Dead and Gone

September 4, 2000
Burke, the dark avenger of Vachss's ultra-gritty urban crime series, has been killing bad people--usually child molesters--for most of his 40-odd years. Somebody was bound to catch up with him eventually, and that's exactly what happens in this 13th installment in the series. Professional killers ambush Burke late one night, putting a bullet in his head and killing his beloved dog, Pansy. Physically, Vachss's self-professed "outlaw" is a changed man when he finally sneaks out of the hospital. But he's still the same old Burke on the inside. He wants revenge--but he has no idea who masterminded the attack. Thus begins a months-long odyssey that takes him all over the country. Tapping into his extensive network of gray-area lawmen, violent criminals, degenerates of all stripes, beautiful women and whacked-out geniuses, he slowly pieces together which one of his enemies (a) is still alive, and (b) has the resources to have engineered such a sophisticated hit. Vachss's voice, as always, is one of the most distinctive in crime fiction--lean and tough, heavy on vernacular, notable for what's not said rather than for what is. Yet his plotting here is ponderous, with vast stretches of story devoted to Burke's self-analysis and a strange love affair he develops with Gem, a Cambodian woman he meets in Portland. Hardcore Burke fans may find the inner character work fascinating, as Burke reveals far more of himself and his sordid past here than in previous books. The novel's otherwise underwhelming finale does contain another nugget for fans: it appears likely that Burke will be leaving his longtime home, New York City, for the Pacific Northwest in coming books, just as Vachss did a few years ago.

August 9, 2000
In the latest novel from attorney and novelist Vachss (Choice of Evil), criminal character Burke is about to have his life changed forever. A child has been kidnapped, and Burke agrees to deliver the ransom. But this really isn't an exchange--it's a set-up, and Burke is shot several times, then left for dead. Barely alive, he must recuperate for months to get back into fighting shape, always nursing the single goal of wreaking revenge on those responsible for his injuries. The action moves from Chicago to the Pacific Northwest, with Burke, as always, at an advantage because he is believed to be dead. Fans of previous novels in the "Burke" series will be shocked at some of the plot twists in this exciting addition. Recommended for all public libraries.--Jeff Ayers, Seattle P.L.

Copyright 2000 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

August 1, 2000
Burke, the ex-con protector of children, accepts a job as the middleman in a ransom exchange; his assignment is to drop the money and return a child, missing for 10 years, to his parents. But it isn't really an exchange; it's a setup to kill Burke; and it almost works. Burke's beloved companion, a Neopolitan mastiff named Pansy, is killed, and Burke himself winds up near death in a hospital bed (his assassins believe he has died). After a long recuperative period, secreted away in the womb of his adopted "family" of cons, arms dealers, and assassins, Burke forges a single-minded plan for revenge, beginning with the Russian gangster who brokered the deal. With the aid of Gem, a beautiful Cambodian refugeee who speaks Russian, and Byron, a mercenary whose life Burke saved in Biafra, Burke confronts a bizarre international cadre of degenerates who prey on children and have hatched a plan to buy themselves immunity by establishing their own country on a remote island. The left-for-dead-but-back-for-revenge plot is an old one, but Vachss manages to give it new life. Burke isn't quite as dark as he's been in the past, finding time to wax poetic on Chicago bluesman Son Seals and to discuss hot cars with other gear heads. But the message is the same: no mercy for the exploiters of children. Vachss--in real life, an advocate and attorney for children--spreads his message effectively through the ever dangerous, relentless Burke. Crime fiction with a powerful moral. ((Reviewed August 2000))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2000, American Library Association.)