Red Rain [Mass Market Paperback]

Michael Crow (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 6, 2003

Luther Ewing is like no other cop. Half-Vietnamese, half-black, he's "a complex brooder, scarred by his past, emotionally distant-but exactly the kind of man for those nasty jobs no one else is willing to do" (Publishers Weekly). When the Russian mob brings its drug trade to his city-digging up a past he'd rather forget-Ewing decides to take on the mob...alone.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Crow, "the pseudonym of a prizewinning, critically acclaimed literary novelist," comes forth with this raw-edged, Ramboesque crime drama about a Baltimore police detective's secret past and his frenzied pursuit of an old foe. None of his colleagues on the force know that narcotics cop Luther Ewing got kicked out of the U.S. Special Forces for inappropriate violence during the Gulf War. Nor do they know that Ewing then turned mercenary sniper, killing at least 84 Serb soldiers in Bosnia before getting shot in the head himself. Baltimore police are also unaware that the man who has seized the city's street drug trade, a ruthless Russian mobster named Vassily, is one of Ewing's former buddies in the soldier-for-hire ranks. Forsaking his old friendship, Ewing leads a sting operation to nab Vassily; not only does it fail, but the drug kingpin vows to come after him. Blood spills up and down the eastern seaboard, from Baltimore to Brighton Beach, as the two battle-hardened warriors track each other. The action moves in steady, violent bursts, interwoven with moments of tense reflection and preparation as the hunt progresses. It's a strong beginning to what is apparently envisioned as a series. Through vivid first-person narration, Ewing emerges as a well-constructed caricature a complex brooder, scarred by his past, emotionally distant but exactly the kind of man for those nasty jobs no one else is willing to do.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Ex-Special Forces sharpshooter Luther Ewing is now a detective in the Narcotics Division of the Baltimore County Police Department. His military training has made him into a highly skilled killer, and his mercenary experience in Bosnia has left him subject to seizures and memory loss. When it becomes clear that heroin is replacing ecstasy as the drug of choice in the area and that a Russian gang is muscling in on the Baltimore drug trade, Luther realizes that his past has caught up with him. The violence escalates, and soon Luther must go underground to trap the elusive Russian gang leader. A literary novelist writing under a pseudonym, Crow presents a tense, gritty book. Luther Ewing is one of a kind, and Crow skillfully surrounds him with memorable secondary characters who add depth and reality to a graphic and violent tale. This is a good bet for readers of police procedurals, but it will be off-putting for some, as there is considerable profanity, stark descriptions of murder, and an unusual denouement. For large fiction collections. Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-University Heights P.L., OH
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Onyx (May 6, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451410866
• ISBN-13: 978-0451410863
• Product Dimensions: 6.8 x 4.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,490,924 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Grape juice is not bad champagne, June 25, 2002

By 

Mick McAllister - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Rain (Luther Ewing Thriller) (Hardcover)

There are fewer more tiresome kinds of hubris than the "trained professional" who decides to show us Philistines how it should be done. The opera star who pumps her lung capacity into "really singing" folk songs and Beatles' tunes, for example, or the Shakespearean actor who recites nursery rhymes as if they were soliloquies. Having "a prizewinning, critically acclaimed literary novelist" write an action-packed thriller is the same sort of embarrassing schtick.

With the exception of mouth-breathing adolescents like James Ellroy, most writers of mystery fiction know that their work must have a moral foundation of some sort. Even someone as noir as Andrew Vachss operates in a moral world, and James Lee Burke's Dave Robicheaux is just as damaged as Luther Ewing but a lot more interesting. Ewing is no better than his adversaries, and he doesn't mind.

This novel is contemptuous of its audience. That attitude may work in the alleys on 42nd Street, but I suspect most of the book's potential readers will spot it and walk away, wary of Murphy lit. Even children can usually tell when they are being patronized, and many readers of genre lit, surprising though this may be to "literary novelists," are not children.

The novel is full of bonehead problems. We are supposed to believe that Luther managed to hide a big and important chunk of his career from his employers at Baltimore PD. Ok. That he could connect up with an old friend who's now a drug runner, and the guy would never "notice" that he was a cop. Sure. That all women under 25--at least all the goodlooking ones--can't keep their hands off his aging bod. Well, of course.

There are good writers of mystery fiction out there who could teach "Michael Crow" that good grape juice is better than bad champagne. Whoever he is, he needs to throw away his Shooter's Bible and study some real writers.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars sensational crime thriller, May 12, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Red Rain (Luther Ewing Thriller) (Hardcover)

There is nobody like Luther Ewing AKA Five-Oh on the Baltimore County Police Department. He's a narcotics detective whose heritage of a black father and a Vietnamese mother makes him look like the suspects he busts. He served in the Army's Special Forces in the Gulf War. After he left the service, the CIA hired him to work as a mercenary in Bosnia.

He saw and did a lot of things that changed him and he came home wearing a metal plate in his head and has to take medication so he won't go into seizures. He thinks the past is behind him but when pure heroine starts showing up on the streets and a Russian gun is killing cops, he knows his old friend Vasilly is in town.. Vasilly is a former Soviet Special Forces soldier who served with him in Bosnia. Five-oh knows that the Russian must be taken out but he also believes he must go outside the law to do it.

This is Michael Crow's first crime thriller and it is simply sensational. The protagonist is an anti-hero who believes justice and the law are not always compatible and is not afraid of being a maverick to make sure the scales tip towards justice. RED RAIN starts out at supersonic speed and just keeps moving faster towards the shocking finale.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great style, so-so story..., June 6, 2004

By 

Thomas Duff "Duffbert" (Portland, OR United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Red Rain (Luther Ewing Thriller) (Hardcover)

I recently decided to read a paperback I've had kicking around for awhile... Red Rain by Michael Crow. This is a crime thriller with a very gritty edge to it. Good in some ways, not so hot in others...

The basic plot is this... Luther Ewing, a cop, ends up running across a Russian mobster who he apparently fought next to in some war action. The Russian is pushing drugs into his area, and Ewing decides to run undercover to get close to him and shut down the ring. The problem is that he has to do this outside the bounds of normal law enforcement to protect a number of cops from getting killed by the ex-Spetnaz employed by the Russian. Plenty of people in the drug world and law enforcement circles start getting assasinated, and Ewing has to kill or be killed. There are a few side stories too, but I'll leave it at that.

Now, the book is written in a first person style. The main character is half-Vietnamese, half-black, and takes medication to control brain damage from a bullet wound he suffered. He's a trained killer, so his emotional side is less than touchy-feely. There's a darkness and edge to the writing that matches the character and makes it a compelling read. What I don't like is that much of the background of the different characters is only alluded to during the story. If this were a second or third novel with the main character, I could understand it. But this is the first one, and I would have expected a bit more character development along the way. I wasn't always sure where the story was going or why certain things were happening.

So... Stylistically, it's an interesting read. From just a pure story viewpoint, it was average.