Bleeders: A "Nameless Detective" Novel [Hardcover]

Bill Pronzini (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 9, 2002 | Series: Pronzini, Bill

A simple case gets murderously complicated when "Nameless," Bill Pronzini's seasoned private-eye, exposes a nasty scam that involves junior account executive Jay Cohalan, his unhappy wife, and a mistress with a serious drug problem. It's the kind of case "Nameless" likes, because bleeders—the blackmailers, extortionists, small-time grifters, and other opportunists who prey on the weak and gullible—top his list of worthless human parasites. So there's nothing he enjoys more than putting another one or two of them out of commission and returning the $75,000 in blackmail cash to its rightful owner. "Nameless," though, cannot so easily close his Cohalan file—not when he finds his client face down in the middle of a four-poster bed with a bloody, powder-scorched hole behind the right ear. And only by a hair's breadth does "Nameless" himself escape a similar cold-blooded fate. His mind and gut wrenched by his brush with death, "Nameless" embarks on a relentless hunt for his unknown assailant in San Francisco's shadowy underworld. There he encounters bleeders of every ilk before he finds his quarry—and confronts his own demons—in a climax as powerful as it is shocking and unexpected.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

At age 60, Pronzini's Nameless Detective has been through the wars more than two dozen times in such singular mysteries as Crazybone and Boobytrap. Now the San Francisco-based PI has acquired a daughter, a home and a name "Daddy" that may portend retirement if he can solve a case that spirals from simplicity to murderous complexity in a heartbeat. Hired to safeguard a blackmailed husband's final payoff, Nameless is almost killed and his client is murdered. In addition, the money, the husband, the husband's mistress and a vicious killer all go missing. Nameless has patrolled the mean streets of San Francisco for a long time, and nobody knows them better or performs the traditional PI role better. But age is telling, and his near-death experience has Nameless re-evaluating his relationship with lover Kerry and orphaned Emily. However, before he can resolve his future, Nameless must descend once more into the San Francisco underworld of drug dealers, grifters, users and other "bleeders." Pronzini's storytelling is straightforward, honest and effective. The settings, from the city's slums to its coastal highways, are vividly drawn, and the tawdry denizens Nameless must confront to recover the ransom and find a killer are utterly convincing. Nameless, as suggested here, may be on the verge of a well-earned retirement, but he's in top form as he often has been in Pronzini's award-winning series. (Jan. 1)Private-Eye Writers Association of America, Pronzini has won three Shamus Awards.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Bleeders are blackmailers or other extortionists who prey on the weak and gullible, and the Nameless detective loves to nail them. Jay Cohalan is the apparent victim. A blackmailer has unearthed a seamy incident in Cohalan's past and threatens to expose him unless Cohalan forks over $75 thousand. But Nameless--hired to engineer the money drop--sees through the scam: Cohalan and his mistress are the blackmailers, and the prize is Carolyn Cohalan's recent inheritance. Nameless retrieves the money after the drop, but when he attempts to return it to Carolyn, he finds her dead, and the killer still in the house. The assailant overpowers Nameless, but when he tries to finish him, the gun misfires. Nameless survives, but his confidence is shaken to the core. And he knows he must square the account with his would-be killer. As he follows the trail along the same San Francisco streets he has been walking for decades, Nameless also reassesses his own life. He's 60 and finally sharing his life with loved ones: wife Kerry and adopted daughter Emily. Maybe stakeouts and murder and faulty automatics pointed at the back of the head shouldn't be part of his life anymore. Nameless finds closure with his would-be killer in a surprising fashion and drops strong hints that this may have been his last case. If so, this will make a fine finale to one of the greatest-ever detective series. Nameless has been a part of many readers' lives for three decades; we've watched him evolve both professionally and personally, and if he decides to return, we'll have the red carpet ready to roll. Wes Lukowsky
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Carroll & Graf; 1ST edition (January 9, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786709421
• ISBN-13: 978-0786709427
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,076,886 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pronzini is a master!, April 12, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bleeders: A "Nameless Detective" Novel (Hardcover)

