Customer Reviews

Dirty Sally

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After reading the first few pages, I found myself so engrossed by this story that I couldn't stop reading - I literally couldn't put this book down. Michael Simon captures the parlance of the old-style gum shoe - and this, his debut novel, is sure to become a noir classic. I kept thinking this book would make a great Hollywood movie - suspenseful plot, interesting characters and extremely well-written. Hopefully this will be the first of many more books by this fantastic new author.

Set in Austin, Texas, Dirty Sally is the brooding debut novel of Michael Simon and hits the ground with a dark murder, an even darker more disturbed homicide squad and a compelling investigation taking place among the detritus of society. It's the kind of contemporary noir story that fans of George Pelecanos, James Sallis and Ken Bruen will enjoy and be clamoring for more.

The story begins with a gruesome murder.

Well actually, that's not entirely accurate. In fact the murder is a fairly run of the mill strangulation of a prostitute, the likes of which has been detailed in any number of thriller in the past. The gruesome part comes after the torso of the victim is discovered by Dan Reles when parts of the body begin showing up in the mail of selected Austin businessmen.

Dan Reles is a homicide detective with the Austin police department and is one extremely tormented guy with a list of emotional issues dating way back to his childhood. The first time we meet him though is his first day back at work after he had been suspended for hitting another cop. Dominating just about every thought in his head is Joey Velez, his partner, mentor and friend who was killed 6 months previously. His inability to cope with the death has turned him into an unpredictable loner and he is generally regarded by his fellow cops as a loose cannon.

But back to the case. An unidentified prostitute's torso is a grim enough find but pieces of her being sent through the mail calls for full and immediate action. Someone is out there sending a powerful message, but to whom?

This is a much more complicated story than a simple murder investigation. Reles is also distracted by a young university student who is in fear of his life, having just lost a couple of friends in "accidents". It's one of those side-stories that appears unrelated but persists on the periphery until it gradually integrates with the main storyline. Simon seamlessly joins the lines together to build a tightly woven tale that had me casting around in every direction, unsure of who was good and who was evil - who would live and who would die.

Much of the story is told from the first person perspective of Reles and through him we are tossed into the maelstrom of an enormously complicated person. But the point of view switches, rather fluidly I might add, to the 3rd person narrative in order to get an alternative viewpoint of the story and to catch up on parts of the story that doesn't involve Reles.

Dirty Sally is unmistakably noir with the protagonist displaying serious personality flaws, as does the rest of his fellow homicide detectives. There is a consistent feeling of hopeless failure about the investigation so that even when progress is made it invariably comes at a cost. Maybe that cost is a life or a friendship or a trust.

Across the board the main characters are a pretty off-beat, unlikable lot. Even Dan Reles, our protagonist mind you, is a moody, self-absorbed so-and-so who barely makes a decision without wondering how his dead partner would have done things. The rest of the squad are either corrupt bigots who delight in baiting their colleagues or defensive, unfriendly men with whom you would hesitate before trusting. It's a good thing I don't have to like the central characters to enjoy a book because looking back, they're all a fairly motley bunch of people with few redeeming qualities.

As the story really gets going you sense a tremendous feeling of desperation, heightened by a growing body count, an impatient set of superiors who want results yet seemingly hamstring the investigation and a growing suspicion that not everyone is on the same team.

Michael Simon has written an incredibly deep and incredibly complex thriller that I found captivating as we groped our way though some pretty depressing neighborhoods, met some of the scum who live there and found that it was all controlled by the usual rich power brokers who believe themselves above the law. Readers of hardboiled mysteries looking for a new name on the block will be pleased to hear that there is a new name on the block who has produced a resounding winner in Dirty Sally.

Gritty, coarse, rough; ideal descriptions for this debut thriller by a former actor/disc jockey/cab driver/probation officer, to mention only a few of Michael Simon's many careers. Now he can add successful writer to the list.

Sgt. Dan Reles, New Yorker by birth --- and nature --- is striving to assimilate well into life in Austin, Texas. But his current focus is dealing with the recent death of his partner, Joey, and his disturbingly inappropriate feelings for Joey's widow. She has become nearly an obsession, an obsession so blatant that it has earned him sneers and crude comments from fellow officers. He knows that if he doesn't shape up soon, he may be out of a job. Unfortunately, he doesn't have a lot of friends on the APD, being not only a bit of a loner but definitely not a team player when it comes to dirty cops.

