• Between Black and White

  • McMurtrie and Drake Legal Thrillers, Book 2
  • By: Robert Bailey
  • Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
  • Length: 9 hrs and 37 mins
  • 4.6 out of 5 stars (2,309 ratings)

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Between Black and White  By  cover art

Between Black and White

By: Robert Bailey
Narrated by: Eric G. Dove
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Publisher's summary

In 1966 in Pulaski, Tennessee, Bocephus Haynes watched in horror as his father was brutally murdered by 10 local members of the Ku Klux Klan. As an African American lawyer practicing in the birthplace of the Klan years later, Bo has spent his life pursuing justice in his father's name. But when Andy Walton, the man believed to have led the lynch mob 45 years earlier, ends up murdered in the same spot as Bo's father, Bo becomes the prime suspect.

Retired law professor Tom McMurtrie, Bo's former teacher and friend, is a year removed from returning to the courtroom. Now McMurtrie and his headstrong partner, Rick Drake, must defend Bo on charges of capital murder while hunting for Andy Walton's true killer. In a courtroom clash that will put their reputations and lives at stake, can McMurtrie and Drake release Bo from a lifetime of despair? Or will justice remain hidden somewhere between black and white?

©2016 Robert Bailey (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

What listeners say about Between Black and White

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Page Turner

I had enjoyed Bailey’s prior book “The Professor” so I could hardly wait for his next book to be published. Bailey is a top notch new author.

In this book we have the key characters from “The Professor” back in court. I think the reader will enjoy this book more if they have read “The Professor” first. The aging law professor, Tom McMurtrie, and his former student, Rick Drake, are representing McMurtrie’s longtime friend and fellow attorney, Bocephus Haynes. Bo has been charged with the murder of Andrew Davis Walton. Walton was the Imperial Wizard of the Tennessee Knights of the KKK. The story takes place in Pulaski, Tennessee the birthplace of the KKK. Walton and his fellow Klansmen lynched Bo’s father when he was five years old. Bo watched the whole thing and became a lawyer in his lifelong attempt to bring Walton to justice for the killing of his father. Needless to say Bo is black and Walton is white. On the 45th anniversary of the lynching of Bo’s father, Walton was killed. Walton was dying of cancer and had decided to turn himself in for the lynching. Drake and McMurtrie attempt to solve the murder while defending Bo.

Bailey has created a classic legal thriller but has also created something different with surprising twists and turns. The ending is a surprise. The book is extremely well written; the pace is fast. There are dramatic courtroom scenes. The book is an edge-of-the-seat story. The characters are well-drawn and likable.

Eric G. Dove does an excellent job narrating the book. Dove is an award winning audiobook narrator. He is a southerner and the accent is perfect with the story.

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19 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Gripping. White supremacists live, feel right.!!

I seriously admired this book, enjoying the writing and the narration in equal parts. The depiction of white hatred of the black man is so pointed and so unbelievably antiquated that it is difficult to acknowledge that these men lived in the United States in the 20th century. They ferociously believe that the South will rise again. This is no joke, not to be taken lightly. They were raised with slavery and were trained by their parents and grandparents to believe that blacks were sub-human, that a black life was worth almost nothing compared to a white life. Their lives were dominated by hatred so blind, so ignorant and unreasoning, so vicious and so thoroughgoing that there is no point in taking it on. It would be like assaulting everything that their families held holy. Bocephus saw the lynching of his father by the Klan when the boy was about five. Needless to say, he was severely, permanently traumatized by it and can never forget the image of his father swinging from a tree, soiling himself, being punished as if he had committed a crime against God. Bocephus grows up to be a lawyer, and the climax of the book is a trial in which Professor McMurtrie, who has been an academic for many years, is convinced to try the case of a very powerful white man who is charged with the killing of a black man. In the real world of the South, a trial like this would be a simple, glory-filled slam dunk for the District Attorney, but in this book we are taken through the cliff-hanging developments of the trial minute-by-minute. And yet the trial is not dull, as some legal books can be. The stakes of pure humanity and mercy are the prizes being sought. Innocence and guilt are crucial, but the larger societal values are drawn so vividly for us that we are rooting very hard for the defense all along. To heck with neutrality and/or objectivity. The very life-blood of the black man in the 20th century United States is at stake. There can be no middle grounds. Either justice is real or it is a lie, told by men full of hatred and prejudice, unable to even consider for a brief moment whether their lifelong beliefs might need a little bit of re-examination. Read these two books. They will entertain and educate you and will hold you in the grip of issues so crucial in America that you cannot turn your head away.

