Customer Reviews

Safe House

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

There's something mildly comforting about a new
Burke novel, because you should know what you're buying by now.
A twist on the hardboiled detective, an antihero with a heart
of pyrite, a hard exterior protecting a tough interior protecting
a broken inner child.

I've been in on the Burke novels since the first one, Flood,
was dropped in my lap. I kinda liked the half-assed detective
character, and I was willing to go along with Vachss' evolution
of the character and his environment, but this novel represents
a definitive "mining of the old".

It's just short of becoming a parody of itself, and I don't
like it. Vachss has stripped down his usual dialogue and
character interactions down to the bone; it's really as if he's
now writing these novels from a template, where he plugs in
the scenario and picks from the usual menu of plot devices.

Perhaps I'm simply tired of Burke's world. The Prof's rhyming
is truly awful now, and I no longer find it a simple thing to
suspend disbelief during most of the book. I think the only
character preserved from my broad brush happens to be Max,
and I suspect it's partly because he doesn't speak, but mostly,
because Vachss now treats him as a deus ex machina and as such,
he's mostly an object rather than a person.

<sigh> I know this is not good news for loyal readers. However,
I have to write 'em like I see 'em, and this world has run its
course. Perhaps Vachss will take some time off, re-examine
where Burke is and where should be, and come up with something
fresh. He needs it.

In Safe House, Andrew Vachss again offers the reader the benefit of his astounding observational powers. This novel is a thrilling and suspenseful detective story that pits Vachss' ferocious and loyal Burke against white-supremacist gangsters who seek to bomb targets enough to start world war three. But the fierce plot is only the frosting on the cake. The true heart of this book is its unflinching report on the wrenching reality of domestic violence in America. And if you think those two themes have nothing to do with each other, buy this book right away. Once you have finished reading what Vachss has to tell, you will understand domestic violence for the form of terrorism it truly is. I read many new books this year, but this was the one I know will stay with me.

If you take Andrew Vachss at his word, and I know no reason not to, he is an accidental author, a man whose passionate hatred of child abuse and the various adult pathologies by which it is perpetuated has led him (driven him?) to the serendipitous creation of art. Safe House, the eleventh Burke novel, continues Vachss' relentless exploration and exposure of the cyclical yet preventable evil of molestation. Each of the previous Burke novels has focused thematically on one or another manifestation of how, for lack of a better phrase, monsters are made. In Safe House, Vachss turns his attention to the stalker. Burke and his extended family-of-choice are called to help an old prison friend framed for the death of one such stalker. As a result, they are drawn into a web of extortion and mayhem surrounding a safe house for battered women run by Crystal Beth, a woman whose own will to survive in turn threatens Burke and those he loves. It is probably impossible to review a Burke novel without using the phrase "hard boiled," for Vachss without question writes the darkest, hardest suspense fiction of this generation. The staccato prose style, abrupt violence and (from a safe and comfortable middle class perspective) amoral attitude of Burke and his cohort create a palpable atmosphere of urban evil and human depravity. Yet Burke is a very moral man, at least within his own frame of reference, and there is a redemptive grace in his underground loyalties. If Vachss' agenda is ethically unambiguous (and it is), his characters are human beings, and that is the benchmark of art, whether intended or not. Safe House is perhaps not the strongest Burke novel, but it is well up to par. Of course, fans of Miss Marple and her ilk should probably give Vachss a pass altogether, while Burke's devotees could care less about reviewers' musings in any case. Anyone else seeking solid entertainment from an authentic voice in the noir tradition will be delighted, however, to discover Burke and his 'fami! ly' through Safe House. Andrew Vachss may be an attorney at law and a polemicist at heart; but whether he knows, or cares, he is also a writer of literature.

Burke allows his emotions to show in his relationships with his loyal "family." He and his friends will go the distance to protect others from the predators that stalk them. What I like a lot about his books, is the types of characters he uses. They're not necessarily physically attractive,but their appeal is from within themselves and their loyalty to one another.

