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Nick Travers #4
Dirty South
A gritty and atmospheric thriller by a talented young writer.
Tulane professor and problem solver Nick Travers is minding his own business when a friend from his college football days asks a favour. Teddy Paris is a record producer and his biggest rap star, a kid from the projects named Alias, needs help. Somebody has ripped off Alias's assets. Always ready to bail out a buddy, Nick dives in, but the closer he gets to unmasking the villain, the more danger he unleashes until his own life is on the line.
Tulane professor and problem solver Nick Travers is minding his own business when a friend from his college football days asks a favour. Teddy Paris is a record producer and his biggest rap star, a kid from the projects named Alias, needs help. Somebody has ripped off Alias's assets. Always ready to bail out a buddy, Nick dives in, but the closer he gets to unmasking the villain, the more danger he unleashes until his own life is on the line.
384 pages, Paperback
First published March 2, 2004
47 people are currently reading
294 people want to read
About the author
Ace Atkins
71 books1,570 followersAce Atkins is the author of twenty-eight books, including eleven Quinn Colson novels, the first two of which, The Ranger and The Lost Ones, were nominated for the Edgar Award for Best Novel (he has a third Edgar nomination for his short story "Last Fair Deal Gone Down"). He is the author of nine New York Times-bestselling novels in the continuation of Robert B. Parker's Spenser series. Before turning to fiction, he was a correspondent for the St. Petersburg Times and a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune, and he played defensive end for Auburn University football.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews
February 2, 2020
Atkins is a good writer, but the Nick Travers series is my least favorite series that he writes. The reason is because the Travers series is generally unfocused as to what is happening. This one is about rap music in New Orleans, a genre of music that I'm not even sure is music. Certainly no self-respecting bluesologist would be interested in it. He throws in a lot of great bluesmens' names, but doesn't tell you anything about them. This one was readable, but it really just fell kind of flat.
August 27, 2016
Back to the Big Easy, this time to save a young rapper from a scam. I have to admit, I skimmed this one, having tired of Atkins terrible writing. When you find yourself skimming both the love scenes and the scenes of violence, you know an author is whiffing the ball. In this book, we get to read the 15-year-old rapper's stream of consciousness, all in italics. Thank heaven it is the last book in the series, as the parts I did read were boring and oddly inaccurate. I have, personally, eaten oysters three ways at Antoine's, and none of the ways is raw. ATKINS! Do your research or set your scene at McDonalds!
February 9, 2015
Ace Atkins is consistently a good and very entertaining writer with a gift of phrasing that few authors today can match. His skill at creating interesting mysteries that never go exactly the way you expect and wrap up in a satisfying, plausible manner is rare. I'm not buying his attempts to equate rap with the blues masters of the past, but the music themes carry well through the book.
Not being from the south, his books in this series always leave me feeling a bit the outsider, watching events from another world and time. But its an interesting visit, at least.
Not being from the south, his books in this series always leave me feeling a bit the outsider, watching events from another world and time. But its an interesting visit, at least.
January 27, 2013
In the 4th (last?) Nick Travers tale, he's taken out of his comfort zone of blues, and into the mansions/Bentleys/gold capped teeth...and the ever presence of violence of the rap music world. When asked to help (imagine that) a former teammate...the New South, is really a Dirty South. This series has become one of my favorites, with it's southern noir style, and the unique character of Nick.
August 10, 2008
Excellent book about a former pro football player turned professor who travels around the South searching out old blues musicians. He is asked to help a former team mate, now music producer, whos thirteen year old star rapper has been ripped off by con men. Murder and mayham ensue.
December 30, 2014
I like his work, but maybe this one a little less than some of the others. The rap sub-plot seems a little forced. I'm still a fan, though.
August 10, 2016
Did not enjoy this one...good start, interesting plot, too many characters with similar names, hard to follow resolution. Glad I read the series, just disappointed by this last one.
October 22, 2025
Nick Travers is wrapping up another research project on a Blues legend when when one of his old teammates from the Saints, Teddy, comes by seeking his help in finding both missing money and the con artists that stole it, otherwise he's going to be dead in less than 24 hours. You see, Teddy owes big money to a violent gangster who is also a rival running a rap music production company. Nick being who he has proven himself to be in the rest of the series, heads off to help out Teddy, taking along with him hot teen up and coming rapper represented by Teddy. It all turns out far more complex than either Nick or the reader initially imagine, and pretty bloody at the end, and deep into the underbelly of the rap music called Dirty South.
