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36 of 41 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
One Hell Of A Debut, January 28, 2007
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
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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
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
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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Deserves more buzz, February 10, 2007
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.
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