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Summary
Summary
Small Town.
Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
This is a rare standalone from the Edgar Award-winning creator of Matt Scudder, Bernie Rhodenbarr, hit man Keller and others, and takes a number of risks unusual for its author. For a start, it is very deliberately a post-9/11 thriller, in which a man bereaved by the loss of his wife and children in the Twin Towers sets out to wreak what he thinks of as a sacrificial vengeance on the city by becoming a serial terrorist himself. For another, Block, who wrote some pornography early in his career, has created a female character whose kinky sex antics will definitely ruffle some of his mainstream readers. And while an intimate knowledge of New York and its folkways, and of urban character and conversation, has always been one of Block's great strengths, and is on plentiful show again here, his rather improbable action climax seems carelessly tacked on to the meticulous rest of the book. The novel offers a very crowded canvas whose central characters are the sad figure of the terrorist himself; a former police commissioner who eventually sets out to bring him down; a midlist writer who suddenly gets to be a hot property when he's accused of a murder (the publishing scenes will be delightful for insiders); the aforementioned kinky lady, an art dealer when not playing pierced dominatrix; a gay recovering alcoholic who unwittingly leads the villain to the scenes of his crimes; and, of course, the city itself, which, as the title suggests, is a place where everyone is somehow connected to everyone else's business. It's a bold and flashy effort, but its deliberately disturbing elements may somewhat limit its appeal.(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
A New Yorker devastated by the bombing of the Twin Towers goes on a methodical rampage of his own in this haunting valentine to the Big Apple. The murder of the first victim, East Village realtor Marilyn Fairchild, seems so commonplace that the cops don't miss a beat before arresting John Blair Creighton, the author she'd brought home the night of her death. But the case starts to go south when Creighton's lawyer, cancer-stricken Maury Winters, argues a connection to the slaying of two prostitutes and their madam-a crime discovered by the same hapless witness, alcoholic cleaner Jerry Pankow, and one for which Creighton has an alibi. Once the bombing of three bars also on Jerry's client list sends the death toll into the double digits, most authors would narrow the focus to the manhunt for the killer. But Block (Hope to Die, 2001, etc.) builds suspense by the daring trick of suppressing virtually every glimpse of the bamboozled justice system to focus on the lives of citizens going about their business. Creighton finds his latest novel fetching an incredible advance and himself turned into a celebrity because everybody assumes he strangled Marilyn Fairchild. Gallery owner Susan Pomerance, excited by her upcoming show of an unknown local sculptor and her recent body piercings, stocks up her toy chest and gets in touch with her inner dominatrix. And the most likely detective figure, former police commissioner Francis Buckram, back in town to explore a possible mayoral bid, is too busy writhing on Susan's bed every Friday night to take much interest in the violent craftsman the media have started to call the Carpenter. "We're all in the same boat," an unwitting accomplice tells the Carpenter. But can these isolated individuals barely aware of each other's existence pull together to defeat a madman? It's an excellent question for us all. Author tour
Booklist Review
Marilyn Fairchild, a Manhattan real-estate agent, is murdered. John Creighton, a writer with declining sales, is the last person she was seen with. Susan Pomerance is a successful art dealer who purchased her apartment through Fairchild. A murder of someone within her personal circle triggers Susan's sense of mortality, and she responds with a series of life-affirming sexual adventures. Creighton soon becomes the suspect in this high-profile murder as well as a very hot literary property: his proposed first-person account of his ordeal is on the publisher's auction block for millions. Block, the best-selling author of the Matthew Scudder detective series, carefully weaves these key characters--and others--into a rich tapestry of modern life set against the backdrop of beloved New York City. Though murder is the catalyst, the focus is not on the solution of the crime but on how it alters the course of so many lives. Block's shifting third-person narrative draws us into each life, including that of the unnamed killer. This is a novel at once profoundly disturbing, graphically erotic, satiric, and above all, entertaining. A fascinating effort by a writer who never fails to exceed expectations. Expect intense demand. WesLukowsky.
Library Journal Review
Block's latest novel is set in post-September 11 New York City and centers around a serial killer called the Carpenter, a retired man who lost his children at the World Trade Center and his wife to suicide shortly after the attacks. He is obsessed with the idea that the terrorist attacks are part of a series of periodic violent incidents that occurred in the history of New York to renew the city with human blood. The Carpenter is also convinced that more blood is needed. Also appearing in the story is a novelist who is wrongly accused of killing one of the Carpenter's victims, a sex-obsessed female art gallery owner who is involved with the writer, and a former New York City police commissioner who tries to track down the killer. Narrated by George Guidall, this work is an interesting twist to the standard crime novel, with both plot and characters that hold the listener's attention. Recommended for all audio collections.-Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ., Parkersburg (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.