Customer Reviews
The first of the Burke novels - By: Snapdragon, 25 Nov 2007 
Burke is a private investigator who is used to working on the fringes of the law. His latest client is a woman named Flood, who is trying to find a child abuser & murderer so that she can exact her revenge.
This novel reallly gripping, full of interesting (although mostly two-dimensional) characters & tightly plotted. Vachss' background working with youth offenders & as a lawyer for children within the legal system is clear, as the novel seems well researched & informative. It did take me a little while to get used to the slang but ultimately it was worth the effort.
Expect Kung-Fu fighting, encounters with a transvestite prostitute & pearls of wisdom from the Prophet, a highly original rollercoaster ride!
The first of the Burke novels - By: Snapdragon, 25 Nov 2007 Burke is a private investigator who is used to working on the fringes of the law. His latest client is a woman named Flood, who is trying to find a child abuser & murderer so that she can exact her revenge.
This novel reallly gripping, full of interesting (although mostly two-dimensional) characters & tightly plotted. Vachss' background working with youth offenders & as a lawyer for children within the legal system is clear, as the novel seems well researched & informative. It did take me a little while to get used to the slang but ultimately it was worth the effort.
Expect Kung-Fu fighting, encounters with a transvestite prostitute & pearls of wisdom from the Prophet, a highly original rollercoaster ride!
This is one of the greatest books ever written...READ IT! - By: Mike Chapman, 17 Aug 2004 
Andrew Vachss has been a federal investigator in STD's, a social services caseworker, a labour organiser, he has directed a maximum security prison for violent youth, & is now a lawyer in his own private practice representing children exclusively. This man knows his stuff, & if you read this book, you will too.
Vachss has written arguably the 'hardest' book ever put to print. His violent prose & beautiful character descriptions paint such a vivid picture, you marvel at his incredible perception of human nature. This is a book packed with hijackers, hitmen, prostitutes, martial art masters, pimps, gunmen & masterminds, but also glimpes the even darker side of human existence, rapists, child molesters, sadists & serial killers. But don't worry because if there's one thing Vachss loves...it's making sure the bad guys pay...badly.
An ultimately uncompromising, hard-boiled crime thriller - By: , 06 Nov 1998 This is the first of Andrew Vachss' series of books featuring the hero/antihero Burke.
It's probably the lighest in terms of subject matter of the series, but will still be too much for many people to take. Burke lives outside the law, & deals mainly with finding & (sometimes) saving the victims of usuallly horrendous forms of (child-) abuse.
Vachss pulls no punches: the book sometimes feels like a fictionalisation of the worst sort of crime report but, unlike other books of this type, he does not eroticise the subject matter. No true-crime cheap kicks here.
The strength of the book is, however, not just the way Vachss can paint a picture or tell a story, nor even the dark humour, but truly the characters that he portrays. "Baby Boy" Burke himself is a brilliantly drawn personality, & his supporting cast - Max the Silent, Flood herself, the Prof, the Mole etc - no less fascinating.
Vachss' books are a window into a different, darker world. His fifth, "Sacrifice", has had me in tears. I don't know, living in dear old England, how true to life the world he portrays is but, if it is real, I feel better knowing Burke & friends are out there somewhere.