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14 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Not quite 5 stars!

Between Black and White is a compelling legal thriller dealing with race relations. However, it is not quite as good as The Professor which was Book 1 in the McMurtrie & Drake legal thriller series. Worship of the University of Alabama football program and coach Paul "Bear" Bryant has gotten to be a bit much. Nevertheless, this is an outstanding legal thriller which I recommend. Eric G Dove does a superb job as narrator. This is a very worthwhile series.

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13 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A Worthy Follow-On to "The Professor"

This is a very good story and a worthy follow-on to "The Professor ". (I highly recommend reading the books in order.). This story revolves around a lynching that occurred back in the time when the South actively discriminated against people of colour and the KKK, the ultimate gang of cowards, took matters into their own hands to dispense "justice". Mr. Bailey does a nice job weaving a tale that recalls those sad times, and at the same time reveals how people can change over time. There are a number of unexpected twists and turns that really make this an enjoyable read and will keep your attention.

Eric G. Dove was outstanding with the delivery of the story

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9 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

This series just gets better...

Mr. Bailey's writing and storytelling is great! The Professor was very good, but this book is even better! Highly recommend!!!

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6 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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The Clue Is 'Right Under Your Nose'.....

This legal thriller is about race relations and murder with twists and turns that are unexpected...Yes, there are a few foreshadowing scenes that the listener can easily guess what's coming but that does not take away from the enjoyment of the story... This is a good, hard-to-put-down story. If you don't like the "N" word being read, you may dislike this story but the "N" word was not used often but only at a few key moments in the story.

As described in the Publisher's Summary, this story is about the hunt for a murderer....actually in this story, there are two "primary" murders and a couple of more for good measure. The character development is good....my favorite character is RayRay. I liked RayRay for his colorful personality which provided some relief from the suspense and seriousness of the storyline.

The ending was a surprise but if you pay close attention there is one clue given straight out by one of the characters.... "it's right under your nose." The ending had a couple of major twists that hit 7.0 on the richter scale of surprise.

I like the narrator even though he cannot provide a passable woman's voice, but he performs really well.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

I gotta stop crying so I can Type!!

Emotional rollercoaster. Gripping. Write more, Robert Bailey. I'm buying on sight. Wow. I appreciate how you handled a touchy subject. several in fact. Masterfully crafted piece of work!

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5 people found this helpful

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Between black and white

Superb reading with twists and turns at every chapter. Life throws curve balls you just have to clear your mind, rethink your actions and live a mighty long time. Allow forgiveness

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4 people found this helpful

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Intriguing Southern legal drama

This book reminded me of John Grisham's novels. Full of twists and turns that kept me guessing till the very end. Having grown up in Limestone County, Alabama and with my great grandparents having lived and died in Giles County, Tennessee, I was always intrigued and appalled by the KKK history there. Great writing by Mr. Bailey. I will be reading The Professor next!

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3 people found this helpful

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Terrific mystery. Outstanding narration.

Having enjoyed the first in this series, I think this one is even better. The characters are complex and well-developed. It's often hard to separate the good guys from the bad guys. It is less of a courtroom drama than a mystery to be solved outside. Even if you guess the villain, as I did, your enjoyment will not be diminished. The how and why is even more important than the who. The narrator adds much to the pleasure of listening. I look forward to the next in the series.

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3 people found this helpful