Big City, Bad Blood: A Novel [Hardcover]

Sean Chercover (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2007

A disillusioned newspaper reporter turned private detective, Ray Dudgeon isn't trying to save the world. He just wants to do an honest job, and do it well. But when doing an honest job threatens society's most powerful and corrupt, Ray's odds for survival make for a sucker's bet. . . .

While working on a movie in Chicago, Hollywood locations manager Bob Loniski saw something he shouldn't have. Now he's a prosecution witness against a suspected member of the Chicago Outfit. Petrified, he comes to Ray for protection. Ray's mob contacts insist that they have no interest in Loniski, so he takes the bodyguard gig.

Then people start dying and everything goes to hell.

Ray's investigation leads to a stash of blackmail files involving the sex trade, Washington political corruption, and a deadly power struggle among Chicago's organized crime bosses—setting the FBI, the Chicago police, and the mob on his tail. He now holds evidence against top-ranking cops and politicians . . . but with the line between good and bad blurring, he doesn't know who he can trust.

If he does the right thing, Ray is sure to die. But if he doesn't, how can he live with himself?

From the back alleys of Chicago to the man-sions of Beverly Hills to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., Sean Chercover's Big City, Bad Blood propels readers relentlessly forward on a bullet-fast, adrenaline-pumping ride they will not soon forget.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Real-life Chicago PI Chercover, in his impressive hard-boiled debut, introduces Ray Dudgeon, a former Chicago reporter disillusioned with the newspaper business who has turned private detective. When Bob Loniski, a locations manager for Hollywood films, hires Dudgeon for protection after running afoul of a mid-level gangster, Dudgeon finds himself in the middle of an organized crime war. A number of forces hamper Dudgeon's efforts to keep his client alive, even as his probing reveals that Loniski may have witnessed a prominent local politician keeping unsavory company and that the violence may be connected to a broader conspiracy. Like many a classic PI, Dudgeon behaves according to his own subjective code. The author's considerable storytelling and characterization gifts compare favorably with those of Loren D. Estleman and other established masters of the crime genre. (Jan.)
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About the Author

Formerly a private investigator in Chicago and New Orleans, Sean Chercover has since written for film, television, and print. His first novel, Big City, Bad Blood, won and was nominated for numerous awards. He lives in Chicago and Toronto, and the commute is killing him.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: William Morrow; First Edition edition (January 9, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0061128678
• ISBN-13: 978-0061128677
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (39 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #592,444 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Hell Of A Debut, January 28, 2007

By 

J. Jordan "Editor of Crimespree Magazine" (milwaukee, wi United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Big City, Bad Blood: A Novel (Hardcover)

This is one of the best debut novels I've read in over a decade. I rember when I read the first books by Robert Crais, Denis Lehane and Michael Connelly, and I got the same kind of buzz that I got while reading this.

Chercover writes about Chicago as only a native can, and he writes about a Chicago you don't see advertised on TV. It's a gritty dark place, and if you are smart you'll have Ray Dudgeon watching your back.

Dudgeon is a fromer reporter turned PI working a body gaurd job for a Hollywood location scout. Things quickly get out of hand and he has to make some tough choices.

Fast paced and smooth as silk, this does not read like a first novel, it reads like the work of a seasoned pro.

I predict big things for Mr. Chercover

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "Stormy, Husky, Brawling, City of the Big Shoulders", February 20, 2007

By 

Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Big City, Bad Blood: A Novel (Hardcover)

Kudos to author Sean Chercover and his irreverent Chicago PI Ray Dudgeon in this smart, well paced, debut. Dudgeon, a former investigation reporter for the Chicago Chronicle, takes on an assignment to guard Bob Loniski, a middle level Hollywood exec who sees something he shouldn't have while managing the logistics for film shoot on location in Chicago. In less time than it takes for the Cubs to blow any shot at a pennant, Dudgeon and Loniski are up to their kielbasas in Chicago mobsters and a rising body count. Chercover lays out a plausible plot early on, so there's not a lot of guessing, but any lack of intrigue is amply compensated by lively dialogue, a rich cast, and political scandal that is as much a part of the Windy City's legacy as Al Capone. More Mike Royko than Carl Sandburg, Chercover does a good job of capturing Chicago's gritty charm, especially in contrast to Hollywood's mind-numbing plastic pretentious vacuum.

"Big City, Bad Blood's" Dudgeon may remind you a lot of a Midwest version of Robert Crais' LA detective Elvis Cole, complete with the wise cracks and woman troubles. But far from LA's politically correct brand of bland, Dudgeon is a welcome throwback to the hardboiled heroes of Jim Thompson and Raymond Chandler, lubricating his progress with dark rum on the rocks with a pack of smokes always within easy reach. While some violent relief in the form of Cole's stoic Joe Pike is conspicuously absent, Dudgeon's childhood friend "Gravedigger" emerges late in the book, portending a larger role for the half-crazed sidekick in the inevitable sequels.

In short, a well-crafted and entertaining page-turner that deserves to put Chercover on the crime fiction map. I look forward to the next installment

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Deserves more buzz, February 10, 2007

By 

Kat Richardson - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big City, Bad Blood: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've tried to write this review three times and I give up. I can't say any better what others have already said except that this is the best new PI novel I've read in ten years. The plot is smart and well-built, the action well paced and vivid, and the rendering of character and setting is spot-on. I really liked protagonist Ray Dudgeon, even when he was messed up, hardheaded, and doing the right thing for the wrong reason (and vice versa) and I couldn't put the book down. If you like hardboiled detective fiction, you must keep your eye on Chercover.