Broken Machines [Hardcover]

Michael I. Leahey (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 13, 2000

James Joseph Donovan stares out his own window, watching as the rain soaks Manhattan and puts a damper on his thirty-ninth birthday. J.J. Donovan is a private consultant - an expert people turn to when they've run out of options. Before the day is out, Janet Fein, a social worker friend, will ask Donovan to help a little boy named Clifford Brice.

Clifford's mother Ruby - a prostitute and a heroin addict - has been brutally murdered. The police have a suspect in custody, but Janet and Clifford don't think it's the right man. The police don't seem to care. Janet wants Donovan and his eccentric partner, Doctor Boris Koulomzin, to find out the truth.

Neither man can abandon the bright young boy. As they are formulating a plan, there is a second murder... and an attempt on Clifford himself. Donovan finds himself going undercover at a dank manufacturing plant in Brooklyn, where the rats, the criminals, and the immigrant laborers all struggle to make ends meet. It is a place where the people, like the machines, are broken. In this place, there is little room for repair or redemption, but Donovan pushes on. In the process, he and Boris expose a fraud, catch a murderer, and manage to blow up the better part of a city block.

Broken Machines is a gritty mystery in the tradition of Robert Parker and Elmore Leonard.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

There's always room in the universe for another clever private investigator, even one who's not licensed. Meet James Joseph Donovan. Donovan doesn't work alone; his "genius" partner, Dr. Boris Mikail Koulomzin, lives in the apartment next door. Their sphere of activity is the greater New York City area; they're "consultants" who help people who have run out of options with the legal system. Shades of Travis McGee! Leahey's first mystery starts out with a bang: Ruby Brice, a streetwalker and heroin addict, turns up dead. Urged on by Janet Fein, a brash social worker, Donovan agrees to help Ruby's 10-year-old son, Clifford, who happens to be very precocious, find his mother's killer. The one clue Donovan has is that Clifford says that Ruby had mentioned the National Manufacturing Corp., located in Brooklyn. When Donovan fortuitously lands a job there, the investigation gets into full swing. The three owners are infighting among themselves, and the workers may not be what they seem. Soon there are several more murders, both inside and outside of the factory. In the meantime, Donovan gets beaten up, Dr. Koulomzin faints at a murder scene and Clifford goes missing. The layers of muck and mire seem endless as Donovan uncovers one loathsome scheme after another being hatched by one, or more, of the owners. Justice finally triumphs in a clever ruse hatched by Donovan and his friends. Readers will be eager for more adventures of this engaging PI and his compatriots. (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

James Donovan and his reclusive but brainy partner BorisANew Yorkers bothAwork as "consultants" for people who have been "screwed by the system." Persuaded by John's good friend Janet, a social worker, to look into the case of a viciously murdered prostitute, the guys first interview her highly intelligent and sensitive young son. John then infiltrates a factory near the scene of the crime that employs an unlikely number of ex-cons. New York grit, unlikely "detectives," and memorable characters accentuate this first mystery and first in a new series.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (October 13, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312261306
• ISBN-13: 978-0312261306
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 6.1 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,165,219 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars broken machines, October 31, 2000

By 

John Woehrle (Studio City, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Broken Machines (Hardcover)

Broken Machines was a definite surprise. I found the characters interesting, quirky and most of all, human. I appreciated the way the characters developed and the plot thickened allowing me in little by little to the point that I was totally hooked; not so much on the plot, but the players. J.J. Donovan and Boris are good guys you can identify with. They are true students of human behavior and give you the feeling their always on the learning curve, so when they make a discovery, as the reader, so do you. From Ruby, the murdered prostitute, to her son Clifford and from Katz to Detective Negro and from Manny, the doorman to Madam Karina, along with a myriad of other well-defined rich characterizations Leahey has woven a tapestry of intrigue and suspense that would hold the attention of the most severe cynic. I highly recommend Broken Machines as a must read. Hats off to Michael Leahey. Looking forward to my next outing with J.J. and Boris. A New Fan, John Woehrle

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Triumphant urban noir, September 25, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Broken Machines (Hardcover)

New York City business partners James Joseph Donovan and Boris Mikail Koulomzin provide consulting services to people whom have no remaining option. The legal system for whatever reason failed justice 101, leaving Donovan and his associate with plenty of customers, who pay a sizable fee.

Good friend, social case worker Janet Fein asks Donovan to do a favor involving a murdered prostitute, Ruby Brice and her ten-year-old-boy Clifford. Janet wants Clifford to have a real chance to succeed, but first he needs the murder solved. Janet believes the police arrested the wrong person and offers a potential clue involving Brooklyn's National Manufacturing Corp. Donovan agrees to make inquiries and starts by landing a job at the National Manufacturing Corp. However, even Donovan is not prepared for the layers of depravity and corruption that threaten to leave him dead in a neighborhood dumpster.

BROKEN MACHINES is the debut of the Donovan sleuthing novels and although the hero is unlicensed, he is as good as any of the urban private investigators. The story line can become overwhelming with its tiers of corruption that turns a simple case into a complex investigation. Although the plot is tense and loaded, the cast makes this tale work. Donovan, Dr. K, Janet, Clifford, and the City provide the right amount of intelligence, chutzpah, and reality to transform Michael I. Leahey's novel into a triumphant urban noir.

Harriet Klausner

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Darkly Comic, New York Mystery is a Treat, October 30, 2000

By 

jordan lund (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Broken Machines (Hardcover)

Michael I. Leahey's Broken Machines is a skillful and entertaining New York crime novel, that grabbed me right at its poignant tragic prologue, and held on through its righteously satisfying epilogue. Peopled by some truly scurrilous and vulgar New Yorkers, and their honorable and stalwart counterparts, this book delivers the goods.

The street savvy, literate, tough but tender hero J.J. Donovan, who knows his Veuve Cliquot, and appreciates a good vodka-soaked Spanish olive as much as the next guy, is our guide through Upper Manhattan, and the brutal streets of East New York Brooklyn. Along with Donovan for the ride is his partner, friend and next-door neighbor Dr. Boris Koulomzin, a brilliant, drolly eccentric bear of a man who rarely ventures outdoors before the sun sets. These two are consultants, who offer their services to people "who think they've run out of options". People whose "problems the legal system has either created, made worse, or is incapable of addressing". In Boris and J.J. Leahey gives us a two great characters who could in time, equal Nero Wolfe and Archie, or Travis McGee and Meyer. I look forward to following their further adventures.

In this first one, the story of Donovan's quest for a killer, and his uncovering of the scamming of the manufacturing plant where he goes to work undercover, we're treated to a tightly constructed mystery. This is Michael Leahey's first novel, and he fills the pages with dozens of truly engaging characters in one great New York scene after another. One of my favorites happens on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, and it reveals where Mr. Leahey's local baseball allegiances lie. There are some truly funny scenes, and some of real tension and high human drama. A good hard-hitting, wise, funny and satisfying story this is.

I'm ready to read the next J.J Donovan tale, and hope there are many more to come.