Only Child: A Burke Novel - Hardcover

Vachss, Andrew

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375414878 ISBN 13: 9780375414879

Publisher: Knopf, 2002

Synopsis

After years on the run, Burke is desperate to return to his native New York, the only way he can reconnect with his outlaw “family.” But to survive in their part of the City, where reputation is everything, Burke must take major risks to reestablish his presence. So when a Mafia man contacts him about the murder-as-message of his sixteen-year-old daughter—the offspring of what he calls an “outside the tribe” affair that he must keep secret at all costs—Burke’s depleted bankroll persuades him to step out of the shadows and do something he hasn’t done in years . . . actually investigate a crime.

Burke needs cover to penetrate the teenage subculture of the Long Island town where the girl lived and died, so he puts together a crew of gifted role-players, including a pair of lesbian “power exchangers” who market their special brand of sex on the Internet. When Burke himself surfaces as a casting director, seeking tomorrow’s stars for a movie to be shot on location, the investigation quickly spins off into uncharted depths. What he discovers is a new kind of filmmaking, a new kind of violence, and a predator unlike any he’s ever known. When they meet head-on over a brutal work of cinéma vérité, only one of them will survive the final cut.

About this title

Review

Andrew Vachss's series hero, an outlaw vigilante named Burke, is on the trail of the man who murdered the teenage daughter of a Mafioso whose secret affairs with a black woman and a gay crime boss make Tony Soprano's sub rosa relationship with his psychiatrist seem inconsequential. More accustomed to committing crimes than investigating them, Burke comes out of retirement and reunites with his New York family, a group of criminals who join him in a clever ruse to unmask the killer. The circuitous trail eventually leads to an underground filmmaker whose disturbing brand of noir vérité was responsible for the girl's death; as usual, Burke metes out vengeance with a steady hand. As usual, Vachss turns in a suitably dark, violent thriller with a strong narrative drive and an explosive conclusion. --Jane Adams

From the Back Cover

“A barn burning deconstruction of . . . the hard-boiled detective novel–as well as a book that handily transcends it. . . . Vachss has the ability to stun the reader into empathy.” –Baltimore City Paper

“The New York Burke inhabits is not borrowed from anybody and shimmers on the page as gaudily and scarily as it does on the streets.” –New York

“Vachss’s writing is like a dark rollercoaster ride of fear, love and hate.” –The New Orleans Times-Picayune

“The Burke books make the noir-film genre look practically pastel. . . . The plot-driven stories churn with energy and a memorable gallery of the walking wounded.” –The Philadelphia Inquirer

“Vachss writes with a tougher-than-thou attitude . . . and an unerring ear for the language of the streets. . . . [Only Child is] filled with hardcore metaphors, tough-as-titanium dialogue and twisted behavior.” –Rocky Mountain News

"Many writers try to cover the same ground as Vachss. A handful are as good. None are better." –People

"[Vachss] writes a hypnotically violent prose made up of equal parts of broken concrete block and razor wire." –Chicago Sun Times

“Burke’s back for the 14th time, and he’s back in the Big Apple, too. Both are good news to fans of America’s knight in shining gunmetal steel, avenger of the abused and predator of the perverted.” –Huntsville Times

“Vachss's writing remains raw and hungry, with an epidermis of rage barely containing an infinite core of sadness." –Seattle Times

“A harrowing urban underworld ride that one won’t easily forget.” –Sanford Herald

“Only Child is brisk, wicked, biting, scary and a whopping good read.” –Statesman Journal

“There's no way to put a [Vachss book] down once you've begun . . . the plot hooks are engaging and the one-liners pierce like bullets.” –Detroit Free Press

“Vachss could send his hero Burke to Mayberry, and he'd still manage to uncover a dark underbelly of sin and corruption.” –The Capital Times

”As usual, Vachss is on the cutting edge of compelling crime fiction. [Only Child,] his latest hard-boiled effort, with a deliciously twitchy conclusion, is among his best.”–Lansing State Journal

“Starting a Vachss novel is like putting a vial of nitroglycerin into your pocket and going for a jog. You just know things are going to get interesting. Usually sooner than later.” –Rocky Mountain NewsAndrew
From the Trade Paperback edition.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0375414878
• ISBN 13: 9780375414879
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 288