Customer Reviews

Before the Devil Knows You're Dead

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3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(1)

 

 

Bluntly said, this novel is preposterous. It is nothing like the other two novels Ledwidge wrote, stories that were tightly woven around a few characters whose decisions and mistakes drastically changed their lives.
"Before the Devil...." relies not on tight plotting, but on major coincidence after major coincidence, all stacked in a row from one chapter to the next. The story is so dependent on coincidences, I can't give examples without giving away the plot to those who want to discover it for themselves.
Sure, this is fiction, but Ledwidge gives us no chance to enjoy a story we can believe might have actually occurred. He can write like the "devil", though. Check out his first two novels in paperback. Think twice before shelling out twenty bucks for this one.

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is an utterly thrilling thriller that satisfies on every level -- great storytelling, fascinating and complex characters, captivating moral dilemmas. This is the new master of urban suspense at the top of his game.

John Coglin is a dedicated New York patrol officer who transferred to Street Crimes. His girl is pregnant with his child and any day he is going to give her a ring so they can start their life together.

On his way home from work, he notices a group of teen-age thugs beating up an old man. He intervenes only to have the leader Ream almost kills Coglin. Expecting to die, Coglin shoots the black teen. A fellow officer arrives and places a throwaway gun in the vicinity of Ream. At first it's judged an acceptable homicide, but the media and political forces working behind the scene stir up the public. Coglin goes on trial for second-degree murder, but receives a tip that he's going to be found guilty. He joins his Uncle Aidan, a former IRA assassin and bank robber extraordinare, on a plan to rob a Rockerfeller Center office of millions of dollars worth of diamonds. However, a very special visitor at the office where the gems are located leads to the Feds. Only FBI Agent Collette can, if she chooses, bring salvation to Coglin.

BEFORE THE DEVIL KNOWS YOU'RE DEAD is a dark and gritty urban noir novel. It is unfair that the protagonist goes to trial and what happens during it makes him realize that those who he thought were friends or allies have turned their back on him or actually betrayed him. It's difficult to judge him because few would know what they would do given his choices. Michael Ledwidge plays on the emotions of the readers like a master pianist.

Harriet Klausner

The author has written a story that grabs you and drags you in before you know it. Just don't think too deeply, enjoy the rush.