This is the last book in the Nick Travers series, and seems initially to veer away from the Blues Highway that has featured so prominently in the series, setting it apart from most crime fiction set in the south. I found myself deep into the world and language of rap and rappers, and while you are taken from the ghettos of New Orleans to the mansions in Metairie and ultimately out onto Lake Pontchartrain and into the bayou swamps, riding in custom cigarette boats and Bentleys, it's tawdry, dirty, violent, and ugly. But ... Atkins brings us, along with Nick, back into the Blues in the best way possible. Nick even acquires a dog, a true mutt he names Polk Salad Annie, after a rock song from 1968 sung by Joe White: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrT-T....
I give this a solid 3 star rating, not higher as I found myself very lost in this world of rap music in which we are plunged, as well as a convoluted plot I found hard to parse until 2/3rds into the book. While the music side left me at a loss, the journey Nick is on, that brings him to a new better place in his life from which you can see him flourishing in the future deep in the Blues he loves, was a terrific end to an exceptional series. I am content to leave Nick, Jojo, Loretta, and Polk Salad Annie in Jojo's Blues Bar in New Orleans, the same but changed forever.
I wandered down a few google rabbit holes as I always end up doing in this series, but especially enjoyed finding out about and listening to Polk Salad Annie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polk_Sa....
This is the last book in the Nick Travers series, and seems initially to veer away from the Blues Highway that has featured so prominently in the series, setting it apart from most crime fiction set in the south. I found myself deep into the world and language of rap and rappers, and while you are taken from the ghettos of New Orleans to the mansions in Metairie and ultimately out onto Lake Pontchartrain and into the bayou swamps, riding in custom cigarette boats and Bentleys, it's tawdry, dirty, violent, and ugly. But ... Atkins brings us, along with Nick, back into the Blues in the best way possible. Nick even acquires a dog, a true mutt he names Polk Salad Annie, after a rock song from 1968 sung by Joe White: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrT-T....
I give this a solid 3 star rating, not higher as I found myself very lost in this world of rap music in which we are plunged, as well as a convoluted plot I found hard to parse until 2/3rds into the book. While the music side left me at a loss, the journey Nick is on, that brings him to a new better place in his life from which you can see him flourishing in the future deep in the Blues he loves, was a terrific end to an exceptional series. I am content to leave Nick, Jojo, Loretta, and Polk Salad Annie in Jojo's Blues Bar in New Orleans, the same but changed forever.
I wandered down a few google rabbit holes as I always end up doing in this series, but especially enjoyed finding out about and listening to Polk Salad Annie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polk_Sa....
March 9, 2023
Great characters, great New Orleans ambience, and some clever( too clever? ) plot twists, but our author gets a little ahead of himself in creating implausible situations. Our guy Nick gets caught up with friends from the past involved in some messy rap music scandals, deaths, frauds, beatings and gratuitous violence. To say Nick cheats death is a little unfair since the author puts him in inescapable perils even Houdini couldn’t solve and somehow leaves us feeling cheated by the illogical escapes. Some of the scenarios and characters seem more like Dick Tracy than Sam Spade. Lots of betrayals, red herrings, false assumptions and bad luck finally get us to an unsatisfying conclusion. Atkins has done better.
August 23, 2018
Tulane professor and problem solver Nick Travers is minding his own business when a friend from his college football days asks a favour. Teddy Paris is a record producer and his biggest rap star, a kid from the projects named Alias, needs help. Somebody has ripped off Alias's assets. Always ready to bail out a buddy, Nick dives in, but the closer he gets to unmasking the villain, the more danger he unleashes until his own life is on the line.
Atkins is from Alabama-played football at Auburn. Now lives in Oxford and teaches at Ole Miss. He knows and understands the south. Great author of the Quinn Colson Series and also is continuing Robert B. Parkers series on Spencer.
Atkins is from Alabama-played football at Auburn. Now lives in Oxford and teaches at Ole Miss. He knows and understands the south. Great author of the Quinn Colson Series and also is continuing Robert B. Parkers series on Spencer.
