Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #79206 in Books
• Published on: 1986-08-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Synopsis
This thriller introduces Burke, the ex-con investigator who is not averse to working on either side of the law. Flood comes from Japan and is looking for a man: a child rapist who murdered her friend's daughter. Flood, who is a karate expert, and Burke team up. The author also wrote "Strega".

Customer Reviews

An ultimately uncompromising, hard-boiled crime thriller
This is the first of Andrew Vachss' series of books featuring the hero/antihero Burke.

It's probably the lighest in terms of subject matter of the series, but will still be too much for many people to take. Burke lives outside the law, and deals mainly with finding and (sometimes) saving the victims of usually horrendous forms of (child-) abuse.

Vachss pulls no punches: the book sometimes feels like a fictionalisation of the worst sort of crime report but, unlike other books of this type, he does not eroticise the subject matter. No true-crime cheap kicks here.

The strength of the book is, however, not just the way Vachss can paint a picture or tell a story, nor even the dark humour, but truly the characters that he portrays. "Baby Boy" Burke himself is a brilliantly drawn personality, and his supporting cast - Max the Silent, Flood herself, the Prof, the Mole etc - no less fascinating.

Vachss' books are a window into a different, darker world. His fifth, "Sacrifice", has had me in tears. I don't know, living in dear old England, how true to life the world he portrays is but, if it is real, I feel better knowing Burke and friends are out there somewhere.

The first of the Burke novels
Burke is a private investigator who is used to working on the fringes of the law. His latest client is a woman named Flood, who is trying to find a child abuser and murderer so that she can exact her revenge.

This novel really gripping, full of interesting (although mostly two-dimensional) characters and tightly plotted. Vachss' background working with youth offenders and as a lawyer for children within the legal system is clear, as the novel seems well researched and informative. It did take me a little while to get used to the slang but ultimately it was worth the effort.

Expect Kung-Fu fighting, encounters with a transvestite prostitute and pearls of wisdom from the Prophet, a highly original rollercoaster ride!

This is one of the greatest books ever written...READ IT!
Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in STD's, a social services caseworker, a labour organiser, he has directed a maximum security prison for violent youth, and is now a lawyer in his own private practice representing children exclusively. This man knows his stuff, and if you read this book, you will too.
Vachss has written arguably the 'hardest' book ever put to print. His violent prose and beautiful character descriptions paint such a vivid picture, you marvel at his incredible perception of human nature. This is a book packed with hijackers, hitmen, prostitutes, martial art masters, pimps, gunmen and masterminds, but also glimpes the even darker side of human existence, rapists, child molesters, sadists and serial killers. But don't worry because if there's one thing Vachss loves...it's making sure the bad guys pay...badly.