Soul Patch (Kennebec Large Print Superior Collection) [Large Print] [Paperback]

Reed Farrel Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 2009 | Series: Kennebec Large Print Superior Collection

The Fourth Moe Prager Mystery set in New York City.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in late 1980s New York City, Coleman's gritty fourth Moe Prager mystery is somewhat less surprising and realistic than its acclaimed predecessor, The James Deans (2005), which won Shamus, Barry and Anthony awards. Prager, an ex-cop turned PI, has a cryptic encounter with his old friend Larry McDonald, the NYPD chief of detectives. Larry slips him a covertly recorded tape of an interrogation of a snitch claiming to know the secret behind the murder of Dexter Mayweather, a major-league drug dealer in the early 1970s. When McDonald himself turns up an apparent suicide, Prager calls in a variety of favors from old friends to sift the truth behind Mayweather's death, even as his marriage hits a lull, leaving him vulnerable to an attractive young Hispanic detective. Less sharply written than earlier books, this effort builds to a fairly predictable solution. (Apr.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

"Moe Prager is my kind of private eye." -- Michael Connelly, author of the Harry Bosch series

"With Soul Patch, Coleman does The James Deans one better and then some. Moe Prager is the man." -- Janet Evanovich, author of the Stephanie Plum novels --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 357 pages
• Publisher: Large Print Press; Lrg edition (July 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1597229504
• ISBN-13: 978-1597229500
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,993,597 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Called a hard-boiled poet by NPR's Maureen Corrigan, Reed Farrel Coleman is the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America. He has published twelve novels in three series, and one stand-alone with award-winning Irish author Ken Bruen. His books have been translated into seven languages, and the Moe Prager character in his current series is one of the most engaging in crime fiction. "His bone-deep world weariness and mordant sense of humor should enthrall lovers of old-school, tough-talking, loner private eyes," says Booklist.

Reed is a three-time winner of the Shamus Award for Best Detective Novel of the Year. He has also received the Barry and Anthony Awards, and has been twice nominated for the Edgar® Award. He was the editor of the anthology Hard Boiled Brooklyn, and his short fiction and essays have appeared in Wall Street Noir, The Darker Mask, These Guns For Hire, Brooklyn Noir 3, Damn Near Dead, and other publications.

Reed is an adjunct professor at Hofstra University, teaching writing classes in mystery fiction and the novel.

His standalone novel, GUN CHURCH, is exclusive to Audible.com, and his seventh Moe Prager novel (HURT MACHINE) has been winning accolades from the likes of Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Crais and Coburn meet Hammett, May 15, 2007

By 

Richard A. Mitchell "Rick Mitchell" (candia, new hampshire United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Soul Patch (Moe Prager Mysteries) (Paperback)

A lot of authors have been touted as the second coming of Dashiel Hammett, but Coleman comes closest for me. He has all the grit of Hammett, but has the personally developed main character that Crais and Coburn do so well.

Moe Prager is an ex-cop turned wine salesman who would much rather be detecting than sipping and selling. When an old "friend" comes for help, bodies start turning up and his may be next. The plot is a good one with enough uncertainty throughout to keep the pages turning.

It is the characters that sets this book apart. Moe is rich and believeable. His observations (the book is written in the first person) about other characters in the book resonate with believability. We have all known people just like the characters in this mystery.

The setting is Brooklyn in the late 1980's and Coleman captures the tone of that decade well.

Frankly, I do not understand why Coleman is not a best-selling author. He is a winner of the Shamus Award and other prizes for his predecessor book, "The James Deans". This was my first Coleman/Moe Praeger book, but I'm going back to the bookstore for his others. This is highly recommended.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Soul of Reed, April 11, 2007

By 

B. G. Ritts "Old Beeg" (North Carolina, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Soul Patch (Moe Prager Mysteries) (Paperback)

This is the first Moe Prager book I've read, and I love the spare but gritty prose Mr. Coleman uses. I liked Moe from the beginning, and his apparent marital problems set up the possibility that an attractive detective he ends up working with will turn his head a bit further than appropriate.

I'm not familiar with Brooklyn, but I liked the feel of the place where the book is set. There are enough twists and turns in the story to keep people busy guessing what's next, and toward the end, when I thought I had an idea what might be coming, I so wanted it to be true.

I own two other of Mr. Coleman's books and they have been moved way up on my stack of books waiting to be read. The soul of a poet shimmers in this book, and that's very good for those of us who read it.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Coleman's Best Yet!, June 2, 2007

By 

A. Pasternak (Houston, Texas USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Soul Patch (Moe Prager Mysteries) (Paperback)

Not to diminish Coleman's earlier work -- they've all been great all the way back to his first, Dylan Klein novel, 'Life Goes Sleeping' from 1991 -- but he's really hit his stride with 'Soul Patch'. The plotting and twists are creative and non-stop, and his characters are completely alive and ones you care about -- though not always favorably. Moe Prager's empathy with some of the biggest losers is offset by his disdain for many of the other respectable and powerful. Moe himself is one the reader really comes to care about, and I can't wait for his next appearance. This fourth entry in the Moe Prager series is outstanding, dark and gritty and everything one could hope for from a crime novel. There are numerous references to plots of the previous three in the series, but that shouldn't deter you from reading this as a starting point. I'll be surprised if there's a better crime novel this year. Reed Farrel Coleman is as good as it gets! We'll be hearing a lot more from him.