On a scorching September evening, Reles catches the call for a possible suicide. But it smells funny to him. A fellow committing suicide by jumping in front of a bus right after a rushed breakfast at a taco stand? While on the scene, searching for body parts to complete the badly mangled corpse, Reles spies a bonafide homicide victim, no doubt about it. Regrettably, more parts are missing from this torso than the bus victim. The missing parts start showing up on the doorsteps of some of Austin's leading citizens, and the police start wondering why. What's their connection? The Austin PD is convinced that, as soon as they can identify the victim --- if they ever locate the hands or the head --- they might have a shot at figuring out motive and finding a suspect. But when the crucial parts surface, they trigger more questions than answers.

Meanwhile, Reles has a nasty run-in with an officer who harbors a dangerous loathing for him. A bad situation deteriorates, and Reles finds himself scheduled before a review board. Bringing the killer to justice is the only thing that will keep him on the force, but his dead partner keeps sidetracking him --- as does his dead partner's widow. Things don't look too good for Sgt. Reles. Then, making himself even more unpopular, he decides to investigate the suspicious suicide as a murder too.

DIRTY SALLY is packed with edge-of-your-seat action. Michael Simon adroitly grips you by the throat and doesn't let go. This book will keep you up all night.

--- Reviewed by Kate Ayers

This is a full-on page turner, and has all the elements of a hot series: cool Austin location, the perfect outsider's outsider--Yankee and Jewish Reles, Texas political subterfuge, and a perfect noir sensibility. I tore through this book. I tried hard to take nibbles of the story so that I wouldn't finish it so fast, but I just couldn't stop reading. Whoever this Simon guy is, I'm buying his next book. No, make that: whatever he writes, I'm buying it.

In 1988 in Austin, Texas, homicide detective Dan Reles feels his world is collapsing with the "Ultimate Sacrifice" death of his partner Joey Velez in the line of duty that makes him feel angry and all alone. The transplanted New York Jew also recently lost his spouse who left him. The Austin PD brass becomes concerned with Dan's violent behavior that could be a chip off the old block amplified by his recent losses; they place him under departmental evaluation.

Reles sees an opportunity to atone for his overly zealous performance when he is assigned to investigate the torso of a prostitute found in a nearby ravine. A macabre twist occurs as her other body parts have been forwarded to prominent men in Austin. As he begins his inquiries into the sleazier side of the state capital, a bus hits a U of T student that only Reles believes might be connected to the homicide he already is investigating.

The investigation is terrific as fans see the underbelly of Austin through the eyes of a wounded cop already down twice. Dan is a fabulous cop struggling with demons, loss of loved ones, and a rage that will not let go as he makes this urban noir work. Though the climax has a body count that only undertakers will appreciate, this gritty tale will lead to Republican Party denials and trashing of author Michael Simon.

Harriet Klausner

Michael Simon's Dirty Sally would have been a great novel, if only he could have been more consistent and had a halfway beleivable ending. The first 80% of the book was just so incredibly good that I couldn't beleive that I had never heard of this author. Unfortunately, the last 20% and the unbeleivable ending must have been inspired by an old Bruce Willis movie, with good guys and bad guys left and right getting bumped off and nobody being too upset about it, and our intrepid hero being shot, stabbed, beaten, exploded, etc., only to come right back for more and greater exploits. It's not that one expects fiction like this to take some licence with reality. However, the first part was so good, the characters so utterly beleivable, and the plot so deightfully unpredictable that it was really disappointing to have it end in such a totally different manner. You could easily beleive the first part and really liked the characters; no way could you really belive the last part, and by the end the characters didn't seem all that real. You almost wonder if someone else wrote the ending. Why 4 stars then? Well, even with a crummy ending it's still a very good book, just not great. Hope this guy continues writing.

This is the first of the Dan Reles novels. It was totally different and unexpected. It was not just a thriller and I was surprised where the story went. There is a 1930s gumshoe/film noir feeling, but the novel is very current. The characters are believable. I just finished the 4th of the Dan Reles novels. I was sad when I finished one, then happy I could start the next one. I enjoyed them so much.

I like his writing style, but too many characters are introduced, then killed off. The plot is a bit tangled as well. For me, this one was barely worth (3) stars.

I stumbled across this book and was immediately hooked from Page 1. It is a gripping, entertaining and engrossing neo-noir tale set in the unlikely location of Austin, Texas - not the first location that would pop into my head for this genre of fiction, but Simon makes it work beautifully. His prose is colorful and concise, the plot moves at breakneck speed, the characters are well-drawn and believable, and the dialogue snaps, crackles and pops right off the page. A great read!

I was born and raised in Austin. How cool is it to have a fictional account my hometown,(home neighborhood for that matter) from my teens and up. WOW. Thanks. Well written, smart, exciting thriller. I'm telling my friends about it...and can't wait for book four!