Gabriel Cohen

Although marketed as a crime novel, this book was really written more as literature. There is a murder mystery, but it often takes backseat to focus on the people who populate its story. Unlike most first books in an intended series the main character, Detective Jack Leightner, is in the twilight of his career. The novel starts off with the Detective investigating the murder of a young Dominican in Red Hook, a section of Brooklyn where Jack was born. The stabbing investigation brings up show more unwanted memories of his father and his dead brother. Leightner goes on to try to make sense of his failed marriage and the other relationships in his life, including the estrangement of his son. His son Ben is an aspiring filmmaker, and much more like his father than he would like. He goes on a quest to make a film about the neighborhood of Red Hook in the hopes of understanding more about his father’s past. show less

I would have to agree with other reviews - Red Hook is not quite a detective novel, more a study of an alcoholic, and yet the character of Jack Leightner is neither original nor charismatic enough to carry the slack pace of the plot. He's just your bog standard divorced alcoholic who is somehow still attractive to the 'ladies'. He's certainly no Lenny Briscoe, as someone suggested. And even the big secret of how his younger brother died failed to make him sympathetic - I imagined various show more ways in which Jack might have been involved, but the actual scenario was so hammy and cliched that I felt let down. Again. Brooklyn shines through, but that's not enough to make me read another Jack Leightner novel, sorry. show less

Once again, I’ve let the reviews pile up on me, leaving me no other option than to write five of them in a row. Boo. Somehow it seems easier to find time to read than it does to find the time to review – however brief or uninspired my assessment of the book may be.

I finished Red Hook several weeks ago, but, uncharacteristically, this book hasn’t faded much from my memory – despite having read a number of other books since finishing it. I was attracted to this title because it was show more publicized on NetGalley as being an Edgar Award Nominee for Best First Novel back in 2002. Long ago, my grandmother introduced me to Agatha Christie and Lillian Jackson Braun. Ever since my early exposure to the genre, I’ve always been partial to mysteries and police procedurals – as my longstanding obsession with Law and Order and, to a lesser extent, Criminal Minds and CSI, would indicate. This book did not disappoint; in fact, it rather exceeded my expectations, as I typically don’t expect much in terms of characterization and setting in this genre. It’s usually all about plot – the twists, the turns, the surprises – and don’t get me wrong, Red Hook has all THAT too. It’s just a pleasant surprise when one finds well developed characters and a vivid, gritty setting that works to support the backbone of the plot.

Jack Leightner is a late middle-aged divorcee and absentee father to a young man (now in his twenties), Ben, who happens to be an aspiring documentarian. Jack’s a native New Yorker, born and raised in a working-class neighborhood in Red Hook. When the murder of a young Hispanic family man leads him back to his old neighborhood to investigate, tensions rise and unpleasant memories of his youth arise and begin to shake Leightner’s ability to function as an impartial detective. This book is the story of Jack’s struggle to make peace with his past so that he can begin to rekindle his career and personal relationships that have fallen by the wayside over the years. Because I’ve already confessed to being a COMPLETE Law and Order junkie (my husband complains that 99% of our DVR is dedicated to episodes I’ve seen so many times that even HE knows who committed the crime in the first five minutes), it should come as no surprise when I saw a remarkable resemblance between Leightner and everyone’s favorite dectective, Lenny Briscoe. Really. I couldn’t get the comparison out of my mind. And I’m willing to admit that this may just be a delusion of my own obsession, but I really pictured Leighner as being similar to Briscoe in more ways than one – failed marriage, absentee father, dubious relationship to alcohol – it all led back to Lenny. That doesn’t take anything away from the characterization or the novel – it was just something that colored my reading of Red Hook.

Ultimately, I think that fans of Dennis Lehane may find great joy in Jack Leightner. Apparently, there are others in a series that features this detective; and apparently, I’m going to have to hunt them out the next time that I’m at work, straightening out books in the mystery section. Thanks NetGalley! I’ve got a new recommendation on the tip of my tongue for fans of series like Alex Cross or Lincoln Rhyme. show less

This mystery is the second in a series featuring Detective Jack Leightner. The major mystery involves a coffin, with the body of a young boy, that drifts ashore in Brooklyn. A few secondary mysteries enter into the novel including problems with a new partner, the death of a Buddhist monk and a doctor murdered in Prospect Park.

The story provides good descriptions, which set the atmosphere nicely, of several areas of Brooklyn and Governor's Island as well as details on how his investigative show more unit fits in with other areas of the police department. There is a romantic interlude, and some Buddhist ruminations.

The search for the boy’s murderer, probably a mercy killing, covers a lot of interesting territory.

The character of the protagonist is well drawn. show less