Hot Poppies [Hardcover]

Reggie Nadelson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 1999

A murder in New York's diamond district. A dead Chinese girl with a photograph in her pocket. A plastic bag of irradiated heroin on the mantelpiece in an apartment. A millennial fire in a sweatshop in the city's swarming Chinatown.

These are the events that conspire to bring ex-cop Artie Cohen out of retirement and back into the obsessive world of murder and politics that nearly killed him in Red Hot Blues. These are the events that fall into place just as Artie begins opening up his life to Lily, a red-haired reporter who shares his passion for food and jazz. In spite of himself, Artie is back in the game, one that is even deadlier than the last, because the trade is human beings--the booming business at the end of the twentieth century is illegal immigrants: girls are bought for wage slaves or marriage, and babies are bought and sold and sometimes left to die.

The terrifying plot uncoils first in New York, in Artie's own backyard, then, as he follows its threads, in Hong Kong, site of the last grab bag on earth, where everything--and everyone--is for sale.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Artie Cohen isn't your average New York City cop. Born Artemy Maximovich Ostalsky in Moscow, Artie left Russia at 16, spent some time in the Israeli Army, then came to America and joined the NYPD, where his background gives him special tools to use in fighting imported criminals. Now, after the misadventures chronicled in his first outing (Red Hot Blues, 1998), Artie is officially on "extended leave without pay," but foreign-flavored crime still swirls around him. When a good friend in the diamond business finds a dead Chinese girl in his shop, he calls on Artie. The family of Ricky Tae, who was badly wounded saving Artie's life, begs him to help their daughter break her drug habit?fueled by an exotic kind of irradiated heroin from China known as Hot Poppy. Meanwhile, Artie's lover, Lily Hanes, desperately seeking an adopted child, finds herself in trouble on the Chinese mainland, where intentionally fattened female infants are also called "hot poppies." The New York Chinatown turf has been explored before (e.g., by the likes of S.J. Rozan), but Nadelson (an American who lives in London) makes it her own by creating fresh characters with unexpected insights that make their travails both entertaining and real.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

In his second adventure, ex-cop Artie Cohen tangles with another group of international criminals. A Russian immigrant himself, Cohen battled the Russian Mafia in Red Hot Blues; this time it's a group of Hong Kong wise guys, running sweatshops in Manhattan and turning illegal immigrants into prostitutes. Cohen was forced to confront his own past when his first case took him to Russia; here he's off to Hong Kong, where he tackles an equally lethal criminal organization with ties to his best friends in New York. This series effectively combines the traditional hard-boiled formula (loner/knight errant walking the mean streets) with a savvy, nineties feel for the silk-suited nature of international crime. There is a little too much going on in Nadelson's overstuffed plot (sweatshops, baby-adoption rackets, high-powered heroin, relationship troubles, Hong Kong politics), but Cohen has the makings of a reliable hard-boiled hero in the classic Marlowe mold. A series to watch. Bill Ott

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: St Martins Pr (February 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312199864
• ISBN-13: 978-0312199869
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,531,124 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars entertaining, February 19, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hot Poppies (Hardcover)

After his last case, the NYPD placed Artie Cohen on some sort of semi-retired, leave without pay status. However, the treatment by the brass cannot keep the former Russian immigrant from helping a friend even though it means leaving the warmth of the bed he is sharing with Lily Hanes. Artie goes to see a frightened Hillel Abramsky, who has found the corpse of a Chinese girl in his diamond establishment.

At about the same time, Ricky Tae's family calls in the favor that he owes them for saving his life. They want their daughter to break her habitual use of irradiated heroin better known on the street as HOT POPPIES. Soon, he finds himself in danger due to his digging into the hottest business of the year, the selling of illegal immigrant girls.

HOT POPPIES is a very entertaining detective story that will thrill fans of Manhattan sleuthing tales. Artie is a great character, who provides readers with much insight into his personal life (through his chats with Lily). The support cast brings the city alive, especially Chinatown. Although this is only her second novel (see RED HOT BLUES) starring Artemy Maximovich Ostalsky (Artie Cohenís birth name), Reggie Nadelson writes a phenomenal novel.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent mystery adventure with a fascinating protagonist, May 21, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hot Poppies (Hardcover)

Artie Cohen is much more complex and richly drawn than the ordinary hero of a mystery series. One wants to read more about his adventures, his love-life and his neuroses -- especially his neuroses. The plot moves in unexpected but always believable ways. The descriptions of the locations inspire a desire to hop on a plane and see for one's self. I hope this series goes on as long as Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey/Maturin one.

5.0 out of 5 stars Top-drawer detective/police procedural, August 30, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Hot Poppies (Hardcover)

If Hieronymous Bosch and Matthew Scudder are your kinds of leading men, you're gonna dig Reggie Nadelson's character Artie Cohen. Unlike Bosch, who sticks to LA, and Scudder, who makes the occasional commute from Manhattan up to Sullivan County, Cohen's beat is New York City plus the rest of the world. Nadelson has plots that make you pay attention, and an international reach that brings you the dark side of London and Hong Kong. Start agitating now for a US release of her latest, "Bloody London," in which Artie Cohen tangles with the Russian mafia. Horrorshow!