Man Who Killed His Brother [Paperback]

Stephen Donaldson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 2, 2002

Mick 'Brew' Axbrewder has a lot on his mind. An alcoholic, he lost his private investigator's licence some time ago and now works in partnership with Ginny Fistoulari, a tough, capable PI with a soft spot for Brew. Brew and Ginny have an arrangement that she will never drag him out of a bar - so when she does just that, Brew knows it must be something serious. And it is. Brew's thirteen-year-old niece has gone missing. The police seem to be doing nothing - but then Brew's investigation uncovers a link with several other girls: they all went missing, sent a letter home, then turned up dead, full of heroin. Fighting the latest drinking binge, and desperate to stay off the bottle, Brew is determined to find his niece before it is too late ...

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The author of the bestselling Chronicles of Thomas Covenant SF series delivers a pretty good tough guy yarn in this minimally revised reissue, the first of Donaldson's mysteries to feature alcoholic ex-PI "Brew" Axbrewder, who dries out occasionally to assist Ginny Fistoulari, his former partner and romantic interest. Axbrewder can't overcome his guilt and shame over the accidental slaying of his policeman brother. When Fistoulari rousts him from his drinking this time, it's because his young niece, Alathea, has gone missing. Fighting withdrawal through much of the book, Axbrewder joins Fistoulari in helping the girl's mother-talking to unsympathetic policemen, hostile school officials and, as their investigation expands, parents of other children who have simply disappeared from school only to turn up as dead junkies and whores. The book is dated in ways important and not: Axbrewder rents a Torino to drive; the large urban school district is just beginning to computerize records; the police seem indifferent to a bunch of 12- or 13-year-old schoolgirls disappearing from school and later showing up as corpses. Fans of the author's most recent Axbrewder story, last year's The Man Who Fought Alone, might relish this peek at his origins, but readers seeking a contemporary mystery are likely to be disappointed.1980 under the pseudonym Reed Stephens.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Authoritative." -Publishers Weekly on The Man Who Fought Alone

"Fun . . . . He ought to follow this up." -San Jose Mercury-News on The Man Who Fought Alone

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Orion Paperbacks (May 2, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0752848488
• ISBN-13: 978-0752848488
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,415,722 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 As Noir as it gets, October 25, 2002

By 

718 Session (Brooklyn, NY United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Who Killed His Brother (Hardcover)

...Former P.I. Mick Axbrewder has been having a very tough time of things since he accidentally shot his brother, a cop. He can't find regular work and has taken to bouncing, providing muscle, and alcohol--lots of it. Now, however, his neice is missing and his brother's widow and his ex-partner are expecting Mick to sober up and figure out what is going on in the sunny town of Puerto del Sol.

This book works on a couple of levels. It's a hard-boiled Chandleresque mystery (complete with those dark metaphors that sit in a paragraph like a black widow spider on a freshly painted white wall). It's a study in overcoming alcoholism. And it is a study in contradictions: the darkness in sunny Puerto del Sol, the noble acts of a tortured character.

I think the only flaw is that the book is incredibly bleak at times, something that can be said of some of Donaldson's other work. Mick is painted in many shades of self-loathing, but only rarely reaches the darkest despair. Some readers might find that a bit of a tough, at times wondering how Mick can go on...I don't know if this version will be better than the original or not, and I'll edit this review when I'm able to compare. ...

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Strange Brew, March 13, 2005

By 

Kelly Langston-Smith (Atomic City, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Who Killed His Brother (Paperback)

Part of the genius of this hard boiled detective book is that its author is so well known for another genre (fantasy/sci-fi) that one may expect this to be the adventures of Tom Covenant, private dick, but it absolutely isn't. Other than having the hero with a tragic flaw (this time being an alcoholic rather than a leper), this book is so different in style and substance than Donaldson's other works that it could have been written by another author. Very grim. Very hard boiled. Very decent detective story. Very angst ridden. And very good. Axebrewer starts the book in the throes of his alcoholism, a malady so bad that he once accidentaly killed his brother while under the influence, but when his brother's little girl is kidnapped and slated for murder, he must claw his way up through the pain of sobriety to track down her abductor. Come at this looking for good crime noir rather than a detective book by a fanatsy writer and you won't be disappointed. My closest comparison is Andrew Vachss, which I consider very high praise indeed.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Mediocre effort, February 2, 2005

By 

Caeriel (Berlin, Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Man Who Killed His Brother (Hardcover)

While not entirely lacking in emotional resonance, this book is definitely a drop in quality from Donaldson's science fiction and fantasy. I got the impression that he tosses these mysteries off, for fun and without much attention to detail, between writing the books he really cares about. It's not that it's entirely unworthwhile, but mostly the characters resonate only in two dimensions, and come off as insanely obtuse. The plot is so simplistic as to be laughable. You'll have it figured out by Chapter Two. This can be a fun, quick read nevertheless, but don't expect the grace, dignity, and care that Donaldson generously lavishes on his sci-fi/fantasy works.