Flood

Years ago, I read Strega and was instantly a Vachss fan. However, while I did read some of his other works (including some comic book contributions), I never got a chance to return to the Burke series. So now, here I am at the beginning.

Flood is a great crime noir featuring larger than life characters that achieve almost mythical street cred without - in my opinion - straining credulity. At the center of this story of revenge and justice is Burke, a below-the-radar survivor that makes his home and living in the slimy underbelly of New York City. Much like the author, Burke has a special hatred for child molesters and other freaks that prey on innocent youth, and the focus of this first novel involves him helping the mysterious Flood show more track down the main responsible for the rape and murder of her best friend's baby.

It's hard not to draw parallels between the Burke series and other off-the-radar protectors like Jack Reacher and Repairman Jack, but the comparisons end when it comes to the level of real-world evil on display in Burke's world, which is unfortunately too close to the real world. If you like your action dark, gritty, and violent, you might want to tag along with Burke. show less

Burke's newest client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner. She wants Burke to find a monster for her - so she can kill him with her bare hands. In this thriller, Andrew Vachss's renegade private eye teams up with a lethally gifted avenger to follow a child's murderer through the catacombs of New York, where every alley is blind and the penthouses are as dangerous as the basements.

Reads like a cold bullet out of Hell. Taut, razor sharp prose; tough ferocious heroes and even more ferocious villains. Imagine the bastard stepchild of Jim Thompson and Mickey Spillane fighting the good fight on the edge of the socioeconomic abyss. Yet above the bleakness, violence, and viciousness aimed at the weak and defenseless, there's a glimmer of hope. Burke, the hero of these novels, offers that hope, especially when the law can't or won't help those who need it the most.

“Burke would eat Spade and Marlow for breakfast not even spitting out the bones. He is one tough, mean, pray-God-you-don’t-meet-him hombre”
-The Boston Herald

Originally published in 1985, Flood by Andrew Vachss has been reissued by the Vintage Crime House of Black Lizard Publishing. Written in first person, in a hard-boiled noir style, the main character is Burke, a ex-con, ex-mercenary, raised by the state and distrustful to the extreme. Burke has many irons in the fire and one of them is working as a private investigator. He is on a case of tracking down a vicious neo-Nazi child molester. His client for this job is a young woman, Flood, who is on a revenge ride, she wants this man found so she can kill him in retaliation for the show more deaths of her best friend and her friend’s young daughter.

Burke works the gritty streets of New York City and the author’s familiarity with the depth of this city seems extremely authentic. He stalks through the this tough, mean, scary city with strength of purpose and a knowledge of twisted humans that is both impressive and downright readable.

Harkening back to the 1980’s, this crime novel paints a vivid picture of the ebb and flow of a big city. The author is also a qualified lawyer who represents children and knows the horrors that can be inflicted on the vulnerable. This is the first Burke novel in his series, and I now know that when I want to take a walk on the dark side, these books will get me there and then some. show less

The first entry in the respected and often controversial series. And it was my introduction to it. Written, as I understand it, as the author’s attempt to bring things like child abuse to light by stealth when he could get no one to listen otherwise. The novel failed to this as well, at least initially. Publishers loved everything about the book except where it dove too realistically into the disturbing and morally corrupt side of life. Today we know Vachss was right, that things like this existed--and, sadly, still exist. At least he no longer fights the fight alone. And in the meantime, he produced a superior novel. We are the better for it.

Well... I actually kind of liked it. It's not quite noir (but is pretty close) and not quite James Bond (but also pretty close). The main character is resourceful and creative and dangerous and human all at once. Not to mention the fact that he had an "in" with everyone in the story (prostitutes, newspapers, police, genius - heck, he even had an "in" with guard dogs).

There is a bit of dated-ness to the story (boomboxes) and a bit of 80s stereotypes (pimps) and an overuse of the term "freaks" for pretty much everyone in the story other than the main character and his buddies. Not saying that there aren't a lot of freaks, but... it was a bit excessive that Burke would run into so many in the course of his activities.

The story had the show more resolution you'd expect it to have and the plot moved enough that you're never bored waiting for something to happen, and the author kept his personal politics to a minimum...

I've spent a lot of time trying to find Reacher replacements and this author/series has never come up in my looking... but I think he should have. No, Burke is not Reacher, or Scudder, or Keller... but he's close enough to fill the gap between Child's and Block's next releases. show less

Burke's newest client is named Flood, a young woman, trained in martial arts but naive about the ways of the street who is hunting the man who killed her best friend's child. Flood hears of Burke and enlists his help to find a monster for her, so she can kill him with her bare hands. Flood is the first novel featuring the anti-hero Burke, and the best place to get to know him. Later novels build on top of this introduction. Burke is not a happy man and is filled with an emptiness he calls "The Zero." Abandoned as a child, he grew up hard in the system. Only now as he approaches middle age has he developed any sort of wisdom. He works the gritty streets of New York City and the atmosphere of the city seems extremely authentic.

Originally show more published in 1985, Flood by Andrew Vachss has been reissued by the Vintage Crime House of Black Lizard Publishing and written in first person, in a hard-boiled noir style. The writing may seem a little dated because it was written so long ago, but the story is quite compelling. show less