- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Little, Brown and Company (Aug 8 2006)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0316156507
- ISBN-13: 978-0316156509
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 2.5 cm
- Shipping Weight: 522 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #398,791 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Pelecanos (Drama City) delivers a dignified, character-driven epic that succeeds as both literary novel and page-turner. In 1985, the body of a 14-year-old girl turns up in a Washington, D.C., park, the latest in a series of murders by a killer the media dub "The Night Gardener." T.C. Cook, the aging detective on the case, works with a quiet, almost monomaniacal, focus. Also involved are two young uniformed cops, Gus Ramone, who's diligent, conscientious and unimpressed by heroics, and Dan "Doc" Holiday, an adrenaline junkie who's decidedly less straight. Fast forward 20 years. Detective Ramone, now married with kids of his own, investigates the murder of one of his teenage son's friends. The homicide closely resembles the earlier unsolved Night Gardener murders. Holiday, now an alcoholic chauffeur and bodyguard, follows the case on his own and tracks down Cook, long retired but still obsessed with the original murders. While the three work together toward a suspenseful ending, Pelecanos emphasizes the fallacy of "solving" a murder and explores the ripple effects of violent crime on society. (Aug.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From Booklist
*Starred Review* As he did in Drama City (2005), Pelecanos again rests his series characters but keeps the action firmly grounded on the inner-city streets of Washington, D.C. This time he focuses on three cops--one retired, the legendary detective T. C. Cook; another, Dan ("Doc") Holiday, forced to quit under a morals cloud; and a third, Gus Ramone, soldiering on in the dogged effort to be "good police." The three worked together 15 years earlier on a still-unsolved case involving a series of murdered teenagers. Now, with another teenager murdered--his body found, as were those of the previous victims, in one of the city's community gardens--the old case has resurfaced, and the three cops find themselves thrown together, each hoping to excise their very different personal demons. The more Pelecanos writes, the more he extends his range, circling outward from the central crime story to encompass more of the sociopolitical landscape yet simultaneously drawing inward to reflect on how that landscape affects the inner lives of his characters. In the past, though, he has focused mainly on civilians--good, bad, and various shades in between--but here, for the first time since Hard Revolution (2004), he looks closely at police. The result isn't just a procedural--though it is that, and a very good one--but also a form of explorative surgery, in which he lays open the hearts of three cops and observes how those organs beat. One thinks of Michael Connelly, John Harvey, and Ian Rankin--other writers able to look inside their cop heroes with remarkable sensitivity--but Pelecanos' scalpel may cut more precisely than any of them. Bill Ott
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great crime story,
By
This review is from: The Night Gardener (Mass Market Paperback)
This was a great crime novel and an enjoyable read. This was my first read by George Pelecanos and after this, I will definitely read more.He has created several deep interesting characters and weaves captivating subplots into the main story. The only drawback for me was that I wanted to read more.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great police thriller,
By Paul Keller (Alberta) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Night Gardener (Hardcover)
If you like police procedurals with a great deal of thrills, then this is the book for you. A wonderfully interwoven story of three police officers, each in a different stage in their career. All three worked together a number of years earlier on a still-unsolved case involving murdered teenagers. When another body is found, the old case is resurfaced, and the three cops are back together. A good look into the characters and a great plot. Also check out Kathy Reich's Break No Bones and David Demello's Speak No Evil, two really good books.
5.0 out of 5 stars
SUPERB NARRATION OF A DYNAMITE THRILLER,
By
This review is from: The Night Gardener (Audio CD)
Voice performers are terrific - I have a list of favorites a mile long and eagerly await new releases from each of them. However, an author reading his own words can be a very special listening experience. For this listener he or she brings an intimacy, an understanding that even the best of trained actors cannot capture. Such is the case with George Pelecanos's narration of The Night Gardener.As a producer and writer for TV's acclaimed The Wire, Pelecanos well knows how to set a scene and craft intense dialogue. He does just that in spades in this story of three men who are once again drawn together in order to find a killer. While all murders are tragic, the snuffing out of a young life is particularly heart wrenching. A teenage boy, Asa, is found slain in a community garden. He had been a friend of homicide detective Gus Ramone's son, Diego. Not only does Gus want the murderer caught because he's a good cop but also because it reminds him of a 20 year old unsolved case - young boys found dead in parks. The killer who came to be known as The Night Gardener" was never found. At that time Gus had been just a rookie and worked with his partner, Dan Holiday. The intervening years haven't been kind to Dan as he left the force due to a morals charge and is now making ends meet by working as a driver and bodyguard. Dan and Gus had joined with one of the best detectives to be found - T. C. Cook in a hunt for The Night Gardener. Nonetheless, the three of them were unable to track the perpetrator of such heinous crimes. Now, with another slaying so similar to the two decade old killings each man is doggedly determined that the murderer won't get away again. Just as characters on The Wire leap at you from a screen, this trio seems to spring from the pages of Pelecanos's dynamite thriller. - Gail Cooke
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