‘Black Water Rising’ (Books)

“Black Water Rising” (HarperCollins, 448 pages, $25.99), by Attica Locke: Jay Porter, an overworked attorney with a foundering practice, wants to surprise his pregnant wife on her birthday with a private, romantic moonlight cruise.

When he sees the rickety vessel, it’s not at all what he expected, but they make the best of it. It seems his best intentions result in disappointing setbacks. But in the face of mounting odds, Jay perseveres. It is a recurring theme in Attica Locke’s riveting debut thriller, “Black Water Rising.”

The story is set in 1981, after the crippling Arab oil embargo of the 1970s and the resulting boom of Houston’s petroleum industry. At a time of growth and prosperity, Porter is exceedingly paranoid. Weary of the police, he keeps three guns nearby, including an unregistered .22 under his pillow.

Eleven years ago he was falsely charged with inciting a riot and conspiracy to commit murder.

Now coasting down the bayou, he hears screams, then gunshots and finally the sound of a woman drowning. Jay is reluctant to get involved at first, but he saves the woman and leaves her on the steps of the police station. Whether out of curiosity or a need to do the right thing, he investigates the events of that night after learning there was a murder.

Wii Motion Plus (Games)

Wii MotionPlus, a $25 attachment that snaps onto one end of the Wiimote, is supposed to create a true one-to-one correspondence between your actions and those onscreen with your Nintendo system.

The MotionPlus is in stores now, as are the first games to take advantage of the technology. Two of the titles come from Electronic Arts Inc.’s reliable EA Sports label, and they wisely involve sports that require a lot of swinging: “Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10” ($49.99; $59.99 with MotionPlus) and “Grand Slam Tennis” ($49.99).

EA’s Tiburon studio made great strides last year with the Wii version of the “Tiger” golf franchise, delivering an experience that gave your arms a real workout. The addition of MotionPlus brings finesse to an already solid swing mechanic. You can adjust Tiger’s backswing in minute increments, and add fade or draw by twisting the club.

“Grand Slam Tennis” isn’t quite as assured, but as the initial entry in a potential series, it’s pretty solid. If you’re used to the tennis in “Wii Sports,” be warned: This is much less forgiving. It’s very easy to overswing, and at first you’ll hit a lot of balls out of bounds.

‘Spinning into Butter’ (DVD)

Spirited debate and beautiful scenery are two of a long list of things that shouldn’t inspire feelings of depression. But there’s just something unintentionally funereal about “Spinning Into Butter,” which takes us to the campus of a prestigious and picturesque Vermont college that finds itself making news after a student (Paul James) receives a handful of anonymous racial threats.

“Butter” unspools itself largely from the perspective of the college’s second-year dean (Sarah Jessica Parker), whose own brush with racial tension led her to Vermont from Chicago in the first place. Parker herself helps orchestrate some gutsy exchanges with her students, colleagues and especially a reporter (Mykelti Williamson) who has a past of his own.

But even when the debate reaches its highest volume, there’s some serious drab in “Butter’s” air. All this unspoken glumness gives “Butter” a dated “Movie of the Week” quality it neither wants nor necessarily deserves.