Nightbird [Hardcover]

Edward Dee (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1999

A young actress plummets through the sky, slamming down onto the roof of a parked car. Detectives Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory believe the Broadway star's "suicide" may actually be something more sinister. The main suspect is a big-time Broadway producer with a shady past. But who is the mysterious figure known only as the "Juggler" -- and what connection does he have to the dead girl? From the back alleys of Broadway to the vanishing Irish communities of Yonkers, Ryan and Gregory work through family secrets and tarnished reputations to find out what really happened on that balcony. As they discover the truth, the case becomes personal for Ryan, bringing him dangerously close to losing everything.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The fourth installment in Dee's gritty police series gets off to a promising start when the body of young Broadway actress Gillian Stone plummets from a building onto the top of a parked van in Times Square, and detectives Anthony Ryan and Joe Gregory quickly realize that her fatal leap may not have been a suicide. The case takes an interesting turn when they discover that Gregory's nephew, magazine writer Danny Eumont, is not only the former boyfriend of the dead actress, but that he received a call from her just hours before her death. But the fingerpointing shifts from Eumont to Gillian's most recent romantic partner, stage producer Trey Winters, when the detectives learn that he was the last person to see her alive. Working with the detectives on the case, Eumont follows the trail of clues to Arizona, Florida and back to New York, researching the missing link in the investigation, who turns out to be the victim's half-sister, Faye Boudreau. Peeling back layers of Faye's hidden identities, Eumont has a brief fling with her and soon discovers that she's involved with her violent, possessive foster brother in a scheme to blackmail the philandering producer. Ryan and Gregory provide their usual stream of sarcastic patter, and the author introduces an engaging array of New York oddballs, immigrants, criminals and seductresses. But Dee (Bronx Angel; Little Boy Blue) doesn't develop much intrigue or surprise around the initial crime after the chilling promise of the opening scene. The final chase, through Randall's Island and Ward's Island, provides a brief flurry of excitement, but readers will appreciate this tale not for its tepid suspense quotient but rather for the snappy, even irreverent NYPD duo's banter throughout. Agent, Gail Hochman. (Oct.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In the last decade, many of the best police procedurals, those of John Harvey and Jo Bannister, for example, have been set in Britain. But Dee's series, featuring New York detectives Joe Gregory and Anthony Ryan, is one of the few standouts on this side of the ocean. A retired veteran of the NYPD, Dee has a genuine feel for the lives of New York's denizens, making his writing lively and believable. His new work, the fourth in the series, follows the two detectives as they investigate the suspicious "suicide" of an up-and-coming Broadway actress, Gillian Stone. Along the way, the case gets personal for Ryan, which sets him on a dangerous course in his search for the truth. Dee's blending of the personal and professional lives of his characters is seamless and extremely satisfying. Recommended for all public libraries.
-AJane Jorgenson, Madison P.L., WI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 304 pages
• Publisher: Grand Central Publishing; First Edition edition (October 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 044652039X
• ISBN-13: 978-0446520393
• Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.1 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,692,700 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Dee does it again, April 20, 2001

By 

Jeff Cordell - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nightbird (Mass Market Paperback)

I'm a police officer with a fifty man department in Idaho. Much about how my department functions and how the NYPD works is very different. But I've also been suprised to see there is more that my dept has in common with the gigantic NYPD. Dee is expert at capturing the feeling of law enforcement, the undeniable truths of being a cop no matter where you're at. this is Dee's best work to date. He takes his characters to new levels, and his writing has achieved a sophistication. It's a daring move in having one of the characters lose his son, but it's effective. Not something that one sees very often in a book franchise. All in all I can't reccommend Dee's books highly enough. I find his work to be engrossing and fast moving, he's one of the authors whose newest book I'm always keeping an eye out for. Try him. I think he'll enjoy his books as much as I do.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best NYPD police stories I have ever read, the real JOB!, January 27, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Nightbird (Hardcover)

As a retired cop from the NYPD Ed Dee has taken me back to the old "Job" that I have missed. He shares the NY cops best and worst fears and experiences. This is the most accurate telling of a cops life and the way investigations are conducted. From his descriptions of the station houses from the front desk to the politics at the puzzle palace, (1 Police Plaza)and the real cops good and bad. And I thought me and my old partner were the only guys who called each other "Pally"! An old term we heard many moons ago in an old Bogart movie! If you want to see what it used to be like to pound the beat and investiagte crimes in the Big Apple this is the guy to read...Ed keep'em coming, Pally! I can't what to start my next tour and collar up!

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars JOHN---READER -RETD NY TROOPER -SOUTHWEST U S A, December 17, 1999

By 

"jbrnt" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Nightbird (Hardcover)

This book holds your attention from start to finish. The two seasoned NY City Detectives interact with each other during the course of a homicide investigation that has many twists and turns. It hooks you and you can't pull away. I couldn't. Read it you'll love it. Gregory and Ryan works on their target with dedication and NYPD professionalism. Again, the Author shows his intellectIN BRINGING TO US, NIGHTBIRD!