And Justice for One: A novel of revenge. (Jack Devlin"One" Series) - Softcover

Clarkson, John

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0999215515 ISBN 13: 9780999215517

Publisher: John Clarkson Inc., 2017

Synopsis

If someone you loved were savagely beaten and left in a coma, how far would you go to find justice? How far could you go? For most of us, not very far. Particularly if those responsible for the crime were protected by power, money, and corrupt police. But Jack Devlin isn’t like us. Devlin is going to find justice even if it means descending into the lawless underworld of New York after-hours clubs where sex and drugs fuel the madness, and the men behind the criminal enterprise kill without hesitation. AND JUSTICE FOR ONE is set in 1980’s New York City during a time when many New Yorkers put their heads down, accepted the unacceptable, and hoped they’d come out okay. Perhaps not so different from today. That’s why AND JUSTICE FOR ONE is such a satisfying and compelling page-turner. The reader gets to walk with a man who has the guts, brains, and determination fight for what’s right – no matter what. This is the second edition of the complex, thoroughly-researched, and highly acclaimed debut novel in the Jack Devlin “One” Series, re-edited by the author, John Clarkson. The New York Times said - AND JUSTICE FOR ONE "Packs a savage punch". Kirkus Reviews called it - "Dark, sexy, tough, and fast." Amazon reviewers called the first edition: “the best action novel I have ever read!”; “well-written, hot, furious, fun.”; “a helluva a good read, loaded with action.” If you missed Clarkson’s AND JUSTICE FOR ONE the first time around, do not miss it this time!

About this title

From the Author

Author's Note
 
This novel was first published in 1992.  I don't remember exactly when I began writing it.  I do remember the two events that inspired the story.  The first event occurred in 1976 when I visited an after-hours club in downtown Manhattan.  The second event came in 1979.  A six-year-old boy named Etan Patz disappeared on a spring morning in New York's SoHo district, igniting the worst fears of parents around the country.  It happened during a two-block walk to his school bus stop.  
 
Somewhere in the back of my mind those two events brewed for years. What if someone you loved vanished? What would you do to find them? And what if it turned out that the mysterious, hidden world of after-hours clubs had something to do with the disappearance?  
 
At some point in the late eighties, those two events became the inspiration for my first novel.  I hardly remember writing it.  My sense is that it came out in a sudden rush.  And selling it to a publisher happened quite fast. I landed an agent, George Wieser, very quickly.  And it seems like George sold it to Crown with in a few weeks.  Thank you, George!  I do remember spending a very long time editing the book under the guidance of Peter St. John Ginna.  He was patient with me.  He made it a much better book.  I still appreciate his efforts.
 
In the original author's note, I also thanked my wife Ellen for her patience.  A good deal of the research for And Justice for One started at four in the morning.  All these years later Ellen is still patient with me, but more importantly,she still loves me, and I her.
 
The others I thanked in the first edition were "the people who made it possible for me to enter the world of after-hours clubs, particularly a friend named Tommy Burns.  When I asked how I should acknowledge him in the first edition, he said use T.B., 'Bartender to the Stars.'"  Tommy rarely took anything very seriously.
 
Obviously, all the after-hours clubs described in this book no longer exist.  But all of them except for one which is a composite of three clubs, existed very much as described.  It was a wild time in NYC.  A time before cell phones and the internet and Uber. A time long gone.  
 
So, what prompted me to re-publish And Justice for One?  Since its publication in 1992, I have persisted in writing crime thrillers, despite about a ten-year break after the first five.  All five of those novels are out of print, but readers often ask me how they can get them.  This is an attempt to make that easier.  It has also provided me with the opportunity to polish the book.  Nothing substantive, but lots of nips and tucks.  This new edition is still what I consider a raw, rather impetuous novel from an unformed writer just starting out. Maybe that's the best kind.  Hope you enjoy it.

From the Back Cover

"Brutally real, fast as a heavyweight champion's left hook -- with an unforgettable impact."
- William J. Caunitz, author of One Police Plaza

"A virile book by a powerful writer."
- Loren D. Estlemen, author of the Amos Walker Mysteries

"Supercharged!  A constant stream of action."
- Orlando Sentinel

About this edition

• Publisher: John Clarkson Inc.
• Publication date: 2017
• ISBN 10: 0999215515
• ISBN 13: 9780999215517
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 430