Safe House

Reading a Burke novel isn't like reading a normal book. It's a comfort food, not a gourmet treat. I got the comfort I was seeking. The series is reliable that way. You get a foreground of intense but damaged love, the kind of intensity that requires the damage to prove its depth, in a background of a cynicism that feels more like reality than reality itself. You get the only kind of justice available in such an environment. You ignore the flaws and go for the feelings. If you can soak a while in this, you'll be glad you did. If you can't, I feel sorry for you.

Interesting to see Vachss branch out from child sex power plays to adult on adult crime that only periphereally involve children. He picked up the pace a bit in this one... reserving judgment on Crystal Beth; I want to like her as she's not a one-time Noir fantasy lay, but... we'll see.

I was looking for book with male characters that were broken inside but with a tough exterior that push people away yet still do good even it is through violence. I found that exact person in the character of Burke. My first introduction to him in this novel just made me want to run out and get every other book in the series. I *love* it when I discover a new series of novels that I know I will enjoy from the start.

Safe House blends the white-supremacist movement with the societal problems of stalking and spousal abuse. In order to rescue an old jailhouse friend (Hercules), who accidentally kills a man he has been hired by Crystal Beth to scare off abusing a battered woman, Burke and his crew get involved with a shadowy figure (Pryce), with vague ties to law enforcement and the government. Crystal Beth is a hippie commune-raised woman, whose life is dedicated to helping the abused, which, of course, resonates with Burke. Pryce and Burke match skills and wits, and Burke is tasked with killing Nazis (which the Mole loves) and stop their nefarious plan to level a Federal building in New York City using half a dozen truckloads full of explosives. The show more book's plot is sabotaged by about six completely unnecessary stories describing different stalking MOs by abused people, mostly women. show less

Interesting story of Burke - hardcore criminal and man-for-hire - who is drawn into investigating some stalkers when one of his friends ends up implicated with the death of a man. There are elements of spousal abuse, stalker issues, neo-nazis and a bombing plot. Being a man who is outside the law he has issues of trust.

It's interesting but not necessarily something I would hunt out more about, however if I happened on more I'd read them.

#1247 in our old book database. Rated: Good.

Excellent entry in the Burke series.