Walking the Perfect Square (Moe Prager Mysteries) [Paperback]

Reed Farrel Coleman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Moe Prager Mysteries | Publication Date: January 28, 2003

Recently retired due to a freak accident, NYPD officer Moe Prager is lost. In pain and without the job he loves, Moe relunctantly settles on the notion of going into the wine business with his brother. When a suburban college student vanishes off the streets of Manhattan, Prager's universe is turned upside down and his life changed forever. Hired by the student's desperate family, Moe plunges deep into the world of New York s punk underground, sex clubs, and biker bars. Politicians, journalists, and crooked cops seem hell-bent on stopping him in his tracks. Set on the gritty city streets of the late seventies and the present day, Walking the Perfect Square is a unique mystery that delivers a compelling look at one person's efforts to find a man who was never really there and to protect his family from an unbearable truth.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Raymond Chandler once advised that when things get slow in a story, have a man with a gun come through the door. What's most remarkable about Coleman's first mystery to feature Brooklyn PI Moe Praeger (after three Dylan Klein noirs: Little Easter, etc.) is that he never resorts to such a crude device. Rooted in the late 1970s, the story is so solid, the characters so compelling, the pace so expertly driven that he can dispense with the usual genre stitches. If the one murder in the book occurs off-stage, there's no lack of suspense. The author makes us care about his characters and what happens to them, conveying a real sense of human absurdity and tragedy, of the price people will pay to get ahead or hide their true selves. Moe's job he's an ex-cop forced to retire because of a knee injury is to find the son of another cop, a young man who left a party one night and hasn't been seen since. So many people have been searching for Patrick Mahoney in the 20 years since his disappearance that Moe doesn't expect to be successful. As his investigation proceeds, he finds himself looking for two Patricks: one a choir boy lookalike and the other described by those who knew him as "weird" and "strange." But why? Is it possible Patrick's father really doesn't want to find his son? Patrick stands at the core of the novel, and the intricate tale of what happened to him makes for a first-rate mystery. Moe is a fine sleuth. Coleman is an excellent writer. (Dec.)Forecast: The misleading title and inappropriate jacket art won't help, but praise from a few big name authors could give a real boost to this series down the line.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

Moe Prager is one of the most likable ex-cops to come along in quite awhile. -- NewMysteryReader.com

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Plume; Reprint edition (January 28, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0452283892
• ISBN-13: 978-0452283893
• Product Dimensions: 7 x 4.2 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,820,845 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Called a hard-boiled poet by NPR's Maureen Corrigan, Reed Farrel Coleman is the former executive vice president of Mystery Writers of America. He has published twelve novels in three series, and one stand-alone with award-winning Irish author Ken Bruen. His books have been translated into seven languages, and the Moe Prager character in his current series is one of the most engaging in crime fiction. "His bone-deep world weariness and mordant sense of humor should enthrall lovers of old-school, tough-talking, loner private eyes," says Booklist.

Reed is a three-time winner of the Shamus Award for Best Detective Novel of the Year. He has also received the Barry and Anthony Awards, and has been twice nominated for the Edgar® Award. He was the editor of the anthology Hard Boiled Brooklyn, and his short fiction and essays have appeared in Wall Street Noir, The Darker Mask, These Guns For Hire, Brooklyn Noir 3, Damn Near Dead, and other publications.

Reed is an adjunct professor at Hofstra University, teaching writing classes in mystery fiction and the novel.

His standalone novel, GUN CHURCH, is exclusive to Audible.com, and his seventh Moe Prager novel (HURT MACHINE) has been winning accolades from the likes of Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The First Moe Prager: Walking The Perfect Square, March 30, 2004

By 

Kevin Tipple (Plano, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Walking the Perfect Square: A Novel (Moe Prager Mysteries) (Hardcover)

On December 8, 1977 Patrick Maloney, Jr., college student, walked out of a local bar and vanished. As 19977 became 1978 other things in New York City like the arrest of the Son of Sam killer garner media attention. For recently retired Police Officer Moe Prager, the disappearance of Patrick Maloney, Jr. is insignificant and no different than many of the ills that befall the city's population. Not that Patrick isn't important in his own right, but Moe has more on his mind thanks to a ruined knee and is facing limited prospects and a lonely life.

At relative loose ends when his friend and still a cop Rico Tripoli calls, he agrees to meet him for lunch at a local restaurant. Rico wants to talk to him about looking for Patrick. Once there, despite the obvious racism of the missing man's powerful father, Patrick Maloney, he agrees to start working the case in exchange for a favor regarding a much needed liquor license. Moe's brother wants him to go in with him on a wine shop and without any other options Moe has sort of agreed to do so. As he begins working the case, he realizes that he has missed the streets and soon discovers that everyone involved is lying to him. Nothing is the way he thought it was with his enemies or his friends.

Twenty years later the case still haunts him and a call from a Nun in a local hospice brings it all back to life. A man is dying and wishes to unburden himself and will only do so to Me Prager. He may finally get the last piece of the painful puzzle that has haunted him for years and nearly destroyed his family.

This is a very good novel featuring a number of interesting characters. The read is a little disconcerting at times as it moves back and forth between 1977 and 78, and the present (1998). I'm not a fan of flashbacks, extended or otherwise, but in this case it actually enhances the story. By moving back and forth, it creates a different perspective for the reader as the mystery is slowly solved.

At the same time, the author has an incredible sense of detail and an uncanny ability to bring the work alive for the reader. He really got into my head and made me feel like I was there right with him, step for step, as he worked the case. There are not very many authors who can totally pull me into their world like that and he did it easily within the first ten pages or so. His characters were rich and complex with a decidedly noir slant and his sense of pacing and story development was right on.

This was a very good read and according to my local library, the first novel of a new series built around the main character, Moe Prager. Unfortunately my local library does not have his earlier novels, "Little Easter," Life Goes Sleeping," and "They don't Play Stickball In Milwaukee." You can bet I'm going to be looking for them.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So well written, I truly did not want it to end., March 19, 2002

By 

Gerald Simpson "Gerry810" (Toms River, New Jersey USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Walking the Perfect Square: A Novel (Moe Prager Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Once again, I found myself thoroughly engrossed in an absolute knock out of a thriller involving a search that has profound effects on so many lives and asking "Who is this Reed Farrel Coleman?" The jacket tells me that he has written several other books, but I never heard of the author. If his other works were anywhere near as good as this one, Mr. Coleman should now have become as well known as Ed McBain. I am absolutely certain that after you read this superbly written and marvelously paced book you will agree that his publisher has been derelict in hiding Mr. Coleman's brilliant light. You will then spread the word to everyone that will listen. An absolute must read!!!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A fabulous start to a series!, November 22, 2006

By 

Jeff (Northern California) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Walking the Perfect Square (Moe Prager Mysteries) (Paperback)

The prior reviewers have done a good job. I will just add a very enthusiastic additional vote for buying this book as soon as you can. It is so well constructed compared to most of its competitors.

I was left with a feeling of 'When can I get me hands on the next one?' when I finished this book. I would have read both back to back if I had the second one today.