September 12, 2017
Another good book in this series. Like the main character Nick Travers and a lot of the support case. A suitably twisting tale all set in the deep South of New Orleans, Memphis and the Delta with constant references to the Blues.
October 21, 2019
Good Story
Took a little bit of time to get going for me, but overall another good story by Ace. Character development took a bit longer than I preferred, but they were all fairly believable.
Look forward to the next installment.
Took a little bit of time to get going for me, but overall another good story by Ace. Character development took a bit longer than I preferred, but they were all fairly believable.
Look forward to the next installment.
January 19, 2020
Well I just finish this book. Nick was helping a friend only to be betrayed and then in the to loose those friends. But the bar was bought back and given back to him to run which was a good thing. Plus also he got a bigger offer at Tulane as well, so we shall see. I did enjoy this book very much.
May 15, 2023
DNF. I tried and tried and tried but just couldn’t get past page 90. Couldn’t keep the characters straight, had to read someone else’s summary to find out what was going on and then still couldn’t follow. And I had no idea what all those italics were about.
December 10, 2018
Very good episode in this series of a knight-with-no-armor taking care of friends and fighting for truth in the New Orleans region. Lots of intergenerational play.
March 2, 2019
Really confusing. Read 30%. Done with Ace Atkins original books.
August 20, 2019
I love this series! I can't believe this is last one! Please being back Nick, JoJo and Loretta!! There is so much potential in these characters and the birthplace of The Blues!
October 14, 2019
One of my 13 best mysteries read in 2004.
September 10, 2025
I feel New Orleans and the Mississippi Delta as I read this fascinating adventure into the world of Rap. Some undisclosed parts that don’t get cleaned up but still fascinating.
February 18, 2018
Dirty South is the fourth book by former Auburn football star and reporter Ace Atkins to feature Nick Travers, a former college football star who teaches and writes about the culture and history of blues music in the South while doing some amateur investigating on the side.
Atkins was a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune when he published Crossroad Blues in 1998, the first Nick Travers story. The "dirty south" of the title is a name for a genre of hip-hop music that gained popularity starting around 2000, coming from clubs and DJs in the south and along the Gulf Coast. It's said to differ from the east coast and west coast schools of hip-hop by focusing more on the beats of the songs and maintaining an emphasis on partying and living large instead of politicial or social commentary even though it doesn't exclude them.
A young man with a bright future in this genre, the 15-year-old ALIAS, is being recorded by Nick Travers' old football teammate but is also being courted by a rival producer whose criminal connections are as real as his talent-spotting. Nick's friend Teddy calls him in because he knows of Nick's earlier success in amateur sleuthing and because ALIAS has been swindled out of nearly a million dollars that Teddy now owes to the rival producer. The problem: Teddy doesn't have the money and the rival has threatened his life if he doesn't come up with the cash. Nick needs to get the brooding young rapper to explain how he was conned so he can find the grifters and either get Teddy's money back or point the rival producer at someone else.
Although white, Nick has significant ties in New Orleans' black community, especially with some of its blues and jazz musicians of a generation before him. He finds himself operating a little at a loss when he talks to the rappers and their entourages, unfamiliar with their music and much of their lifestyle. By the same token, ALIAS is out of his own element when he stays with Nick's friends for safety. The culture clashes make for some interesting exploration and Atkins handles it well.
Dirty South is a fine crime novel and wears its noir perfume not inelegantly. Atkins is no Dashiell Hammett -- whose 1921 investigation of the murder charges against movie star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle formed the plot for Atkins' own 2010 Devil's Garden. But he has significant skills and a knowledge and love of the places he's writing about, and deploys them well in service of his story. Although Dirty South is a bit thin on the action and somewhat more confusing than the earlier Travers books, it's a rewarding read for the crime-novel fan who may want to reflect a little bit after putting it down when it ends.
Original available here.
Atkins was a crime reporter for the Tampa Tribune when he published Crossroad Blues in 1998, the first Nick Travers story. The "dirty south" of the title is a name for a genre of hip-hop music that gained popularity starting around 2000, coming from clubs and DJs in the south and along the Gulf Coast. It's said to differ from the east coast and west coast schools of hip-hop by focusing more on the beats of the songs and maintaining an emphasis on partying and living large instead of politicial or social commentary even though it doesn't exclude them.
