Nightside - Hardcover

Santiago, Soledad

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0385421974 ISBN 13: 9780385421973

Publisher: Doubleday, 1993

Synopsis

A former nun, Anna Eltern has dedicated her life to the teenage runaways who populate the Times Square area, and she has her hands full when a teenage prostitute is murdered and another accuses her of sexual misconduct

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Reviews

Daunting political and economic difficulties at a shelter for runaways in New York City's Hell's Kitchen are further exacerbated by murder in this uneven thriller. Eden House, the shelter program that former nun Anna Eltern founded in her apartment, has grown into a chartered organization complete with a tax number and a board of directors. Now limited facilities, funding cuts and bureaucratic rules are forcing her to turn away the desperate teenagers to whom she has devoted her life. As Anna bends the rules and struggles to keep Eden House open, one of her favorites, a teenage prostitute named Porsche, is murdered and another teen, Colin Winklesworth, is arrested for the crime. When scandal-hungry newspapers begin printing attacks on Anna and alleging abuses at Eden House, Anna must find the real murderer or lose her reputation, her life's work and the kids. Santiago's ( Room 9 ) lively story is told in an engaging, first-person narrative and develops several interesting characters, including NYPD detective Jesus O'Shaughnessy, but unlikely coincidences and other unconvincing plot elements weaken the suspense and result in a somewhat unsatisfying resolution.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Somebody's stalking the young hookers of Hell's Kitchen, and no one but a former Central American activist nun seems to care. Really Care. Santiago, a journalist and onetime New York political press officer, is the author of Room 9 (1992). Street-child shelter operator Anna Eltern is plagued by, among other things, municipal budget woes, a backstabbing staff priest, insufficient space, her own family, which is straight from the talk shows, Roman Catholic ambivalence, Guatemalan flashbacks, an excessively smooth Washington politician, and historic sexual frustration. Fortunately for the teenage male and female prostitutes of 42nd Street, Anna is made of stern stuff and, in the face of the aforementioned plagues, never gives up on her quest to feed and shelter as many youthful offenders as come to her door. But open-door policy has been hobbled by the city's budget crisis. What is she to do with Colin, the preppy guitarist and hustler brought to the shelter by Jesus, the Puerto Rican Irish cop who may have a thing for Anna? What is she to do with Porsche, the beautiful, too-tough 14-year-old hooker who shows up with a kitten in her pocket? Flouting rules and policies, Anna puts Porsche and Colin up in her own crummy apartment and gets in big trouble. Porsche plunges to her death, and Colin seems to be responsible. It's up to Anna and Jesus to find the real killer, who probably slit the throat of three other prostitutes and may slit more. Is he Porsche's odious pimp? Is he the smooth-talking bureaucrat who looks just like Anna's long-lost clerical love? Melodramatic and very messy. Angles dangle, and the murderer arrives from Neptune. -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Former nun Anna Eltern runs a shelter for runaway teenagers, attempting to save them from New York City's pimps and drug dealers. The shelter, supported mainly by municipal grants, is feeling the squeeze of budget cuts, and Anna is forced to turn children away. One of the teenage prostitutes who was unable to enter the program is found murdered, possibly by a serial killer. Blaming herself for the girl's death, Anna determines to find the murderer. As in Room Nine (Doubleday, 1992), Santiago realistically portrays the gritty atmosphere of Times Square, maintaining nonstop tension in her account of Anna's personal relationships, efforts to keep the shelter afloat, and search for the murderer. Highly recommended for public libraries.
- Roberta Pessah, St. John's Univ., Jamaica, N.Y.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Santiago's compelling mystery, set amidst the violent degeneracy of Times Square, features Anna Eltern, a former nun who runs a program for NYC's homeless teens. It is both a provocative glimpse into the sordidness of the urban drug-and-sex scene and a hopeful story of one woman's crusade to redeem the unredeemable. Anna finds herself teamed with Puerto Rican-Irish cop Jesus O'Shaughnessy when the latest victim in a series of vicious murders turns out to be a 15-year-old sometime prostitute whom Anna had worked hard to save. But in the course of the investigation, Anna ends up both facing charges of sexual misconduct and trying to evade the murderer, who's marked her as his next target. Santiago's writing is gritty, realistic, and intense, and Anna is a wonderful mixture of warm Earth Mother, gutsy fighter, tenderhearted savior, and savvy bureaucratic manipulator--as well as the scarred victim of her own tragic past. One of the most appealing features of the book is that it doesn't fall into the easy trap of moral proselytizing. Instead, Santiago presents a powerful, gripping, compelling mystery that also gives readers some thought-provoking insights into the darker elements of our society. Emily Melton

Edition details

• Publisher: Doubleday
• Publication date: 1993
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0385421974
• ISBN 13: 9780385421973
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272