Blue Belle (original 1988; edition 1995)

If you like the earlier Burke books you'll probably like this one. Vachss pulls back the curtain slightly more on Burke's psychology. I enjoy how he explains some odd behaviors and why they make sense to a, um, non-citizen.

I enjoy Vachss' dialog but he goes just a little too far in stripping it down, to the point where you wonder if anyone actually talks that way.

Maybe I'm just cynical but Vachss did not sell me well enough on why Burke would fall so hard for Belle when he's still thinking of Flood.

Belle was an odd mix of competent (such a pro getaway driver) and ignorant (the "rules"). Also her physical description had me confused and made her seem less human.

The whole deal about keeping Max away from Mortay was contrived. He was worried that even if Max won he would be "known" for dropping Mortay? Couple of issues with that. Lots of people wanted to drop Mortay so it wouldn't be obvious who managed it (as we find in the next book, Hard Candy!) and Burke himself gets that rep he didn't want Max to have, even though it really was Max's fight. Oh, and put me down for a C-note on Max to win, lol!

Okay, so I sound like I'm griping too much here. I don't come to Vachss with high expectations, as I might with Charlie Huston. I come to be swept away with a gritty tale of urban underbelly fantasy. He did that here and did it with style. ( )

Finally the last book in the series that I had yet to read. One of the better ones as it is an early one and the story w/ Burke and co. gets filled in more. Another fast and loose read w/ energy and literally explosive endings. ( )