Customer Reviews

False Allegations

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

After two mediocre entries in the great Burke series ("Down in the Zero" and "Footsteps of the Hawk") Vachss starts to breath life back into his main charachter again. Burke is reenergized and back at what he does best, dealing with abused children and borderline psychotic females. Vachss's early Burke novels ("Flood," "Blue Belle," "Blossom" and "Hard Candy") remain the best of the series. But with "False Allegations" he begins a revival which has carried him through the two most recent novels. Thankfully so. A world without Burke would be a duller world, indeed.

Of all the Burke novels that I have read which would be all of them, this one disturbed me the most. It struck a nerve in me and it scared me because the truth can't be denied. False Allegations is a testimony of how to keep a rape society going. If you are interested in transforming our society than this is the book to read. Burke enters the controversial ground of recovered memories but not for the reasons he thinks he is. He meets Dr. Bruce Perry who is not a fictional person. I have made use of Dr. Perry's research in my career as a teacher of children who have been abused. If you like poetic justice, this book also includes that in such a way that one can't help but cheer. This is not a novel to take lightly.

Okay, so this isn't the *best* Burke novel, but some of the things I had read about it almost had me scared to read it. Luckily, it's not nearly as preachy or slow or off-track as they'd have you believe. I was expecting it to turn into a textbook or something, but nope, it's definitely a Burke novel, and still a good one, with some convoluted plot twists going on, especially at the end. You can't really fault Vachss for having an "agenda" with his novels, 'cuz, face it, that's what the man's about. His novels are all about promoting the things Vachss likes (from dogs to cool cars to Judy Hensky to loyalty as the cardinal virtue, etc.) and damning the things he hates (which should be obvious - the man's obsessed, but more power to 'im for that). But the bottom line is, Vachss would never steer you toward anything that wasn't good for you. He ain't preachin' - he's *testifyin'*. And ya gotta respect him for it. This is one guy I have heavy, heavy respect for, both as a fine writer and a heckuva stand-up, sincere human being, and I've been putting in work to promote this guy's work to any and everyone I can. This may not be the Burke novel you want to start with, but it shouldn't be too big a disappointment to those who've taken the ride a few times already. Even if it's the weakest of the series, the series is so incredibly strong that you can't go wrong, schoolboy... ;)

Andrew Vachss would have to be considered my favorite writer. He write some of the most hard, heavy, disturbing, graphic, and redemming material I have ever read. This book, was certainly no less.

False Allegations is a story about Burke, a mercanary investigator dredging into whether a child abuse case was fabricated or real. He is hired by a man named Kite, who debunks false "Child Abuse" cases. One thing to note, is that Burke is fanatical in helping children. It is his one honorable and honest trait. Otherwise he is no less a con-man/hit man who presides over a "family" of criminals.

Anyway, this was excellantly written, the plot was really good, the characters were fully explored. Excellant book!

I would strongly recommend this book!

A lot of crime authors write fluff: Prose without a purpose. No one would ever accuse Vachss of that. His stories are all part of a message: We make our own monsters.

As amazing as Vachss' Burke novels are, they are made that much more significant when the reader realizes that the stories aren't fiction, but fictionalized truth. Everything Vachss writes has happened, is happening. He's seen it up close. That point is brought home most clearly in False Allegations.

False Allegations highlights the work-and the importance of the work-of the CIVITAS ChildTrauma Programs at Baylor College of Medicine. That organization is conducting neurobiological research to understand *exactly* how trauma effects the developing brain, and how to counteract that trauma.

The information is imparted through the narrative, when Burke needs a final, authoritative word on whether or not a woman was the victim of childhood abuse. It's part of a larger narrative involving, as the title clearly states, "false allegations"-Vachss' writing will certainly infuriate anyone married to either side of the debate, and will enlighten anyone with enough sense to keep an open mind on the issue.

False Allegations is the best kind of novel. It's totally enthralling and exciting, and, at the same time, educational. If everything in life served such dual purposes, we would have all the problems of society beat in half the time.

