About
Reviews
Search
Submit
Home

Mystery Books for Sale

[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]


  

BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD
by Sean Chercover
HarperCollins, February 2008
336 pages
$7.99
ISBN: 0061128686


Buy in the UK | Buy in Canada

From the violence-filled title and lurid cover of its mass market paperback packaging, Sean Chercover's debut novel might not indicate to the unsuspecting reader that there's an excellent story awaiting within its pages. However, that’s just what a reader will find, as unlikely as it first seems. Despite the countless novels written about the Mafia (or in the Chicago vernacular, 'the Outfit'), this one stands head and shoulders above the typical murder mystery or PI novel likely to grace the shelves of local bookstores. Chercover has made an impressive opening shot with BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD, and this reader, for one, will be anxiously awaiting his next novel.

Chercover's richly drawn characters embody the storyline--from private eye Ray Dudgeon to Mafia dons to Chicago cops, and beyond. Each comes to the story as a complete, interesting person, and readers can't wait to see their evolution. Who will survive, and who will be the victim of his own bad decisions? Who will stick by Ray, and who will abandon him? Add to Chercover's brilliantly conceived characters a fast-paced story and well-grounded knowledge of Chicago, and you have the perfect trifecta of storytelling embodied in this hard-hitting novel.

It all begins when mild mannered Bob Loniski, a Hollywood locations manager, approaches PI Dudgeon about bodyguard protection. Bob fears that a member of the Chicago Mob is after him after a warehouse he rented for a movie set turns out to be part of a real estate scam that has been exposed. One by one, the warehouse's other tenants are meeting with mysterious deaths and the second-tier Outfit boss is clearly sending a message about his intentions for Bob.

The action also shifts to Hollywood and Washington, DC, at points throughout the mystery, but at the center is Chicago, the perfect setting for this hard-boiled tale. This is the working man’s Chicago, not the city that tourists see. For anyone who lives in the city, it’s not hard to imagine the gritty events presented in BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD happening in just those locations.

Dudgeon is a former reporter, with a quirky personality, and it is his appeal as an individual that drives the story along. Like any good cynic, PI Dudgeon quickly realizes that this Outfit scam is larger than just getting Bob out of the way. Not everything works out the way Dudgeon envisions, and he is frequently required to call on his own resourcefulness along the way, including using help from friends and colleagues. Like most loner detectives, Dudgeon is reluctant to ask others to help him (to the degree that he can trust anyone), but like a true Chicago native, he knows that this is a city of favors owed and favors due. More than anything else, it is this messy milieu that makes the story ring true.

Although BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD is contemporary in every way, much like the city it is set in, the story harkens back to another, more classic time. This is the story of one hard-drinking detective who marches to his own drum beat, while always operating in the name of justice, even if he doesn’t always follow the rules of society. While in lesser hands, the story and characters might seem cliched, even worn out, with Chercover at the helm, readers are instead in for the ride of their lives.

Reviewed by Christine Zibas, March 2008

[ Top ]


QUICK SEARCH:

 

Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)


[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]