The Emperor of Ocean Park

I finished my first reading challenge book: The Emperor of Ocean Park by Stephen Carter. This is for the To Be Read Pile Challenge. I bought this, I don't know, two or three years ago because it sounded interesting but I never got around to reading it. It's a long book - the paperback version I have is 824 pages. So first a brief synopsis and then I'll tell you what I thought!

The story is narrated by Talcott Garland, an upper-class African-American law professor whose father Oliver, a well-known judge and disgraced Supreme Court nominee, dies from a heart attack. Oliver Garland's death unleashes a series of events that force Talcott to investigate the secrets in his father's life. The investigation is entangled with a mafia-like figure, the FBI, police and assorted political and legal characters. Talcott's investigation, led by his late father's mysterious clues, ends up risking his life, marriage and friendships.

So there's your very brief synopsis. I didn't want to write a lot and give away any details of the story. I did like the book. As I said, it was long and probably could have been a little shorter but that's ok. There's a lot of emphasis on race in the story and at first I thought it was too much but it really is central to the way things play out. Talcott can be a little annoying, kind of smug and a bit too moral but overall he's a pretty engaging character. After 824 pages I was fairly fond of him!

If you like mysteries and/or legal thrillers I'd definitely recommend this. For me there are a couple of tests for recommending a book: 1) How fast did I read the book (which indicates how engrossed I became in the story)? and 2) Would I read another book by this author? In answer to number 1 - pretty fast. It took about a week, which sounds embarrasingly slow, but I had to work and do bunches of other stuff too! And would I read more by Stephen Carter? Absolutely. I've already requested a couple from the library.