Look, I can't fully explain why I have a soft spot for "tough guy noir" but I do. I think because, like Gothics, they're "atmospheric" and that's what gets me. Anyway, Nick is a decorated former soldier (joining up after 9/11) and a cop from a family of cops whose father's reputation (Dad ratted out corrupt cops) and his brother's addiction issues (booze) follow him around. He also has a Baby Mama (affluent and rich to his working class) and a Secret Baby daughter that he can't be with, despite wanting to, because they would become targets and collateral damage. Nick works undercover for very powerful and mysterious men - he's basically a "fixer" for the NYPD and Nick has learned to live with a target on his back.
This time out Nick's bosses want him to look into an unsolved murder - the only documented murder that happened on 9/11 that wasn't the result of the World Trade Center attack. Of course Nick isn't told exactly why his mysterious bosses want this case solved, but they quickly become displeased with their fixer when he's distracted by a personal matter. A family friend and former cop, Nick's "Uncle Tony" and his wife are found brutally murdered in their home. Execution style. Who would want his Uncle Tony dead?
A couple years ago I practically inhaled Lawrence Block's Matthew Scudder series, and from a tone perspective this series is scratching that itch for me. It's very New York City, very gritty and grim. These are books with no heroes but it's hard to not get sucked into the plots. Coleman is one of those writers who brings 2-4 different plot threads on board that seem completely unrelated but eventually he ties them all together in a fashion where you realize it's all connected. It makes for riveting reading.
A couple of quibbles, one being that I read the first book a year ago and my memory was a little hazy. Things that happened in Book 1 pop up in this new book and it took a few moments for my memory to get jogged. Also Nick is one of those Tough Guy Noir-types who is pure poison to female characters. I'm hoping Coleman wraps it up quickly because I can tell you the stuff with his Baby Mama was annoying in the first book when it was introduced, and it just gets more annoying here. Also, Nick hooks up with a former flame / f*ck buddy (female cop) in this book and the pure panic I'm feeling that I'm going to get a tedious love triangle because Nick is emotionally unavailable and hung-up over the Baby Mama makes my eyes cross. Finally, this book ends on a total cliffhanger. The main plot is put to bed, our mystery solved, this is more a cliffhanger that is spurring Nick into the next book in the series - which sweet baby Jesus, there better be one!
Final Grade = A-
Jonah is in the 9th grade and a nerd. I mean, the kid loves history class and epic fantasy movies (think Lord of the Rings - although the author "renames" the pop culture references throughout the book, some of which are humorous). He also has a crush on a boy who is on the baseball team. Unfortunately Jonah is about as athletic as a rock and knows nothing about baseball, but that doesn't stop him from joining the team.
There are two types of adult readers: those who like to read young adult fiction and those who would rather be boiled in oil because dear Lord, who wants to relieve the awkwardness and angst of that time in their lives?! This book should be avoided by the latter at all costs 😂. The story follows Jonah through his four years of high school, as he struggles with his identity (sexual and otherwise), the drama of his feelings and friendships, the feelings he bruises and his own bruised feelings. Jonah does have a support system (we never see his parents anywhere in this story, but he has a best friend, his baseball coach, and a favorite teacher...) and while the story does have an uplifting ending, it's not all rainbow farting unicorns. There's homophobia (internal and otherwise), outing and a heaping pile of misogyny (there's a girl on Jonah's baseball team and I spent this entire book mad for her). And just like in real life? A lot of this goes unchecked.
I did enjoy this story, even as I was uncomfortably squirming in my seat - which doesn't sound like a compliment but actually is in this case. The author does a great job of conveying the uncertainty of that time in your teenage life when you're struggling to find out who you are, your place in the world, etc. And like all teenagers, Jonah makes some cringey mistakes and there's a heaping amount of secondhand embarrassment for the reader to experience. If it had been Teenage Wendy reading this? I probably would have clutched the book to my chest and swooned a bit from the emotional impact the story left on me. As an adult all I could think was that for the first time in a long time I was happy to be "old" 🤣.
Final Grade = B+
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