Burning Down the House: A Nick Hoffman Novel (Nick Hoffman Mysteries) (Hardcover)

by Lev Raphael (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
In Raphael's disappointing fourth book featuring untenured professor and amateur detective Nick Hoffman, Juno Dromgoole, an English professor at the State University of Michigan, wants to find out who's been harassing her with anonymous phone calls urging her to "Get out!" and to become chair (the "alpha bitch") of her department. So she turns to her colleague Nick for help. The Glock-owning Juno hardly seems to need Nick or anyone else; she's got more balls than 99% of her colleagues, whom she dismisses as "a bunch of whiners and weasels." This dysfunctional tribe of academics represents the possible suspects, and while several are clearly capable of a threatening phone call, none seems to have the guts or the motive for the (mildly) escalating violence. Raphael pads the story with other conflicts: Will Nick get tenure? Should he buy a gun of his own? Is he attracted to the Amazonian Juno? (Not a trivial question for a gay man in a committed relationship.) It would take a more resourceful, less ambivalent hero to rescue Juno or this thinly plotted novel. Nick is almost as annoying as his petty, inarticulate colleagues. Their heated debates are more reminiscent of playground squabbles than intellectual disputes. Satirizing the academic world is one of the author's big themes, but it's a tired premise in this inexplicably titled book. Raphael doesn't generate enough narrative momentum or suspense to hold the reader's interest as the novel grinds to its abrupt, unsatisfying ending.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Raphael proceeds down a path he started in the last Nick Hoffman mystery, Little Miss Evil (2000). That book was almost over before someone was murdered. This time the corpse never shows up, and Nick voices Raphael's seeming preference for slowly- building suspense rather than bodies. Suspense arises from a variety of sources, and readers may find partnered, gay Nick's mid-life lusting for a woman more engrossing than the mysterious accumulation of injuries done to him and the object of his sexual fantasies--tall, voluptuous Juno. Will Nick act on his fantasies? For that matter, will untenured Nick even stay on at the State University of Michigan, Raphael's take on academic hell, where professors are reduced to whining subservience by administrators who, like the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, hand down sentences before verdicts? Sexual and academic tensions fascinate Raphael more than the phone threats and beatings of the mystery element of the book, leaving readers to wonder whether he is defining a new genre. Whitney Scott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company; First. edition (October 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802733654
• ISBN-13: 978-0802733658
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (38 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,319,555 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Burn Marks, February 6, 2002

By	William Peschel (Hershey, PA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Nick Hoffman is a very confused man. The untenured professor and star of Lev Raphael's four mystery novels faces a bleak future from his unwanted connection with several murders. He's concerned about the rise of hate crimes against gays on campus. Even his sexuality has come under assault by his unexpected attraction to Juno Dromgoole, the voluptuous Canadian professor who's a force of nature in spandax. Not that he's against such connections, but his long-time male lover might object.

Worse, the State University of Michigan is under considerable turmoil. A new administrator has pushed the faculty to open revolt with her high-handed ways. If that built the bonfire, the presence of a Christmas "Diversity Tree" and the possibility of a Whiteness Studies program is the equivalent of dumping gasoline and tossing on the flaming torch. And Juno's campaign to become chairman of Nick's department is being undermined with threats. Nick tries to negotiate these land mines, but his search for the source of these attacks compels him to reach a possibly life-changing conclusion.

As a former professor, Lev Raphael has plenty of material to etch his acidic portrayals. There are few good people. The administrators and faculty are deadly ambitious, hilariously inept or simply clueless. Back-biting and rumor-mongering are traditional ways to gain power or revenge. Meetings tend to degenerate into accusations and chaos. In this context, violence seems like just another way to get ahead; cannibalism the logical conclusion of a bloody-minded faculty meeting.

"Burning Down the House" marks a new direction among the amateur detective subset of the mystery genre. It's less a mystery novel than the culmination of threads woven in Raphael's previous books, beginning with "Let's Get Criminal." Nick's confrontations with violence and death has been changing him, from a buoyant teacher to a more edgier version, flirting with the possibility of violence. This can make "Burning" an unsettling book at times; Nick is almost manic in his reaction to Juno and the crimes he's witnessed. The lead protagonist honestly being affected by violence is rarely seen in this part of the mystery field; most either start out that way, or never seem to mind constantly being surrounded by bodies. Following Nick's journey into the dark side of human nature alone makes the next book in the series worth watching for.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars TERRIFIC SATIRE! RAPHAEL'S BEST!, September 28, 2001

By A Customer

If you've followed this delightful, well-written, and moving series from the first book, you've watched Nick Hoffman grow progressively disillusioned with his academic home, though he loves teaching itself. The pettiness hasn't just been petty, it's been murderous, and the university he teaches at has become more and more of an autocracy.

Well, in BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE, the hard rain starts to fall and
Nick is caught in an academic riot--yes!--that is the wildest scene Raphael has ever written. It's as good as anything Jane Smiley or David Lodge has done in this vein.

Don't expect a paint-by-numbers mystery, and don't expect political correctness either. Nick enters uncharted territory in a number of surprising and exciting ways.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A highly recommended book by a most talented writer, January 11, 2002

By	Doris Ann Norris (Fostoria, OH United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE is Lev Raphael's best book yet in the Nick Hoffman series. Unlike the previous Nick book which were called mysteries, the cover says "a Nick Hoffman novel." I think this is indicative of the direction the series is going and that certainly is not meant as a criticism. There is no murder, but there is attempted murder. The tone is darker than the others in the series as Nick continues in his sexual fascination with Juno Dromgoole which both intrigues and frightens him. But things on the SUM campus, especially in his department are becoming more and more bizarre with the launch of a campaign for "whiteness studies" and the diversity tree. To complicate matters, Juno has decided she is going to run for the chairmanship of EAR and wants Nick's help. A not very popular decision as at least two attempts are made on Juno's life and Nick is attacked on campus. As with life, there is no neat ending, but rather more self-awareness on Nick's part of how he is capable of reacting. It certainly leaves me eagerly....even anxiously awaiting the next book. The humor is here, but it seems more biting and certainly less tolerant of the fools that Nick encounters in the academic life. It is more like the campus (and the world) would be a better place without some of these bloomin' idiots. I would highly recommend BURNING DOWN THE HOUSE, but suggest that you read Lev's other books in order of publication. Another point about Lev's books. I've been becoming a little concerned that so many books, movies, tv shows, etc. are using only allusions to popular culture, doing away with those to classical literature, mythology, art, et al. Lev manages to bring both into his writing and that is a real bonus.