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Publisher:
Soho Press Inc |
Release
Date: September 2004 |
ISBN:
1569473714 |
Awards:
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Format
Reviewed: Hardback |
Buy
it at Amazon |
Read
an Excerpt |
Genre:
Historical Crime [1893, New York] |
Reviewed:
2004 |
Reviewer:
Rachel A Hyde |
Reviewer
Notes: Some violence |
Copyright
MyShelf.com |
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The Midnight Band of Mercy
By Michael Blaine
Freelance
reporter Max Greengrass dreams of working full-time for The New
York Herald. All he needs is a big story, something to capture his
bosses' (and the fickle public's) imaginations; suddenly it looks
as though he might just have it. A band of women are going around
the streets of Manhattan killing feral cats, but somehow this is
only the tip of the iceberg, and soon it is two-legged corpses that
are turning up too. Somebody wants Max off the case and doesn't
care how, but Max just wants to get to the bottom of it all and
get that prized reporter's job.
Short of a trip in a time machine,
I cannot think of any better way of experiencing Manhattan in the
1890s. It is all here: the squalor, the bizarre politics, street
gangs, lush lunches at The Waldorf, seedy "blind pigs,"
the Bellevue Hospital and some amazing true characters. This atmosphere
is almost tangible, and comes off every page like a miasma. Blaine
has assembled a warts-and-all cast that manages to sheer away from
hissable villains and squeaky-clean heroes and presents us with
raw humanity instead. Just as in real life, this is a tale of some
likeable flamboyant villains and unpleasant "good guys,"
which lifts it way above the common run of novels. But all this
redolent atmosphere and expert characterization tends to come at
the price of an exciting story. It's in there, and as you read on
the plot thickens and the pace increases, but if you like your books
pacy this won't appeal. There is a lot to enjoy, though, and if
you stick with it, the portrait of New York and its denizens will
linger long in the mind; some time after the plot has been forgotten.
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