This is another Burke story. Burke is a formidable man who has surrounded himself with a vast network of professionals. But Burke is a criminal and a highly organised one at that.

This story starts off with a favour for a fellow ex-con. The ex-con has accidentally killed an abusive husband whom he was supposed to be warning away from his battered wife. The story then quickly progresses to the safe house of the book's title and the battered women who are sheltered there. At first it appears that the rest of the book would be about Burke and his partners providing protection for these women, but before you know it, the focus shifts on to a neo-Nazi movement. With the constant changes of focus, I found the plot a little hard to follow as I tried to remember the motivation behind what was taking place.

This is hardboiled all the way as Burke displays a willingness to do just about anything as long as it means getting the job done. A little more attention to explaining what was going on and a little less to attitude would have gone a long way.

After the dogma and "preachiness" of False Allegations,
which wasn't necessarily bad, mind you, but a little long,
it's nice to see Vachss get back to the Basics.

Burke is back in full style, tough, hard-boiled, and a problem to solve.
The intricacies of the story, the development of the characters, the pay off at the ending
All these together prove that Vachss is becoming a better writer as he goes along.

IF you know Vachss, you won't be surprised here.
All the elements are here, the righteous indignation, the disgust with the legal system, and the notion of family.
All in all, with Safe House, M. Vachss brings us back to the hard-boiled character that we met in Flood. Great Read.

A friend suggested that I read SAFE HOUSE, and now I am hooked. Just the picture of Vachss wearing an eyepatch for the author's photo was enough to interest me.

Vachss must have been keeping notebooks during his time as an attorney, etc., because he has the language, the mannerisms, the outlook and the style all down. Burke is the first hard-boiled, noir character that I've liked in a long time. It is because he's a real deal. Did I say hard- boiled? Burke and all of the other characters are deep-fried with a keen eye on what the world is really about.

If you are looking for politically correct characters, a warm and fuzzy feeling or that everything is black & white, don't read Vachss. But, if you're looking for the real world, and how life really is with a dose of the Old Testament's vengence, then read on brother...

This marks Mr Vachss' fourth weak novel in as many tries (his last book that was actually worth reading being Down in the Zero). This book is relatively derivative and unoriginal, often deteriorating into an excercise in vanity as the authors tries pushing what singers/songs he enjoys listening to (now I here there's actually a soundtrack for this book - how lame), what comic books he reads, etc.

I've been a fan of Mr Vachss since Strega back in '87 - eagerly awaiting each new chapter of Burke's saga. I can no longer claim this - the character seems like a cliche anymore (all his talk of "he doesn't know what pain is..." rings of false machismo anymore).

I don't know if Mr Vachss' writing has deteriorated or if I have just become a more sophisticated reader who demands more challenging ideas and better craftmanship in the writing. Whatever the case may be, I would suggest sticking with Mr Vachss' first eight novels.

A friend suggested that I read SAFE HOUSE, and now I am hooked. Just the picture of Vachss wearing an eyepatch for the author's photo was enough to interest me.

Vachss must have been keeping notebooks during his time as an attorney, etc., because he has the language, the mannerisms, the outlook and the style all down. Burke is the first hard-boiled, noir character that I've liked in a long time. It is because he's a real deal. Did I say hard- boiled? Burke and all of the other characters are deep-fried with a keen eye on what the world is really about.

If you are looking for politically correct characters, a warm and fuzzy feeling or that everything is black & white, don't read Vachss. But, if you're looking for the real world, and how life really is with a dose of the Old Testament's vengence, then read on brother...

If you are a fan of Andrew Vachss and I am, you look forward to the next book, so was the way with SAFE HOUSE. Buke in NYC with all his crew, Mama, Prof, Max, Michelle, Clarence, his whole crew. And we meet Wolfe again and Vyra and introducing Crystal Beth. I like the book in NYC and with the crew, they all add so much. This book was a little slow and had lots of social info which is always a staple of Vachss books. Nazis, and abused women, Feds, and boms, could you ask for more. RECOMMENDED. On to CHOICE OF EVIL.