Customer Reviews

Trigger City (Ray Dudgeon)

5 star:		(17)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
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Have you ever finished a novel but found you can't start another book because the one you've just finished won't leave you alone? TRIGGER CITY is one of those books. The plot begins as a quite satisfying detective story, but Chercover skillfully layers in threads of topical events and twists the plot into a deliciously complex thriller. Ray Dudgeon is not the same Ray we knew in Chercover's first novel (BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD). This sadder but wiser Ray is still plagued by physical injuries sustained in the first novel. But even more troubling for him is the self-doubt generated by those events. It's rare for authors to explore such emotionally complex issues with their protagonist and bring them to the page so realistically. On one level, it's a standard PI novel--stakeouts, car chases, witness interviews, and so on. But Chercover adds a dimension of realism that leaves most of the genre in the dust. While reading it, I kept one ear tuned to the news, expecting to hear updates on the story. It's that real, that powerful. Only his second time at bat, but Chercover smashes this one into the stratosphere.

The only thing that disappointed me after reading Trigger City is that I hadn't yet read Big City, Bad Blood. It would've been nice to meet Ray Dudgeon at the start of the author's introduction of him. Still, from the opening pages of Trigger City, it was evident that Sean Chercover's is a voice steeped in the streets of Chicago and influenced by the pages of Raymond Chandler, Mickey Spillane and Elmore Leonard. Make no mistake though--it's an original voice that will stay with you long after you've finished the novel. I'm a slow reader and I FLEW this book. Hell, it even had me running late for work one morning!

Terrific dialogue, scathing and self-deprecating humor team up with action scenes that, blended together, vividly paint a richly layered drama. It's a big story with the nuances of real life thrown in. Chercover manages to give Ray Dudgeon a soul yet still arm him with a pair of brass balls. He's the kind of guy you want to go have a beer with because you know the company will be great and that he'll have your back in case trouble breaks. Now I look forward--can't wait really--to start on Big City, Bad Blood so I can spend a few days following Ray's exploits. It's the Christmas gift I plan on buying myself.

Sean Chercover's sophomore novel is even better than his awfully-darned-good debut! In this one the characters seemed to have more of an emotional investment in the goings-on...I guess I just felt more involved with them this time around (even though I thoroughly enjoyed "Big City, Bad Blood"). The plot is compelling and always surprising. I also like the author's taste in music. :) Highly recommended!

I stumbled across Chercover's "Big City, Bad Blood" and was so impressed, I subsequently bought and devoured "Trigger City". Chercover is the real deal, an author who has made it to the top of my must read list in only two novels. He masterfully builds his characters and makes you care about them. He is adept at painting word pictures of Chicago so vivid that you think you are there at times. His plotting is tight, concise, and engrossing. Checover creates a Chicago noir with dialogue both spot on and believable.

Ray Dudgeon is still recovering from the physical and emotional injuries he suffered in "Big City, Bad Blood" when he reluctantly accepts a case from Isaac Richmond, a retired Army colonel, who questions the official version of his daughter Joan's death, an apparent murder by a crazed fellow worker, Steven Zhang, who later commits suicide. Richmond was not close to his daughter as she grew up and now seems to want to know more about the details of her murder.

Dudgeon begins nosing around and soon finds himself and his friends and family threatened by a shadowy organization. There is a lot of cloak and dagger stuff here with government cover ups, unscrupulous defense contractors, and shadowy agents working outside the government yet protected by its umbrella.

Even Ray's friends, FBI special Agent Holborn, and Lt. Mike Angelo of the CPD, are hampered in efforts to work with Ray. Terry Green, his reporter friend and muse, is back to help Ray think through issues and to provide the psychological support he needs to get through his self doubts. Adding to the drama is the fact that Ray is still hopelessly in love with Jill Browning, his former love who is trying to move on in her life without Ray because of her dislike for his risky work. The interactions between these two star-crossed lovers are fascinatingly real and gripping.

This novel will not disappoint as it is well written, fast paced, and filled with intriguing characters. There is an abundance of violence, deceit, lies, double crosses, and heart break. The reader is led into questions of national security versus individual rights, evil posing as good, goodness corrupted by evil, and the role of the individual in a nation influenced by the military/industrial complex. Few who Ray meets in this story are completely who or what they seem to be; indeed, the suspense builds as the reader flows with the relentless pacing of this novel and begins to uncover the truth of who everyone is and what their individual motives are. I highly recommend this novel as well as the work of Sean Chercover.

