Black and White: A Novel [Mass Market Paperback]

Dan Mahoney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 15, 2000

In a secluded New York City park, a double homicide draws two detectives named McKenna. One is a legend; the other is a brilliant young investigator. Together, they are entering a case that will grow more bizarre and more horrifying with each new piece of shocking evidence...

One of the victims was tied to a tree and slowly tortured to death. Veteran detective Tommy McKenna realizes that he has seen this killer's work before-eighteen years earlier...

Tommy will get a second crack at his killer. Brian McKenna gets to work with a legend. And both men are setting in motion an investigation that will take them to California, Arizona, a Costa Rican mountaintop, and all the way to the Fare East. The two McKennas are on the trail of two human monsters who have been killing for two decades-and murder isn't even the worst of their crimes...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Few authors map the political minefields faced by cops on a high-profile case with more realism than Mahoney (Once In, Never Out). In his fifth novel, this former NYPD captain ups the ante considerably by including real-life lawmen as characters in a sizzling tale of a serial sex-murders case that spreads from California to Thailand. Mahoney's regular hero, NYPD Detective First Grade Brian McKenna, is tapped by Homicide when the married daughter of city council president Paul Barrone is savagely slain in a lover's lane killing along with Barrone aide Arthur McMahon, the son of a powerful Virginia politician. Brian is teamed with the more famous Tommy McKenna (no relation but a real-life NYPD detective), who's in the doghouse with Barrone over a campaign tiff. Tommy ties the M.O. to an unsolved case from 18 years ago; the cops get a break with the killers' first mistakeAuse of stolen credit cards in San Jose, Calif.Arevealed to them through illegal information proffered by Bob Hurley, an ex-cop turned PI who specializes in legal "shortcuts." Brian flies to San Jose and meets Randy Bynum, a black local cop obsessed with a similar killing there who has found clues that have led him to a porn Web site and pictures of what turns out to be the killers, one black and one white, whipping a young victim. The McKennas and Bynum join forces, while McMahon's father hires Hurley to bypass legal red tape and speed the case along. Mahoney weaves a brilliantly twisted plot that makes the most out of solid police work while tapping into extralegal sources to actually solve the case. Clues gleaned from around the world are braided into a noose of a denouement that will leave victims' rights advocates cheering and police procedural buffs smiling.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Booklist

NYPD Detective Brian McKenna hasn't worked a homicide in years, but when the daughter of a prominent local politician is the victim of a torture murder, McKenna is back on the body beat. He's paired with high-profile namesake Tommy McKenna, who has a propensity to write books about his cases and generate publicity for himself. Brian struggles to keep the case low-profile as the two detectives pursue tenuous leads and eventually travel to the Southwest, where they learn the perpetrators like to take pictures of their handiwork and publish them in a series of magazines that cater to the very wealthy and very disturbed. They must enlist the aid of the international police community in an effort to find two killers in a world of monsters. A compelling, graphic procedural that details the painstaking steps required to bring very clever killers to justice. The author, a 25-year veteran of the NYPD, gets it oh-so-right. Wes Lukowsky --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 528 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Paperbacks (March 15, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312971494
• ISBN-13: 978-0312971496
• Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 4.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,481,962 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Things are not always 'Black and White', April 19, 2000

By 

Charles Pulliam (Yuma, Arizona) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black and White: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

I'd never heard of Dan Mahoney, but the title caught my attention and the back cover caught my interest. Being a retired police officer, I view with some skepticism any so-called authority on police procedures and policies. I was surprised when I found my attention riveted on the story. I truly couldn't put it down. I couldn't wait to learn the outcome and the fate that awaited the bad guys. The only thing that struck me as being less than authentic was the fact that every investigator from every police agency was not only intelligent, dedicated and persevering, but a really nice guy to boot. That just doesn't happen. I will definitely buy another Dan Mahoney novel

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Grim, but Suspenseful, Police Procedural, July 17, 1999

By 

A. M. Sulkin (wayne, nj USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black and White (Hardcover)

NYC Detective First Class Brian McKenna is paired with another McKenna to investigate the torture murder of the daughter of a prominent city councilman. Clues found from the first murder lead to other similar murders across the globe, and the two McKenna's work with a multitude of police departments to track down the killers. The double meaning of the title is finally revealed about half way through the plot. A few of the characters the two McKenna's come across are not as believable as the plot leads, but Brian McKenna continues to be written realistically as someone who solves crimes through hard work and gut instinct, while thoroughly understanding the intricasies of a political NYC police force. Mahoney, a former NCY police captain, is not one to sympathize with the killers in his novels, and offers the readers a straight line plot that keeps the reader interested until the final pages.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Black and White, December 21, 2002

By 

Tracey (Sacramento, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Black and White: A Novel (Mass Market Paperback)

Dan Mahoney's books are excellent reads. "Black and White" is no exception. I would not recommend this book to anyone who has a weak stomach, or is offended by sexual references. While it is an great book, it is extremly graphic. I have enjoyed reading all his books.