Sorry, but for a novel by Andrew Vachss about Burke -- this is just not the place to go. If you want the information that is usually provided at the end of most of his books, go ahead and slog thought this one. There is some great descriptions of cerebral functioning tests and what's up with that; but, hey, that was not why I picked up the latest Burke book. O.K.?

If you've never read a Burke novel, don't start here.Vachss has used his fictional Burke to advertise the non fictional work of CIVITAS, an admirable effort, but it just did not make for an entertaining read. False Allegations starts out strong, but the last half of the book has Burke standing around talking to people. Yawn. This one was an effort to finish

The novel starts out promising: Burke uncovers a possible set-up when a ex-stripper asks Burke to burgularize the apt. of unknown man who subsidizes her. Then the paces slows down tremendously as Burke discovers this is only really a tie-in to a lawyer investigating a client's claim of sexual abuse. Very little happens (action-wise) after the first 1/3 of the book; returning characters like Max, Mama, the Prof, and Clarence out written out at this point, although the author gives some meaty details to the clinical study of how child abuse is diagnosed and treated. This novel is probably only useful of those who've read Vachss' other Burke novels, since it reintroduces such characters as Wolfe, the hard-edged bureau investigator. If you you're new to Vachss, try his other titles instead, ie. Flood, Sacrifice, Hard Candy, etc.

The debate over "false allegations" is examined in Andrew Vachss' latest novel of the same name. Burke, the mercenary lead character, is forced into employment by a wealthy attorney (known only as Kite) who specializes in uncovering false claims of past child abuse. Burke's task: to decide whether or not Kite's current client was an abused child. In Burke's search for the truth, Vachss wisely resists the temptation to merely pick a side, and instead describes the lengths and efforts used by Burke (including a visit to real-life Dr. Bruce Perry of CIVITAS at Baylor College) to arrive at his conclusion. Every angle and argument in the false allegations debate is given equal time; the jumble may be confusing, and it's meant to be; it IS a difficult thing to ferret out the truth. Never one for subtlety, Vachss' message here is quite clear: the "answer" to the false allegation question can only come from a careful, methodical examination of each individual case; there is no one answer for all of them. Vachss' fiction, as well as his other writings, has always focused on child abuse, and the uninitiated may be repelled by his graphic depictions of the violence directed at children. But he also makes a point of educating his audience on a horrible subject. What is truly repulsive about his stories is that, sadly, they are all too real

False Allegations isn't the best of the Burke novels but it might be the most interesting. Taking on the serious problem of false allegations of sexual assault, Vachss provides a mountain of evidence to establish that accusations of sexual assault are too often false, that false accusations are incredibly destructive even if the truth is eventually revealed, and that false accusations are very difficult to overcome since the accusation itself (if believed) is all the proof the law requires. Of course, every false accusation harms the real victims of sexual assault by fueling the skepticism they encounter when they report the crimes.

A woman with a "recovered memory" of being a sexual assault victim is represented by a lawyer named Kite. Kite hires Burke to determine whether the accused, Brother Jacob, actually assaulted the woman when she was a child. Kite makes his living exposing false allegations of abuse, and is intent on developing a rigorous investigative technique that will become the gold standard of abuse investigations. To have credibility, however, he must conclude that at least one allegation is true, and he wants Burke to assure that the victim he wants to represent in a suit against Brother Jacob is telling the truth. The novel tracks Burke's thorough investigation. Of course, I won't reveal the ending, but I can say that it's both clever and unexpected.

Having said that, I viewed the ending as something of a cop-out (for reasons I can't discuss without spoiling it for those who haven't read the novel). Still, I appreciated Vachss' evenhanded assessment of the nature and causes of false sexual assault allegations, and (as always) I enjoyed his spare, razor-sharp writing style. I also enjoyed Burke's interaction with the usual friends and colorful cronies who populate the Burke novels. This novel lacks the dramatic tension of the best Burke novels, but it's worth reading, if only for its educational value.