A fine mystery likely to appeal equally to crime enthusiasts and fans of historical fiction.
An Italian detective fights the Mafia and police corruption in turn-of-the-century New York City, in this genre thriller based on true events.
Joe Petrosino is the first Italian-American detective on the New York City police force. His ethnicity, combined with his Republican leanings (he’s a friend of former Police Commissioner Teddy Roosevelt), makes him an outsider in a department where Irish cops and Tammany Hall still hold many of the reins of power. But when a mutilated body turns up in a barrel on the Lower East Side, Joe’s background becomes a valuable asset. All signs point to a Mafia killing, though few cops have ever heard of this shadowy Sicilian gang. As Petrosino and his partner, Max Schmittberger, investigate the crime, it becomes clear that this is far more than a gangland revenge killing and that some of the most powerful political players in New York City may be implicated both in murder and in a far deeper scandal. Zarocostas (Plummet, 2012) ably depicts the teeming landscape of early 20th-century New York in his well-researched, fast-paced and occasionally gruesome book. Zingy dialogue brings the story to life, while evocative details transport readers to the city’s noisy, pungent, crowded and often dangerous immigrant neighborhoods. History buffs will get a kick out of the reproductions of newspaper clippings and photographs related to the actual case that are sprinkled throughout. Several well-known historical figures also make appearances: Petrosino crosses paths with muckrakers Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens, and a sticky-fingered ragamuffin named Irving Berlin plays a small role. Those details help establish the historical time period, transforming the novel into more than a simple police procedural. This is both a murder mystery and a story about the many forces shaping a dynamic American city at a critical point in its development. But Petrosino’s efforts to uncover the truth about the barrel murder are equally fascinating. A few too many threads occasionally overcomplicate the story (Adelina, Petrosino’s love interest, adds little, and a twist involving one character’s sexuality is gratuitous), but overall, this is a well-crafted page-turner.
A fine mystery likely to appeal equally to crime enthusiasts and fans of historical fiction.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 362
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of...
Hoover’s (November 9, 2015, etc.) latest tackles the difficult subject of domestic violence with romantic tenderness and emotional heft.
At first glance, the couple is edgy but cute: Lily Bloom runs a flower shop for people who hate flowers; Ryle Kincaid is a surgeon who says he never wants to get married or have kids. They meet on a rooftop in Boston on the night Ryle loses a patient and Lily attends her abusive father’s funeral. The provocative opening takes a dark turn when Lily receives a warning about Ryle’s intentions from his sister, who becomes Lily’s employee and close friend. Lily swears she’ll never end up in another abusive home, but when Ryle starts to show all the same warning signs that her mother ignored, Lily learns just how hard it is to say goodbye. When Ryle is not in the throes of a jealous rage, his redeeming qualities return, and Lily can justify his behavior: “I think we needed what happened on the stairwell to happen so that I would know his past and we’d be able to work on it together,” she tells herself. Lily marries Ryle hoping the good will outweigh the bad, and the mother-daughter dynamics evolve beautifully as Lily reflects on her childhood with fresh eyes. Diary entries fancifully addressed to TV host Ellen DeGeneres serve as flashbacks to Lily’s teenage years, when she met her first love, Atlas Corrigan, a homeless boy she found squatting in a neighbor’s house. When Atlas turns up in Boston, now a successful chef, he begs Lily to leave Ryle. Despite the better option right in front of her, an unexpected complication forces Lily to cut ties with Atlas, confront Ryle, and try to end the cycle of abuse before it’s too late. The relationships are portrayed with compassion and honesty, and the author’s note at the end that explains Hoover’s personal connection to the subject matter is a must-read.
Packed with riveting drama and painful truths, this book powerfully illustrates the devastation of abuse—and the strength of the survivors.Pub Date: Aug. 2, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5011-1036-8
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Atria
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
