Concourse
St. Martin’s Paperbacks 1995
ISBN 0-31295944-3
Christina says:
New York PI Bill Smith is hired by his mentor Bobby Moran to
investigate the death of his nephew Mike Downey. Mike worked for Bobby’s
security firm and was guarding a senior residence in the Bronx when he was
beaten to death. Smith asks his sometime partner, Chinese-American PI
Lydia Chin, to do some background checks while he goes undercover at the
residence. Both find several possible reasons for Mike’s death. An
institution like a senior residence can be profitable in many not always
legal ways and beware if you cross the path of people filling their own
pockets. Mike isn’t the only victim, while the detectives are fighting
their way through the thicket of intrigues, corruption and crime.
S. J. Rozan zipped to the top of my favorite authors list with light
speed. CONCOURSE is my first book written from the point of view of Bill
Smith and I liked it just as much as A BITTER FEAST and CHINA TRADE where
Lydia Chin is the narrator. Rozan just as easily slips into the skin of a
middle aged PI with a troubled past as she puts on the persona of a young
woman who carries around her Chinese heritage and traditions. It’s
fascinating to see their friendship and professional partnership from both
sides. And apart from all this the author doesn’t neglect the mystery
aspect of the book either. Rozan takes the reader from the slippery floor
of communal politics to the gloomy world of gang-dominated slums, never
dividing her secondary characters into "Good Guys" and "Bad
Guys", but making them multi-dimensional and thereby introducing a
melancholy note to the story. In the end the message isn’t "All
shall be well" but rather "All shall be as good as can be under
the circumstances." Still, Rozan writes with a certain subliminal
humor.
With S. J. Rozan as guide I love to travel to New York even if she
shows me things you can’t find in the guidebooks and that some people
would prefer not to see. |
Any comments? Write us:
Christina Gross
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