Winter and Night [Kindle Edition]

S. J. Rozan (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Penzler Pick, January 2002: S.J. Rozan is an author whose reputation and prowess have been growing in tandem. A strong writer in the "newcomers to watch" category back when she published China Trade, her first novel featuring New York sleuths Bill Smith and Lydia Chin, she is now a real player on the scene, poised for bestsellerdom.

The story she tells here takes us out of the gritty five boroughs and onto the New Jersey Turnpike, where Smith's sister Helen lives, in a place called Warrenstown. But did we know Bill even had a sister? Over the course of seven books and several short stories, even Lydia Chin, his partner and best friend, hasn't known this. So what gives?

We learn about Helen Smith Russell through a totally unexpected phone call from a Midtown South police detective, answered by Bill in his Tribeca loft. It seems the cops have his nephew in custody, a 15-year-old runaway who is the son of the sister with whom Bill has not been in touch for 25 years.

Two mysteries are being set up here, but before Rozan is finished, more than even these two will have been followed to their tragic conclusions. Each of the sinister puzzles seems to circle back around to Gary, the frightened nephew, and also to that seemingly straight-arrow suburbia he's fleeing.

Warrenstown, New Jersey, is also where Scott, Gary's dad, grew up. The trouble is that Helen's husband is part of the problem, not the solution. And while Bill, Lydia, and young Gary are trying to expose to fresh air the secrets from the past that keep festering (and killing), the villains (those with a deep interest in preserving reputations, as well as the legendary local football team, at all costs) want nothing more than to stop them.

It may be unusual territory, but S.J. Rozan can now be listed alongside Harlan Coben and Janet Evanovich as writers helping to give New Jersey the right kind of bad name. --Otto Penzler

From Publishers Weekly

Despite the hype, this eighth novel featuring New York PIs Lydia Chin and Bill Smith from Shamus- and Anthony-award winner Rozan isn't quite up to her usual high standard. After 2001's Reflecting the Sky (which Chin narrated), it's Smith's turn to tell the story, which here concerns his teenage nephew, Gary Russell, the athlete son of his estranged sister Helen. When Gary is arrested for pick-pocketing in Manhattan, the boy asks for his uncle's help. Gary denies running away from his Warrenstown, N.J., home he was doing something important. Then the boy vanishes, drawing Smith and Chin into a nightmarish case in which a small town's obsession with its high school football team overwhelms standards of justice and morality. When a teenage girl who dated Gary and was selling drugs to her classmates dies mysteriously, the police suspect Gary. He's disappeared during Warrenstown's most important week, when the football team trains at an intensive sports camp culminating in a game that attracts college scouts. Then another teenager, a despised nonathlete, disappears. Two computer whizzes join the detectives in finding the answers to present crimes by solving an old murder. This disturbing, suspenseful, but often shrill and repetitive novel allows the author to reveal Smith's troubled childhood as he, with Chin's encouragement, begins to understand it. In showing how we set priorities that can create monsters, Rozan also points to deep flaws in our society. Agent, Steve Axelrod. (Feb. 25)Forecast: With a national author tour, an excerpt in the paperback edition of Reflecting the Sky (Jan.) and supportive blurbs from the likes of Robert Crais, Dennis Lehane, Linda Fairstein and Greg Rucka, this title should keep Rozan's momentum going.

Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 591 KB
• Print Length: 304 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0312986688
• Publisher: Minotaur Books; 1st edition (April 14, 2003)
• Sold by: Macmillan
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000FA5S3O
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #106,178 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

SJ Rozan was born and raised in the Bronx and is proud of it. She spent over twenty years as an architect in New York City and is kind of proud of that, too. Now she writes and teaches. She's done 10 books in the Lydia Chin/Bill Smith series (the newest, ON THE LINE, comes out Sept. 28, 2010) and two standalones. She's also published three dozen short stories. A collection of her stories, A TALE ABOUT A TIGER, is available, and a second volume is coming.

SJ's work has won the Edgar, Anthony, Shamus, Nero and Macavity Awards, and she's a recipient of the Japanese Maltese Falcon. She's served on the National Boards of Mystery Writers of America and Sisters in Crime. She's a past President of the Private Eye Writers of America. She's been Guest of Honor at Left Coast Crime (El Paso, 2003), Toastmaster at Bouchercon (Indianapolis, 2009), an invited speaker at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland (2003) and as if that weren't enough, she has the key to the city of Fort Worth, Texas.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Oh boy! Bill is back!, March 7, 2002

By 

Charlotte Vale-Allen (CT USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Winter and Night (Hardcover)

Without doubt, the Bill Smith books are considerably stronger, moodier and more powerful than the Lydia Chin half of the series. Interestingly, even Lydia is more viable a character (and less of a ditz) when viewed through Bill's haunted eyes.

