THE KISS OF NIGHT

In Wukas’ mystery, a veteran Chicago journalist thinks back to a murder case from his earliest days on the job.

Will Moore, a seasoned reporter for the Chicago Tribune, learns about the death, after a long illness, of a figure from his past—an elderly, retired Chicago police officer known as “Fuckin’ Frank” Foley, to whom he owes an unspecified debt. The story then flashes back to Will’s time as a young reporter for City News Bureau 20 years before. Will gets the job after breaking up with his girlfriend, dropping out of grad school, and, consequently, losing access to a trust fund from his wealthy family until he’s 35. Will works alongside Frank, whose intimidating presence and rigorous approach to police work leave a lasting impression on him. Around the same time, he begins a casual sexual relationship (which later becomes more complicated) with artist Mimi Brickman, and meets Terry Meyer, a pharmacist who illegally sells drugs to locals, including Will, who uses amphetamines to keep up with his job’s late hours. Will covers crime stories for the City News Bureau, but things get personal when his neighbor is murdered, and locals approach Will for help in avenging his neighbor’s death. Overall, Wukas succeeds in creating sympathetic characters that have exceptional depth; Will and Frank talk about the subjectivity of good and evil and how both police work and reporting are subject to biases. Additionally, the detailed descriptions of Chicago give the work a feeling of verisimilitude and paint a vivid picture of the city: “I quickly found sanctuary in the gray and green of the university neighborhood’s imposing limestone and ancient oaks on streets with wonderful names like Kimbark, Blackstone and Drexel.” However, other moments feel heavy-handed, leaning too heavily on Will’s background as a student majoring in the classics and quoting various philosophers in their native Greek and Latin. Still, the relationships between the characters remain dynamic, and the story’s mystery elements are well executed throughout.

An often-thrilling crime novel that explores questions of loyalty, justice, and morality.