A young man with a bright future in this genre, the 15-year-old ALIAS, is being recorded by Nick Travers' old football teammate but is also being courted by a rival producer whose criminal connections are as real as his talent-spotting. Nick's friend Teddy calls him in because he knows of Nick's earlier success in amateur sleuthing and because ALIAS has been swindled out of nearly a million dollars that Teddy now owes to the rival producer. The problem: Teddy doesn't have the money and the rival has threatened his life if he doesn't come up with the cash. Nick needs to get the brooding young rapper to explain how he was conned so he can find the grifters and either get Teddy's money back or point the rival producer at someone else.
Although white, Nick has significant ties in New Orleans' black community, especially with some of its blues and jazz musicians of a generation before him. He finds himself operating a little at a loss when he talks to the rappers and their entourages, unfamiliar with their music and much of their lifestyle. By the same token, ALIAS is out of his own element when he stays with Nick's friends for safety. The culture clashes make for some interesting exploration and Atkins handles it well.
Dirty South is a fine crime novel and wears its noir perfume not inelegantly. Atkins is no Dashiell Hammett -- whose 1921 investigation of the murder charges against movie star Roscoe "Fatty" Arbuckle formed the plot for Atkins' own 2010 Devil's Garden. But he has significant skills and a knowledge and love of the places he's writing about, and deploys them well in service of his story. Although Dirty South is a bit thin on the action and somewhat more confusing than the earlier Travers books, it's a rewarding read for the crime-novel fan who may want to reflect a little bit after putting it down when it ends.
Original available here.
July 19, 2013
Ace Atkins is the guy chosen to take over the Robert Parker franchise. I read his first two Spenser efforts and quite liked them. So I thought I would try some of his solo efforts. I started with Dirty South. It wasn't bad.set in New Orleans, which is my home town, so I tend to be hypercritical about the details. Having said that, he got the feel of NO pretty much right.too bad he has to write about rap music. It's an easy genre to stereotype and Atkins does. And to be fair, it's a type of music I hate. If I never hear one more thug wanna be flowing about bitches, it will be way to frigging soon. Still the plot was pretty good although I don't have a clue as to why the bad guy did the things he did. But then again, even the characters in the book admitted that they didn't understand it. Definitely worth a read.
Read
May 13, 2010Well this was ambitious for a white guy. To write a book about the culture of Dirty South rap in New Orleans. I am surprised he's alive! Hah hah. It went a little far on the dialect sometimes- not "wrong" - just because it was very hard to follow. And I thought it was silly when the white narrator started talking jive. Pretty good story though. I really like "Infamous" by AA much better. Now that is a hell of a book.
October 5, 2013
Ace Atkins' fourth novel again mines the back streets and dusty roads of of New Orleans, of Mississippi and Louisiana. Filled with old blues stories, new rap wantabees and double crosses galore,the story whisks us along the way we want a crackling good yarn to do.
Leave your worries on the doorstep, cross over to the dark side of the street, and enjoy.
Recommended.
Leave your worries on the doorstep, cross over to the dark side of the street, and enjoy.
Recommended.
January 20, 2011
This is the second Nick Travers book by Ace Atkins that I have read, and I've enjoyed them both. An interesting main character, a good supporting cast, and an intriguing story. I'll have to be on the lookout for more in the series, glad there are several others to find.
Read
July 26, 2011I loved this book because the action was great and Nick Travers (the main character) is a flawed (but likeable) guy just 'doing his job.' He doesn't give away anything as you go through the story with the "what's next?" feeling as each page goes by....Great read!
May 8, 2015
I tried to get started with this book, but it doesn't seem to be in the middle aged woman subject bracket. I like a good suspense novel and anything the "reads well", but this one just went downhill from the first chapter.
February 10, 2013
Hard to read. Too many characters. Don't always understand which character is speaking. Don't understand what the point of the book was. Ending is difficult to understand. I've read other books by Atkins which I did care for although they are strange as well.
December 11, 2014
This is the last of the four books Atkins wrote early in his career. For whatever reason it took forever for me to read this (not a good sign). I'm glad I read these four books, including this one, just to have a better understanding of the author.
July 6, 2017
good at the beginning but got very boring
June 11, 2012
Ummm.. Interesting. I love the Dirty South & really throwing out the NOLA, Delta scenes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 39 reviews