This time out, author Rozan tackles the hot-potato issues both of school sports and of school violence. And as always, via Bill, she brings a clear-eyed view of the absurdity of parents' expectations of their children (football, in this case, and new-age nonsense). The characters are all fully fleshed, particularly Bill's estranged sister, her odious husband Scott, and their lovable, do-right son, Gary.

The search for Gary, the tour of fictional Warrenstown NJ (and a viewing of its citizens) leads to the search for a second boy. Along the way, dark facts are revealed about Bill's past that account for his solitary, soul-searching existence and his quest for meaning via music.

This is Rozan at her best, giving us authentic views of Manhattan, of people, of headline issues, and of the vagaries of the human heart, while never succumbing to false sentimentality.

Most highly recommended.

15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I Can't Get Enough of Them!, May 21, 2004

By 

Grace (Alameda, US, Canada) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter and Night (Mass Market Paperback)

Ok. This woman is my favorite author. Ever. And I can say that in absolute truth. Her distinctive, yet extremely hard to describe writing style, is in a word, incredible. And that's a pretty ambiguous word, but somehow works with every aspect of her novels. Each one reveals more and more the depth and complexeties of Bill and Lydia, and they become real people to us. Especially in "Winter and Night," we are shown that the connection between Bill and Lydia goes way beyond the physical (it's like a Mulder/Scully relationship, as weird as that sounds), and also just how much Bill's experiences are going to change their relationship (ultimately strengthens it, in my opinion).

On a lighter note, I think, another reason these novels are great is the extremely witty/clever dialogue. Bill and Lydia have the best lines, and when they play, they play with words, and it's just VERY amusing to read. I'm always thinking to myself, "How does Rozan DO it?"

"Winter and Night," like most Bill books, are very psychological (not science-psycho, but more like emotional-psycho), and the fluid, intricate writing style reinforces the depth of Smith's character. There's also a big theme in this story about young adulthood and the pressures of society - and their consequences, good along with bad. Very important and thought-provoking theme, I think, and Rozan manages to bring that out in this book with deft skill.

I would recommend reading "China Trade" first, just so you'll get to know the characters and a little about where they're coming from. Otherwise "Winter and Night" will seem too personal (as opposed to VERY personal for those who've read her other novels). "Winter and Night" is my favorite out of her, what is it, eight novels? Second fave is "Reflecting the Sky," written from Lydia's point of view. Third is "Stone Quarry," another one from Bill's POV.

Oh by the way, Rozan captures the life and times of FOBs and Chinese-New York Americans perfectly, from their interactions with each other to their interactions with whites. And the fact that Bill is the epitome of Caucasion, and Lydia is a Chinese-American woman, makes for quite a few interesting conversations. But they're perfect for each other, and you can tell. When serious is serious, one's always there for the other, and that's all they need. Loyalty, trust, respect...love? Yeah, was there even a doubt? Love is there, and then some, and that's what holds these books together.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Her finest to date!, September 16, 2004

By 

Robert F. Bischoff (Florissant, MO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Winter and Night (Mass Market Paperback)

As another reviewer here says, Rozan's strongest books are the ones written from the Bill Smith point of view--Concourse, No Colder Place, Stone Quarry, and Winter and Night. Bill is far more internally conflicted (i.e., dumber) than Lydia, and that leads naturally into more dramatic situations. Like some of the other great heroes/antiheros created by Raymond Chandler, Ross McDonald, and Robert Parker, Bill desperately wants things to turn out right in a world where that is not always possible.

Rozan continues to improve her formidable skills, weaving character development, dialog, plot, motivation, and current events/fears together seamlessly in Winter and Night. Her previous novels have occasionally had a flat spot or two, but this one is both thought-provoking and a real page turner--I dare you to put it down! For any of you who have read Lehane's Mystic River I would say that Winter and Night is every bit its equal. It's easy to see why this book won the Edgar, Nero, and Macavity awards.

Rozan's next book, about the aftermath of the WTC attack, is due out shortly and I can't wait to read it.