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AT THE CITY’S EDGE
by Marcus Sakey
St Martin's Minotaur, January 2008
312 pages
$24.95
ISBN: 0312360320


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

Jason Palmer is a good soldier. But guilt feelings over the death of men under his command make him overly cautious when on duty, and that earns him an “other than honorable” discharge from the Army. Having returned to his hometown of Chicago, he’s trying to build a new life for himself with the help of his brother Michael.

Michael is a widower with an eight-year-old son named Billy. A tavern owner, Michael has earned himself some enemies due to his community activism. Those enemies are nothing if not brutal, and when Michael makes an alliance with the law to bring them down, they retaliate by burning down his bar – with him in it. When they go after Billy, the only witness to their crime, Jason quickly becomes both father to and protector of the young boy.

Elana Cruz is a talented cop, but as the first and only woman on the Gang Intelligence Unit, she’s drawn a job that involves more paperwork than street work. Elana’s learned to hold her tongue, and her temper, in check. She hasn’t learned to smother her instincts, though, and when she learns of Michael’s death, she immediately smells foul play. Jason’s insistence that Michael was murdered, and his tale of being accosted by gangbangers just previous to the fire, earns him Elana’s respect, if not her total belief.

Then Elana finds herself trapped with Jason at the scene of a weapons exchange between gang members and gun dealers. The experience solidifies respect into a partnership between the two. Relying on tips from a reformed gangbanger, the pair follows a trail of deceit leading from the darker streets of Chicago to the stylish mansions of the North Shore.

Marcus Sakey made a name for himself with his first novel, THE BLADE ITSELF. This second book by the Chicago author solidifies his reputation as an up-and-coming crime writer whose brisk style and no-nonsense delivery makes for enjoyable reading.

Both of the main characters have flaws that make them vulnerable to mistakes and misunderstandings, yet they are drawn sympathetically so that the reader can empathize with their troubles. Added to this, the author provides a glimpse into their past lives through brief back stories between chapters. These back stories give the reader a better understanding of the forces at work in the characters’ personalities.

Sakey’s tight writing style results in good plot pacing with tension steadily mounting as the story progresses. My only complaint is with the clever first lines that open most chapters. This device works well in the beginning, but it gets a little old hat after a while. The author’s writing is strong enough not to need such a ploy, and although it doesn’t detract from the story as a whole, it’s not really necessary either. For a suspenseful crime read, I highly recommend this book.

Reviewed by Mary V. Welk, February 2008

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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


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