Only Child - Softcover

Vachss, Andrew

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1400030986 ISBN 13: 9781400030989

Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard, 2003

Synopsis

It’s been years since Burke has been home, years since he’s seen his “family” and worked in the underbelly of New York City. Although his appearance has changed, his reputation grown dusty and his wallet thin, his skills and his crew remain razor sharp. So when he is contacted by a mob boss to investigate the murder of his illegitimate daughter, Vonni, Burke takes the job and begins searching for an unspeakably brutal killer.

Posing as a casting director looking for tomorrow’s stars, Burke reaches out to the high school students who knew Vonni, and may know the identity of the killer. Before long he unearths a perverse enterprise—a young director pursuing a brutal new type of cinema verité.

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

"The hardest of the hard-boiled private eyes is back... [Only Child is] full of surprises." –New York Post

“Vachss prose is never less than hypnotic.... He's a master at shedding light on grime and human and urban decay.".” –Wilmington News Journal

“Only Child is reliable Vachss, another page-ripping underground procedural with harsh relevance and prose that qualifies the real-life children’s lawyer for his own adjective. (Vachssatious?).” –The Seattle Times

“The plot is perfect, the investigation is compelling, and the payoff is bittersweet but satisfying.” –The Jacksonville Sun

“Vachss’ style is personal, laconic, shaded and of course, creepy. If you like hard-boiled punk narrative, this is the read for you.” –Los Angeles Times Book Review

About this edition

• Publisher: Vintage Crime/Black Lizard
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 1400030986
• ISBN 13: 9781400030989
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 304