Trigger City

#2 Ray Dudgeon mystery set in the Windy City of Chicago. In the first book, Ray takes on the mob and in this one, he seems to be tackling the US Government and their covert military operations. Battered, bruised and barely holding things together (physically and psychologically) after his torture and near death some months previously, Ray is hired by a retired military man whose daughter was brutally murdered—shot to death by one of her employees who then turned the gun on himself. Her killer had apparently been suddenly psychotic and paranoid and believed Joan was ‘out to get him’ and thus he ended both their lives.

Of course nothing is ever that simple—the fact that Joan was set to testify for a Congressional hearing on show more defense contract spending had *nothing* to do with her death, I’m sure, right!?—and the fact that that information was kept hushed up is even more telling. Ray ends up in a tangled web of deceit, trying to sort out the good guys from the bad while trying to keep himself alive and mend his broken relationship with ex-girlfriend Jill, and also trying to protect Steven Zhang’s widow and daughter—he being the man who killed Joan and then himself. I like Ray, despite his foibles, and the author’s writing style make the reading of his story easy and appealing. Ray lives in a world of realism where things are never perfect and exist in multiple shades of gray, not ever simplistically black and white or right and wrong—much like real life, I suppose. I hope he lives a long and prolific life and I will be eagerly awaiting the next in series to see which major player he goes up against next. show less

I was stunned to learn Sean Chercover is not native to Chicago -- in Trigger City, he captured the tempo, the rhythm, the flavor of the city, with all its grit and glory -- and wrote a damned exciting mystery/thriller novel in the process. When's the next one due, Sean?

This is the second book to feature the PI Ray Dudgeon and like the first I'm still trying to figure out if its good or not. This time the story involves military contractors and selling secrets to China. There's also a fair smattering of Ray's private life involving a girlfriend who can't accept what he does for a living, a friend from childhood with personal demons whose also a merc, and Ray's recovery from injuries sustained in the last book. Its a good fast moving plot that will keep you interested until the end. The characters are engaging though some times they feel like they've been cut from the pages of the detective fiction catalogue. This is one of those books that every time you become almost completely swept up in action the show more author will write a couple pages that are so wooden it jars you back. So my hope is that he continues to write and those pages become less and less. show less

Sean Chercover captured me with Big City, Bad Blood, a marvelous debut deserving of all its accolades and awards. Trigger City manages to raise the bar, returning to Ray Dudgeon in the aftermath of the BCBB, suffering, uncertain, and faced with an investigation that highlights Ray's own inner darkness. This was a book I couldn't put down and which stays with me now. If he keeps this up, Chercover is going to become one of the all time greats.

A follow up to "Big City, Bad Blood," P.I. Ray Dudgeon reluctantly accepts a case to find out what is behing Joan Richmond's recent murder by Stephen Zhang. Joan's father, Isaac Richmond, a retired army colonel, tells Ray that he needs closure. He had been talking to Joan when she went to answer her door and was murdered.

Joan's prior employer was H.M.Nichols, military contractors. Ray finds out that the company is shady and is subject of a congressional inquiry on their billing. Since Joan ran their billing, she was scheduled to testify.

Ray speaks to the person in charge of H.M.Nichols and is given a smoke screen interview. He's also introduced to Blake Sten, VP of Security who attempts to intimidate Ray, without success.

What Ray and show more his buddy, Gravedigger, surmise is that Steve Zhang found something in the company's computer files. Sten fires Zhang with a fabricated story and soon but Zhang and Joan are dead.

I was totally captivated by the story. Not only is Ray a good detective, but he shows his human traits in not being able to give up his girlfriend, being afflicted with a bad shoulder from an injury in the last novel, and by making mistakes that have a fatal restul for one character. The author gives a nice plot twist and provides excellent character development.

Critics agree: "Trigger City" has received the following:
Agatha Award nominee 2009
Barry Award nomination 2009
Crimespree Award, Favority Book of 2008
Dilys Award. show less

Quintessentially Chicago: This is a very "noir" crime novel, as in the likes of Dashiell Hammett. Ray is a deeply flawed, very violent man, with a penchant for introspection. The character is drawn with exquisite detail. So is the city of Chicago in which it takes place. The plot hums along at a most satisfactory pace. This award-winning novel is a must for all Chicagoans, and for devotees of crime fiction everywhere.

I read this on an airplane and it's a good airplane book, holds your attention for the requisite 3 hours, and then when you finish it, it's easy to forget. I liked the character of Ray Dudgeon, and this is the second in a series, and while I hadn't read the first, I pretty much followed everything that was happening (or at least I think I did). I found the denoument abit over the top, as if often the case when everything has to rush together, but I liked the writing and would read another from this author.

I realize that this review is really generic, with no particulars about the plot - Ray is recovering from the incidents of the first book. He is hired by a distraught dad to look into the case of his daughter, Joan Richmond's murder, show more by Steven Zhang, a person she employed. It's all murkier than it first appears. Ray stands up to the evil empire and saves a girl... but not his girl (through out the book Ray is semi stalking his ex who broke up with him because his world is too violent. She's right, his world is violent.) He does kill one man, and who that man was and where he came from was the weakest part of the book for me, but I'll spend time with Ray again. show less