The Middle of Nowhere (Lenny Bliss Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Bob Sloan (Author)

Book Description

Series: Lenny Bliss Mysteries | Publication Date: April 2003

In The Middle of Nowhere, Bob Sloan has created an intricate plot and characters that will keep you on the edge on your seat. Homicide detective Lenny Bliss wears consciousness like an albatross. He is looking for some inner peace. Instead he gets a floater fished out of the East River. Then his comedienne-turned-novelist wife wants to tag along. She's writing a novel about, of all things, a homicide detective. The investigation is not going swimmingly (they never do, with floaters) when another case takes precedent -- the bludgeoning of a young man during a party in a swanky Upper East Side town house. Arriving on the scene, Bliss realizes he's been to this town house before, the night he went looking for his missing daughter who had also been to the swanky party. If his previous visit is revealed, it will taint the case and make Bliss a very likely suspect. Bob Sloan writes with the lyrical toughness of James Lee Burke and the dark humor of Carl Hiassen, creating a torrid and revealing look at the dark underbelly of New York's wealthy elite-and the deeper darkness that lies below.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In Bob Sloan's interesting but ultimately unsatisfying third series entry, The Middle of Nowhere: A Lenny Bliss Mystery (after 1999's Bliss Jumps the Gun), the veteran NYPD homicide detective finds juggling his job and family life increasingly challenging after two bodies surface: one in the East River, which may be linked with a slumlord's gentrification schemes, the other in an affluent and influential family's Upper East Side apartment. Sloan succeeds at crafting finely etched portraits of the many people whose lives are touched by the crimes, but the various affecting vignettes don't make for a coherent whole, leaving the reader with a taste of a promising talent not fully realized.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

The third mystery featuring New York homicide detective Lenny Bliss delivers humor, soul, and dark drama in equal measure. Bliss is dealing with an old corpse fished out of the East River and with his wife's sudden interest in writing a crime novel, when a teenage boy is found murdered after a party in a posh townhouse on the Upper East Side. The scant evidence seems to point to an evasive crew of teenagers and to the man who went to the townhouse looking for his daughter in the middle of the night--Bliss himself, who must figure out whom he can trust with his secret before the missing videotape from the home's security camera surfaces. Some interesting takes on the perils of fatherhood appear amidst the investigative work here, and the descriptions of Bliss muttering his way through a yoga class and reading excerpts from his wife's novel-in-progress will have readers smirking right along with him. Carrie Bissey
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 297 pages
• Publisher: Atlantic Monthly Press; 1 edition (April 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0871138727
• ISBN-13: 978-0871138729
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.5 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,337,109 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Characters and Great Dialog., August 31, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Middle of Nowhere (Lenny Bliss Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I really enjoyed the twisted characters in this book with their broadly stroked flaws and strengths. The dialog is fantastic (internal dialog as well) and the storyline works well. Lenny Bliss's difficulties resonate. Sloan's writing is daring and refreshing and I'm glad I finally discovered him. I immediately read his other books. I hope there are more to come!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Bliss entangled, August 22, 2003

By 

Lynn Harnett (Marathon, FL USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Middle of Nowhere (Lenny Bliss Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In his third outing, New York police detective Lenny Bliss juggles two murders, both complicated by personal circumstances. The first is a "floater," and his wife, Rachel, switching careers from stand-up comedy to crime writing, tags along, for atmosphere. But Bliss' own involvement in the murder of a rich slacker kid is enough to make his blood run cold. The security tape shows him entering the house the night of the murder and leaving 20 minutes later. But the security tape is missing.

And we, the reader, know who has it. There are a lot of voices in this novel, but Sloan segues well, moving among thugs, illegal domestics, nasty rich folk, cops and criminals, mouthy kids, angry parents, worried parents, grieving parents and bystanders. Darkly humorous, with a hard edge and street-smarts, softened by deft characterizations and quirky writing, this is a mixed bag that works.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lenny is in big trouble!, June 14, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Middle of Nowhere (Lenny Bliss Mysteries) (Hardcover)

In each book of the Bliss series, B. Sloan gets deeper into his very interesting and offbeat characters. I couldn't go to sleep until I finished this one. The suspense built with every page.