Riverside Drive: Border City Blues (Border City Blues, 1) - Softcover

Januska, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1459706749 ISBN 13: 9781459706743

Publisher: Dundurn Press, 2013

Synopsis

Prohibition takes the battle, along with the party, to the streets.

Jack McCloskey returned to Windsor, Ontario, from the Great War shell-shocked and battling inner demons. Channeling his energy into amateur fights, he’s noticed by a gangster sidelining as a boxing promoter. After a brief professional stint, Jack is invited to join the crew. It’s the early days of Prohibition along the Detroit River. Feeling trapped, Jack often tries to escape by throwing himself into relationships that are doomed from the start. Complicating matters further, a crime lord descends on the Border Cities, taking over all smuggling activity to finance his covert political agenda.

In sharp contrast is the story of Vera Maude, a young librarian also yearning to escape, but to the cafes of Greenwich Village or the Left Bank. All she lacks is will. The climax occurs in a gripping battle at the crime lord’s house on Riverside Drive and its surprising aftermath the following morning.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Januska was born in Windsor, Ontario, and has worked with books his whole life, both as a bookseller and for several book publishers. He is also an award-winning crime fiction writer. His first book with Dundurn was Grey Cup Century. Januska lives in Toronto.

Review

This is a gritty, stylishly written novel. The tale has a Boardwalk Empire feel, and the story itself, which finds Jack searching for a killer and accidentally finding out some things about himself, is . . . dramatic and occasionally moving. It’s the author’s first novel, but readers will hope it isn’t his last.

(Booklist)

This is a writer to watch.

(Globe and Mail 2013-05-18)

Windsor may look and feel a bit more like HBO’s Boardwalk Empire after reading Riverside Drive, the latest release from Michael Januska. (The Drive Magazine 2013-06-01)

The book is well-written, it’s a great read and at fewer than 300 pages it can be finished in a relatively short time. . . [Januska] appears to be on his way to becoming a nationally recognized figure. (Windsor Life Magazine)

It’s powerful material for a novel, and Januska shows great strengths for plotting and dialogue.

Revealing the history of the Border Cities, as the story unravels, gives insight as to what it was like to live in Windsor during that time.

Edition details

• Publisher: Dundurn Press
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 1459706749
• ISBN 13: 9781459706743
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 267