Dead City [Paperback]

Shane stevens (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 2, 1978

The acclaimed author of By Reason of Insanity, The Anvil Chorus, and Go Down Dead offers "a relentlessly chilling and stark novel" (The Kansas City Star) and "a fresh, vital look at organized criminals that is so authentic, it's scary" (The Boston Globe).

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Pocket (December 2, 1978)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671825283
• ISBN-13: 978-0671825287
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,312,217 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Gritty Assessment of Organized Crime On All Levels, January 17, 2003

By 

Schlock Monkey (Mojave Desert, CA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Dead City (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the great, really twisted, little book that was the inspiration for Stephen King's villian, Alexis Machine, in The Dark Half. The story revolves around the various levels of the organized crime syndicate during the early '70s, between the shooters, the muscle, and the bosses they work for. Perhaps the best writing takes place with Stevens' smooth portrayal of his characters as he takes you inside each of their heads and documents their motives and individual psychosis; also his cold, unemotional portrayals of various terrible events and descents involving them truly brings a chill to the spine, and I would liken parts of Dead City to Requiem For A Dream for its disturbing dramas. I couldn't put it down, and would give it a full five stars sheerly for it's grim style (not something you find often), but my only complaint would be that this book could have been a bit more developed, and at times felt rushed. Some characters I would have liked to learn more about, but it just didn't happen. Other than this, the book excels in its gritty assessment of organized crime, and doesn't seek to glorify it like most media presentations (for which it should be commended on alone), and will make the blood run cold!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great read., November 13, 1997

By 

[e-mail] (New Bedford, Massachusetts) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead City (Mass Market Paperback)

After reading BY REASON OF INSANITY I went out and got the only other two Stevens books I could find, this on and THE ANVIL CHORUS. Still haven't read CHORUS yet but did read this. It is a great story that'll keep you hooked. I'm still wondering, though, if Stevens is still writing and where I can find info on the man.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Mobbed up and vicious, January 4, 2004

By 

LGwriter "SharpWitGuy" (Astoria, N.Y. United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Dead City (Hardcover)

One of the great unsung American writers--Stephen King freely acknowledged him as a strong influence and inspiration for his own work--Shane Stevens here gives us a brutal and effective portrait of mob guys--from soldier level to Don--that stings and howls. Released the same year as the first of the Godfather films, Dead City is dark and wholly character-driven. Joe Zucco, the mob chief of an undisclosed New Jersey city, bestows favors and just as easily slices up those who cross him.

Among those on his crew are Charley Flowers, a former hit man now demoted to muscle because of a prior botched job, and Harry Strega, a young guy who thinks he's going places after joining Zucco's mob. Zucco's rival is Alex Machine; his friends are few but loyal--or so he thinks--and his crew does everything he wants them to. His mistress does as well.

Stevens knows how to put his mouth where the money is. The sex and violence described here are intense, graphic, and powerful. Charley and Harry have jobs to do and they do them well. At the end, in fact, they do them too well. Along the way, Zucco, Machine, Zucco's friend Julie K, Pete Montana (Zucco's second in command) and Gino Agucci (his bodyguard) all play parts in this gripping melodrama.

Some may gripe of stereotypes here. Not true. Why not? Because Stevens is too good a writer to make us really feel any of his characters could ever be stereotypes. A sample passage--in which the author is describing Harry Strega falling asleep: "Softly came the darkness stealing behind the eyes, sealing off the consciousness, until all that remained of him was the slender breath of life."

Purple prose? Not on your life. This lets us know how tenuous a mob soldier's life really is. You do a job one day, you get paid, the next day--who knows?

Highly recommended.