Whether you're a veteran reader of P.I. novels or a neophyte who doesn't know his Hammett from his Chandler, you'll love the latest in Pronzini's "Nameless" series. This writer is a master, a benchmark against whom all the others compare themselves. A craftsman of both plot and language, Pronzini delivers each and every time. And in this way, he's that rarest of things: the sure bet. He knows how to deliver. He doesn't waste a detail or sling an extra word. "Bleeders" shows him at the pinnacle of his powers. Not only is it a fine mystery, thoroughly entertaining and beautifully paced, but his protagonist is entirely real. Nameless has aged and in this outing, he's feeling the weight of his cumulative history, the burden of all the pain and tragedy he's participated in over the course of 20+ books. Why fool with the latest flash-in-the-pan, when the king is still writing stories this engrossing and rewarding?

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nameless Earns His Name, January 3, 2002

By 

Kent Braithwaite (Palm Desert, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bleeders: A "Nameless Detective" Novel (Hardcover)

From the moment one reads the dedication of this Nameless mystery, one realizes what a special book BLEEDERS is. Bill Pronzini dedicates BLEEDERS to himself "without whom this series would never have been written."

As in the recent Nameless mysteries, Nameless is showing his age and his maturity. He is realizing that, while his work is important to him, there is more to life than merely running his PI agency. He is married now, of course, and he has an adopted daughter he acquired in the previous novel. His family responsibilities are becoming more and more important to him.

The plotline of this story involves a grifting scheme that leads to murders. It nearly costs Nameless his life, too. As with all Pronzini works, the book moves far beyond the mystery genre and addresses serious moral themes. As always, Pronzini is a moralistic writer in the best senses of the term.

The plot works fabulously, and the characters seem realistic. The interaction between everyone on stage couldn't work better. In the end, Nameless realizes his name is Daddy. It is bestowed on him by his adopted daughter, and he decides to make certain major life changes.

While it is suggested throughout the work that BLEEDERS may mark the end of this long-running series, I hope the series continues. Bill Pronzini, in my opinion, is the finest mystery writer of his generation. The influence of this series will long be felt in the mystery genre. His Nameless character may now be Daddy to a little girl, yet he has always been the father of the private detectives created by those of us who have begun our writing careers in recent years.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars LETTING GO, March 17, 2002

By 

Bonita L. Davis - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bleeders: A "Nameless Detective" Novel (Hardcover)

A gun is placed on the back of your head. Click, nothing happens. You know that you're dead. Click again, and you're still breathing. The weapon misfired and you've been given another chance for life. Now what do you do with it?

Nameless has faced death many times in the past but when he barely escapes from this episode of death he is forced to re-evaluate his relationships (with wife and daughter) and his professional life. Let's face it, at age sixty you can't do the things that you used to and still come out alive. Now what?

Bleeders explores the changes Nameless has to go through in reordering the priorities in his life. The catalyst for this is a failed scam attempt on his client. Her crank head husband attempts to extort $75,000 from her. Nameless intervenes and recovers the money. Unfortunately he is unable to return it to his client who is found dead. On finding the body, Nameless is beaten and has the money taken from him.

Thus begins a series of events that leads Nameless into the bottom dregs of society. Angry, he is determined to have justice done for his client as he goes on his determined search for the man who nearly killed him. We witness a detective who explores all of the angles and finds that he shares just as much in common with these bleeders than he is willing to admit.

Pronzini does a good job in presenting us with a Nameless who for the first time in his life has to step back and say is this worth it? As an old man of sixty with a wife and child can he still afford to play this tough detective game which can result in far more than beatings? The answer to that question as you move through the undercurrents of criminal activity will surprise you. Once again, Nameless is a far complex character than we would have ever thought. Enjoy this great thriller.