Langston Blue by Robert Greer Frog, Ltd., October 2005 $23.95, ISBN 1-583-94136-3

C.J. Floyd is a familiar Western character--a cheroot-chewing, rough-and-tumble tough guy with a heart of gold. He's made his bones as a bail bondsman in Denver, Colorado, chasing fugitives when he must. In his spare time, he collects antiques, loves his life-long sweetheart, Mavis and solves a mystery or two.

An Asian American doctor enlists Floyd and his business associate, Flora Jean, to track down her father, Langston Blue, a soldier in the Vietnam War who deserted her before she was born.

Soon, Floyd finds himself rappelling down a rabbit hole of intrigue, clashing with political power brokers and unleashing ghosts of that not so long ago conflict, along with truths about the atrocities committed in its name.

At the same time, Floyd, a Vietnam veteran himself, must contend with some specters of his own as he dodges the bullets and wrath of someone who crossed his path during one of his criminal-chasing exploits.

Greer's writing vividly evokes the lush and rugged landscape of Colorado and gives a welcome glimpse into a slice of black America not often portrayed; men and women who planted roots and carved their paths in the West, rather than the urban enclaves of the north or hamlets and cities of the South.

The novel is fast paced, with enough dead ends, twists and bends to keep a mystery reader engrossed. But the story falters toward the end, with the motivation of some characters seeming a bit convoluted.

Still, Floyd, Mavis and several other members of the book's motley crew are richly drawn characters. You become as interested in their back stories and the trials that make them tick as you are in the adventures that bind them together. It is worth a reader's while to get to know them.

--Reviewed by Charisse Jones Charisse Jones is coauthor of Shifting: The Double Lives of Black Women in America, (HarperCollins, 2003) winner of the 2004 American Book Award.