Customer Reviews

Tower: A Novel

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TOWER is the book I had been waiting for all year. Ken Bruen is the Irish dark angel who, for the past several years, has carved a new and distinctive niche into the crime fiction genre. And Reed Farrel Coleman is a writer's writer, a master of noir crime fiction whose name is on the must-read list of all who have cracked the binding of one of his books. The news of a collaboration between the two men meant that the end result could be nothing less than an unforgettable, nightmarish journey to the dark end of a dangerous street. And that is precisely what it is.

TOWER is roughly divided into two sections covering the same period of time from the points of view of two childhood friends whose paths memorably and irrevocably cross and join as adults. Todd is a small-change hood working for Boyle, a mid-level Irish mobster with tentacles of influence throughout the East Coast to Ireland and beyond. Nick is the son of an Irish cop forced into an early retirement and working as a security guard. He doesn't fall under the sway of the evil of bad companions so much as he rushes to embrace them. Indeed, as his mother says, "he's got the bad drop."

When Todd brings Nick into Murphy's sphere of influence, Nick begins to thrive. But neither Todd nor Nick is entirely what the other believes him to be. Todd, especially, is holding a secret that will change the lives and relationship of both men when Murphy discovers it and forces Todd to make an untenable and impossible choice.

Matters are further complicated by the women with whom each of the men are involved. Nick meets Shannon by happenstance, a love at first sight circumstance that develops slowly and ends abruptly when his life gets in the way. Todd is thrown together with a woman named Leeza. Their attraction develops slowly; each of them knows exactly who and what the other is, and it is this knowledge that leads to both the consummation and termination of their relationship.

At the same time, federal law enforcement is ready to destroy Murphy's syndicate, with Nick and Todd being caught between the mob and the law. As the point of view of each man is presented, an apparent contradiction is resolved, and it appears that both men will ultimately escape intact with a promise of happiness or something like it. The conclusion is somewhat enigmatic, at least at first blush. When the full impact of what has occurred sets in, however, the climax is as chilling as anything you will read this year (or any year).

TOWER fulfills every promise made by the concept of this dream collaboration. Bruen and Coleman collaborate like twin sides of the same brain, making the difficult look easy --- and unforgettable, to boot. Dark, violent, frightening and touching, TOWER stands as a masterpiece in the crime fiction genre.

--- Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub

Ken Bruen is one of my favorite authors, and though I don't know anything about his collaborator, I knew I had to read this book because of my prior experience with Mr. Bruen's work. I am very happy that I did, as this book is simply excellent!

The plot concerns two friends, one Jewish and the other Irish. Mr. Bruen writes the part of the book about the Irish fellow and his co-author does the same for the Jewish gentleman. The different parts of the story intermesh very well, and you get one perspective on what is happening, and then the other.

There's a lot of foul language and gory violence, as usual, but they only move the plot forward. I don't like to talk abouit plot details bercause that would only spoil the fun of reading for others. One thing I will say, though: at the end I finally realized the significance of the book's title, because it was a puzzle to me almost all the way through. Read this book for yourself and enjoy some of the best gritty crime fiction being written today!

TOWER stands in a class of its own. This is a short novel with a break-neck speed, so hang on tight because it will grab you by the soul. Coleman and Bruen managed to blend their styles flawlessly, but still enable the reader to hear echos of each individual.

TOWER is filled with dark humor, poetic language, dimensional characters, and not least of all, a plot that lights the book on fire. It's gritty and it stays with you. TOWER will without a doubt make my top 10 list of 2009.

Stunning! If you haven't yet, get your hands on this book now.

I've read most books by Reed Farrel Coleman and many by Ken Bruen but could not "connect" with how they would collaborate on one. I could guess which author wrote which sections of the book. In any event, it truly "played well". (I noticed one reviewer knew which section had been written by which author ... don't know where that was indicated ......?).

Without ruining the story, per a short summary of a relatively short book, it covers a brief period in the early adult life of two guys raised in Brooklyn when they both were getting into some illegal activities. To even discuss the approach the authors took in writing the book could spoil some of the subtle twists in it.

I've had difficulty getting into almost every book I've read written by Ken Bruen. This was no exception; however, as with the others, that changes quickly. Once I got into it, the story moved very quickly and I had difficulty putting it down. My reading enjoyment had one major exception which was the graphic detail about a murder (something I try to avoid in selecting novels). That was a very minor part of the book and it may well have added to the importance of the events that followed . My tendency also is to avoid prologues, but for some reason I read this one and it did add to the intrigue.

If you enjoy books by either of these authors and/or if you enjoy "crime novels" in general, I'd recommend this one. I must conclude here by saying that every time I read a book by one of these two guys, I am left with the thought: " there are those with true talent; then, there's the rest of us"...

Make this an interesting collaboration by two talented authors. Though sometimes it feels a little show-offy, it is a worthwhile effort. Easy read.

Tower by Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman explores friendship, loyalty, and deception through the points of view of best friends, Nick and Todd. The co-authored story is divided into sections making the point of view always clear. The stroy flows together well hitting the joint parts of the story with originality and without sacrificing either character's position in the story. Nick and Todd are drawn into the service of a local criminal with reach beyond their city. Their friendship is tested as they are drawn into the investigation into the criminal enterprise. Deception strains their friendship as they search for their individual places in the world and in one another's lives. Tower immerses the reader in a world of violence, loyalty, deception, and friendship that feels all too real.

Both Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman are cult heroes in the world of crime and noir literature, and TOWER demonstrates why they are giants of the genre. TOWER is, as many of the reviewers point out, divided into two main parts, though the very last section is written in a different voice and is a perfect coda to the story. The novel is raw and gritty, yet also touched with moments of breathtaking grace. Highly recommended.

