Customer Reviews

Beware the Solitary Drinker

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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Bartender Brian McNulty lives in a strange New York world populated by drunks, unemployed actors, and ex-communists still searching for the revolution. When beautiful young Angelina walks into his bar, he is instantly smitten--as is every other man in the bar. Angelina is troubled and sexually inappropriate (with everyone but Brian, it seems). But that doesn't make her murder any easier to take. When Angelina's sister comes into town, she convinces Brian to help her investigate.

The investigation turns into a tour of Brian's bizarre world. Everyone has a secret that they won't share with the cops, or even with their bartender. Worse, Brian's investigation seems to make things worse. Everyone is threatened by Brian, even if they aren't the ones who actually committed this particular murder.

Author Cornelius Lehane delivers a thoughtful and probing look into a strange society. Brian's leftist views are carefully modulated--he knows that some of them are silly but they are part of his upbringing and self-concept. His relationship with Kevin, his son, develops a little late but adds emotional resonance to the story.

BEWARE THE SOLITARY DRINKER will appeal to fans of film noire. It combines cynicism with just a hint of a hopeful world view. I found this a charming story by a first-time author. Check it out.

Bartender Brian McNulty is an interesting character, albeit lacking in pizzazz. The novel suggests that he drinks too much and he regularly ingests cocaine, but it doesn't seem to affect his life; he carries some guilt about his relationship with his son but the relationship is actually quite good; he comes off as a loner but the story makes clear that he has a healthy number of friends, even if some of them are a bit unsavory. McNulty is both an actor and a leftist but neither of those facts add significant depth to his character. The best thing about McNulty is his skill as a bartender, and one of the best things about the novel is Lehane's description of McNulty's bartending technique (Lehane having been a bartender himself, he knows whereof he writes).

Ultimately, this is a murder mystery with a bartender playing the role of detective/investigator. McNulty's motivation to continue poking into the murder of his friend and customer Angelina is unclear, particularly given his ambivalent relationship with Angelina's sister and the evident risk involved, but the "whodunit" plot gives Lehane the opportunity to unveil a colorful assortment of barflies, any of whom could be the potential murderer. They make the story work. Lehane brings the mystery to a credible resolution, with a nicely written action scene at the end. Mystery fans should enjoy this novel, although fans of noir should know that the darkness in the story is balanced by an abundance of sunshine.

In Con Lehane's debut novel, we are introduced to the dingy late-night bar scene of New York City. To be more specific, a dive named Oscar's and the bartender who works there, Brian McNulty.

A young woman becomes a regular fixture at Oscar's and in a very short time gets to know the assorted regular assortment of winos and barflies who are permanent fixture in the place. An incredibly complicated and troubled woman she reveals a hard, depressing past and gravitates straight to McNulty, merely seeking friendship, something he is only too happy to provide.

When the woman is murdered, McNulty and the rest of the Oscar regulars are stunned but not overly surprised. She had a tendency to sleep with anyone and everyone, quite often with men who could be considered dangerous. More than a few of these men drink at Oscar's.

Given that McNulty was the closest friend she had when the woman died, he takes on the task of trying to track down her killer. He has a whole bar full of suspects and realizes that even though he sees them every night, he doesn't truly know these people. Thus begins the slow process of working out who the murderer is.

This is a grim story told from the perspective of Brian McNulty and set in the desperate late night hours. Fuelled by alcohol and cocaine, McNulty takes greater and greater risks as he homes in on the killer and puts himself and those close to him in danger. It's a methodical mystery, McNulty is an everyday guy just trying to get by and the world he inhabits is a dangerous place. Excellent fair for lovers of noir.

Manhattan sleaze is a heady brew, and Upper West Side Manhattan sleaze makes for an even headier one. The narrator/protagonist of this fine debut novel is a bartender who works mids on the Upper West Side, thereby providing the stage for a goodly assortment of rogues and oddballs. (The only insufferable person in this movel is the murder victim's sister. However, she is from Massachusetts, so what can you expect?)

The book is well plotted, and overall it is a very good read. (My only--and very minor--observation is that it did tend to drag here and there.)

One caveat: If you are reading this book for the first time, I suggest making a little list of who's who. There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and I kept having to look back to see which was Sam the Hammer and which Eric the Red.

The writer knows his territory. Enjoy.

This is the best mystery story I've ever read. Much more than the usual puzzle book, it's an exploration of fascinating, strange yet totally believable characters, starting with the bartender-sleuth. I couldn't put it down.

Brian McNulty is a bartender on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. He befriends a young woman who is strikingly beautiful, yet, highly promiscuous. He fears for her, yet, he is powerless to stop her dangerous lifestyle until she turns up dead. He takes it upon himself to find out who killed her, after the police arrest the wrong man. Through his investigation we meet a whole host of characters any of whom could have been the murderer.
Cornelius Lehane can write very very well. This becomes almost immediately apparent once starting this debut novel. Characters are richly portrayed as is the NYC locale. There is a strong sense of realism to the life of McNulty. However, the author is much less skilled in the art of storytelling. For most of the book, as we meet character after character, there is little plot progression. A pitfall of so many novelists is they forget that above all else they should have a compelling story to tell. Otherwise it is hard to call the book a complete success. The bottom line: well written but dull.

In brief, Mr. Lehane creates a facinating world of bar flys, beautiful women, murder and mystery in his very successful debut effort, "Beware the Solitary Drinker." One can practically taste the Jack Daniels and smell the cigarette smoke of the Upper West Side watering hole that is the heart of the story. Written with surprising depth and realism, this is a very captivating and satisfying read. I highly recommend Mr. Lehane's book, and look forward to his future works.

This wonderful book evokes the warmth and comraderie of a New York neighborhood bar, with a cast of fully realized characters. Besides being a rip-snorting good mystery and page-turner, this novel also turns out to be a loving portrayal of people on the margins of society----the broke, the abused and promiscuous, the eccentric, the drug and alcohol dependent. While Lehane does not hesitate to illustrate the weaknesses of his largely working class characters, he excels at portraying their humor, humanity and generosity. This book kept me up all night, and I'm glad of it.

On the Upper West Side of Broadway, there is a bar called Oscar's and the night bartender, forty-year-old Brian McNulty is familiar to the regulars who drink there every night. One night Angelina shows up, a beautiful, vibrant and enchanting young woman who ensorcells the men fortunate enough to catch her eye. She is a bit promiscuous but even when she stays in Brian's apartment, she doesn't sleep with him.

One day she comes in throwing money around saying she's got a sugar daddy. Shortly thereafter, her dead body is found with no clue who did it because there are so many known suspects, never mind the unknown ones. Brian, who is egged on by Angelina's sister Janet, decides to conduct an independent investigation because he knows that some of the people involved won't talk to the police. As the investigation progresses, another person dies and Brian almost becomes the killer's third victim.

The hero is an "everyman" sort of guy, making him appealing to both genders. For an amateur, he is a very good detective and he actually unearths some very decent clues that lead to possible suspects. Any New Yorker will realize that the story line is an actual portrayal of life in the Big Apple (at least the Manhattan borough). Beware THE SOLITARY DRINKER has much to recommend it.

Harriet Klausner

Insightful, sly look into the bar life, and the temptresses that bedevil every red-blooded, heterosexual male at some point in life.