The author, Sean Chercover, has hit another home-run in 'Trigger City'. His first book, 'Big City, Bad Blood' is equally hard-hitting and well written. Tough guy private eye, Ray Dudgeon, is right out of the same mold as Sam Spade and Phillip Marlowe. He's tough and he's tough to bring down. Chercover is a brilliant writer - his sentences are short, sweet and to the point. If you like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler you'll love both books by Sean Chercover. Both books take place in Chicago and the city never looked so good or so real.

Chercover brings noir to contemporary Chicago with well-developed, three-dimensional characters and a well-plotted story line. His voice is unique, with great depth and nuance. He is a new writer to be watched.

A follow up to "Big City, Bad Blood" P.I. Ray Dudgeon reluctantly accepts a case to find out what was behind Joan Richmond's killing.
Her father, Isaac, a retired army colonel hires Ray, telling him that he needs closure since his daughter was on the phone with him when she answered her phone and was killed.

Ray finds out that Joan's last employer was H.M.Nichols, military contractors. They have a shady reputation and a congressional committee is looking into the company's billing practices. Joan was in charge of payroll and was scheduled to testify.

When Ray speaks to the head honcho at Nichols, he's given a smoke screen interview and introduced to Blake Sten, VP of corporate security. He tries to intimidate Ray without success.

What Ray and his buddy, Gravedigger, surmise is that Steve Zhang found something in the corporate computers. Sten fires Zhang with a fabricated story and soon both Zhang and Joan are dead.

I was totally captivated by this story. Not only is Ray a good detective but he shows how normal a person he is in his not being able to give up his girlfriend, being aflicted with a bad shoulder (from an injury in the last novel) and by making mistakes that have a fatal result for one character. The author gives a nice plot twist at the end and excellent character development.

Critics agree: "Trigger City" has reveived the following:
Agatha Award nominee 2009
Barry Award nomination 2009
Crimespree Award, Favority Book of 2008
Dilys Award.

#2 Ray Dudgeon mystery set in the Windy City of Chicago. In the first book, Ray takes on the mob and in this one, he seems to be tackling the US Government and their covert military operations. Battered, bruised and barely holding things together (physically and psychologically) after his torture and near death some months previously, Ray is hired by a retired military man whose daughter was brutally murdered--shot to death by one of her employees who then turned the gun on himself.

Her killer had apparently been suddenly psychotic and paranoid and believed Joan was `out to get him' and thus he ended both their lives. Of course nothing is ever that simple--the fact that Joan was set to testify for a Congressional hearing on defense contract spending had *nothing* to do with her death, I'm sure, right!?--and the fact that that information was kept hushed up is even more telling. Ray ends up in a tangled web of deceit, trying to sort out the good guys from the bad while trying to keep himself alive and mend his broken relationship with ex-girlfriend Jill, and also trying to protect Steven Zhang's widow and daughter--he being the man who killed Joan and then himself.

I like Ray, despite his foibles, and the author's writing style make the reading of his story easy and appealing. Ray lives in a world of realism where things are never perfect and exist in multiple shades of gray, not ever simplistically black and white or right and wrong--much like real life, I suppose. I hope he lives a long and prolific life and I will be eagerly awaiting the next in series to see which major player he goes up against next.

This is an excellent book and now I shall go back and read the author's first book. Great prose and the author obviously has written before. Top notch read, I loved it. But why must everyone in Chicago smoke? I didn't keep track but I believe every character smokes. Sounds more like the '60s than 2008.

It's not that ths book doesn't stand on its own merits because it does. But you will get much more out of it if you read the first Ray Dudgeon novel first.TRIGGER CITY flows nicely from the first book with a sadder but wiser Ray Dudgeon recovering from the wounds and tragedy of his earlier case and wrestling with romantic issues is presented with a case he doesn't really want, but takes because it looks like easy money. His client's daughter has been murdered, but it's an open and shut case with no question as to the murderer and the reason for the murder. But the father isn't completely satisfied and wants to know more of his daughter's life and why the apparantly insane murderer fastened upon her. Looks like easy money, but of course it isn't.Again, you have the richness of Chercover's description of the city he obviously loves in spite (or because?) of the corruption and violence one associates with Chicago. This time, the corruption and double dealing extends far beyond the city limits. We learn more of the continuing characters and are introduced to others (I had to love Amy). This appears to be the start of the career of an author capable of achieving the fame and popularity of those like Parker, Connelly, Crais, and select others. Stop wasting your time reading these reviews and instead get these first two books. You won't regret it. Trust me.