"Tower," the gritty crime fiction collaboration of authors Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman, is a special little book. Seldom has so much violence, irony, black humor, and sheer atmosphere been packed into only 172 pages. As a longtime fan of Ken Bruen's Jack Taylor novels, I would expect no less from his half of the book, but I was happy to discover that Reed Farrel Coleman's portion of the novel is the perfect compliment to Bruen's segment.

This is the tale of two boyhood friends with everything in common, including distant fathers, weak mothers, and a willingness to do the dirty work for some of Brooklyn's lowest-level wiseguys. Nick is the son of a failed Irish cop now relegated to rent-a-cop duties at the World Trade Center's north tower. Todd, impressed with the fearless rage Nick can summon up when he has to, admits to having had somewhat of a boy-crush on Nick when they were kids. He knows that Nick hates his physically abusive father but, as he sees it, at least Nick's father cares enough about him to hit him.

As young adults, the two manage to get some work from Boyle, a small-timer with a fake Irish brogue who considers himself to be more Irish than the hard-cases who still live in the old country. What makes Boyle particularly dangerous (and successful) is Griffin, the psychopathic enforcer Doyle keeps at his side to make sure the money keeps flowing in his direction.

When things go bad for the boys, one of them gets an offer from the NYC cops and the Feds he can't refuse: save himself, and maybe his buddy, by informing on his crime connections while working undercover as a NYC police detective. Things get interesting when that buddy is ordered to assassinate the new cop in order to prove his worth and loyalty to Boyle and Griffin.

"Tower" is filled with the raw violence of beatings, shootings, torture and rape. But, believe it or not, this is a love story. Both Nick and Todd manage to find the loves of their lives while simply trying to stay alive long enough to see their next birthdays. And perhaps the most impressive aspect of "Tower" is how, amidst all the blood and violence, Bruen and Coleman make the reader care about those relationships and how they might end. Despite its over-the-top characters, male and female alike, those who enjoy noir fiction are going to remember "Tower" for a long time to come. My only complaint with the book (and you knew I had to have one) is with its rather unsurprising and unsatisfying ending. It's not that I saw the book headed to this particular ending before I reached its final few pages but, when I did see where it was headed, I found myself really hoping that I was wrong. Unfortunately, I was not.

Rated at: 4.5 (half a point off for the ending)

Tower (Busted Flush Press, 2009) is a story that caught me unaware. At the time I read it, I knew of the collaborating writers -- multi-award winners Ken Bruen and Reed Farrel Coleman -- but I had not read any of their work. As a result I had no expectations, but I was still taken by surprise by the emotional depth of this powerful little book. It's not just a guns-blazing crime book; it's that and much more.

Tower is the story of two friends, Nick and Todd. At its root is an examination of the bonds of friendship, loyalty, and trust, with a healthy does of love and loss to further muck things up. The two men grow up together on the streets of New York City (almost a character itself), where, for poor kids of questionable education, working for the local low rent crime boss may seem like the only way to earn any kind of meaningful living. The boys make their choices, and then try to live with them. What I enjoyed is the way these authors chose to collaborate. Each of them takes a character and we see their experiences framed by the writer's voice, an interesting, and effective, technique.

Nick, the Irish-American kid with an abusive father who drinks too much, is handled by Bruen, while Todd, the boy from a home where the father never got over the mother's suicide, is written by Coleman. The significantly different writing styles of each author lends a legitimacy to the story, because we see each perspective as truly different in every sense of the word. Certain events are viewed from the lense of each character, which makes for interesting reading.

Both men start down similar paths working for Boyle and Griffin, the local wiseguys, but their paths separate when Todd, unknown to Nick, is recruited by the cops to become an undercover agent for them. We see the troubles they face, their struggles with love and loss, and their inability to deal with both; Nick remains in New York City, while Todd faces hardships in Philly and Boston before returning home an undercover policeman charged with bringing down Nick's boss. Each struggles to learn who they really are, and seek redemption almost in spite of themselves. Somehow, through it all, they remain loyal to one another while facing terrible choices each has to make regarding the other.

This isn't a happy book, though it is fun in moments. Both writers bring a biting humor to their writing, and it pops up in almost inappropriate places. The authors do an excellent job of making us care for the characters, even secondary players that are on stage only briefly, but still make us care about the demons they face and what happens to them. There is a lot of pathos packed into this slim little book, and I enjoyed it immensely.

I was a little disappointed by the ending, but to say why would spoil the book. It is probably just me, because the end totally works . . . I just didn't care for it. Even so, I would recommend this book to anyone who likes a dark story with rich characters packed into a quick read that barely lets you take a breath, delivered in unique fashion by two excellent writers.

This collaboration is reminiscent of the old time gritty hard-boiled P.I. novels. Told in two halves by the two main characters, the second part is superior to the first, but that is not to diminish hte first half. Todd and Nick tell the same story from their own, often contradictory perspectives.

The main characters are boyhood friends who grow up to become small-time Brooklyn hoods working for the Irish mob (even though one is Jewish and the other half Jewish). It starts with a gruesome prologue that sets the gritty tone. The first part as narrated by TOdd, is filled with tough street talk, that although crude, sets its narrator apart from the run-of-the-mill mystery character and sets up the heart of the book. The second half sets a more cerebral tone and moves the plot along much faster. There is a major twist near the end of the first part that sets up the major conflict.

Although the novel is short, the authors do a very good job with teh characters, giving them depth and unique personalities. They also fall in love in their own unique styles.

The end is chilling in a wholly surprising way.

This is an extremely good, fast, enjoyable read. A page turner for sure, but with excellent characters/narrators who carry the load. highly recommended. Although I have read everything by Coleman, I now will visit Bruen's works on the basis of this novel.