Son of a Gun: A Sydney Sloane Mystery [Hardcover]

Randye Lordon (Author)

Book Description

Series: Sydney Sloane | Publication Date: January 13, 2005

New York City private investigator Sydney Sloane has enough drama in her own family to make her normally shy away from such cases professionally. But this one is different. Her friend, and father of her godchild, Captain John Cannady of the NYPD has been critically shot in the hallway of his own apartment building, with few traces of the shooter left behind. Just after the shooting, his wife Peggy got a call from a man claiming to be the son she gave up for adoption after an unfortunate teen pregnancy. His claims and his desire for revenge chills the already upset wife. With four days to find some sort of solution, Sydney agrees to track down the long-ago child and protect the family of the man clinging to life in the hospital. With her own family undergoing a tramatic situation of its own, Sloane's skills are put to their ultimate test.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Ex-cop and New York PI Sydney Sloane's personal and professional lives inextricably and uncomfortably intertwine in her seventh enjoyable outing from Lambda Award–winner Lordon (after 2001's East of Niece). Sloane's lover, Leslie, is concerned about her widowed mother, who's engaged to a man whose previous wives have tended to die soon after their marriage. She wants Sloane to investigate, but Sloane would rather keep herself and her detective agency out of it. Meanwhile, John Cannady, a former NYPD police colleague and husband of her good friend Peggy, falls victim to a shooting ambush that leaves him in critical condition. Strained relations with Leslie add to her load as Sloane tries to lend support to Peggy, whose past holds the key to Cannady's shooting. Because Lordon telegraphs some of the plot twists, readers may at times be ahead of Sloane, who puts in a lot of solid detective work, aided and abetted by an interesting cast of characters. The author presents Sloane's lesbianism neither as a cross to bear nor as a flag to wave, but simply as part of her identity.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Lordon extends the saga of New York City PI Sydney Sloane from when a dear friend of hers, an NYPD captain, lies in a hospital bed after being shot, and his wife, Peggy, needs best pal Sydney for hot tea and moral support as much as for crime solving, especially when the revelation of Peggy's long-kept secret unearths an ugly past. Peggy's backstory proceeds to spin the present, placing her little daughter, Syd's beloved godchild, Lucy, in the jeopardy of being kidnapped as part of an elaborate revenge scenario. Throughout the rounds of hugs, tears, and sympathy, the deep fissure in Syd's relationship with Leslie--a divide exacerbated by thousands of miles of separation and the stress of their good friend Peggy's crisis--reverberates. The shooting, the hidden past, the missing child, and an unwanted family member's sudden appearance proliferate plot details and a large cast of characters, including a Buddhist hit man, that ought to have fans of the series flipping the pages of this book and anticipating its successor. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; First Edition edition (January 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312291310
• ISBN-13: 978-0312291310
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,533,865 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:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fantastic private investigative tale, December 7, 2004

By 

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

This review is from: Son of a Gun: A Sydney Sloane Mystery (Hardcover)

Domestic cases are the type that normally intrepid New York City private investigator Sydney Sloane avoids though not out of fear of being physically hurt. These scenes are too much like what her family life has always been, so mentally to difficult to deal with for some minor pittance. Although in reality, involuntarily Sydney seems always embroiled with dangerous scenarios involving members of her family from sister, brother, father mother, uncle to niece. She thanks god everyday that she is a lesbian or else she would add husband, boyfriend, and child to her list; so far her lover Leslie has made no sleuthing demands on her.

Someone shoots New York Police Department Captain John Cannady, the father of Sydney's godchild. Not long afterward, as John lies in a Manhattan hospital in critical condition, his spouse Peggy receives a death call from someone insisting he is the son she gave away as a teen; the sinister caller insists murder of her and her loved ones will follow. Sydney voluntarily investigates the adopted child of Peggy while vowing to keep John's family safe, not realizing how dangerous her pledge is.

This is a fabulous private investigative tale starring one of the bright lights of the Manhattan sleuthing universe. Sydney is a fantastic as she struggles with finding the lost son, keeping everyone safe, and dealing with family crisis like Aunt Minnie's latest plumbing issue all while Leslie is in California. The who-done-it is cleverly handled so that the audience sees Sydney at her best trying to resolve the case and having other woes. Randye Lordon provides another winning Sloane mystery.

Harriet Klausner

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply The Best, March 12, 2005

By 

Mark W. Ginsberg (East Hampton, New York USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Son of a Gun: A Sydney Sloane Mystery (Hardcover)

There is a lyric from a Bruce Springsteen Song which goes something like, " Simply The Best, Better Than All The Rest. "
That sentiment is an appropriate description of Randye Lordon's newest Sidney Sloan mystery, SON OF A GUN. While all of Ms. Lordon's novels are marvelous and entertaining, this one stands out like a sparkling diamond on a bed of perfect pearls. The reader is immediately immersed in the center of a fascinating police drama. Familiar characters from previous novels in the series are joined by interesting new personalities. Suspense builds and builds until you completely forget that you are reading. This novel is not only captivating and educational, it also contains something generally unexpected in this type of fiction. There are some poignant insights into the frailties of human relationships that we will all identify with. Ms. Lordon is at her literary peak in Son of a Gun, and we can only hope she will continue to produce these literary marvels. This one, however, will be hard to beat.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Super Read, December 14, 2005

By 

M. Lowenthal "Reading Fool" (San Francisco) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Son of a Gun: A Sydney Sloane Mystery (Hardcover)

I've enjoyed Lordon's mysteries in the past, but this one is just a super read. I loved it. It's characters are interesting and fun, it's plot exciting, and it's tone refreshing.

A must for anyone who loves to read and anyone who loves to read mysteries.