This Pronzini mystery, a combination of tough-guy bravado and big soft-heartedness, offers challenges even to an accomplished reader. Narrator Nick Sullivan is fantastic; each character is a unique individual. His female voices are particularly effective and enjoyable each time any of the women speak. African-American and ethnic characters are perfectly captured, as well. The Nameless detective is shocked and upset when his former partner appears to have committed suicide. His research into what really happened takes him into the mean streets where he confronts unpleasant truths, even about himself. Each Pronzini book is an event, and Nick Sullivan as the reader adds fanfare and glitter to the interpretation. S.G.B. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
From Booklist
Santa Fe businessman Ira Erskine hires San Francisco private eye Nameless to find his missing ex-wife, Janice, who may have relocated to the Bay Area. Erskine wants to offer Janice one last chance to see her only child, who is dying of leukemia. Nameless accepts the case, partially to get his mind off the suicide of his ex-partner and ex^-best friend, Eberhardt. Within days after Nameless finds the missing woman, Erskine is found dead in a hotel room near his ex-wife's new home. While that nightmare is unfolding, Nameless tries to understand why Eb took his own life. Perhaps it wasn't suicide after all. As the cases progress, they parallel one another with an eerie similarity that forces Nameless to reexamine his previously unshakable moral certitude and self-proclaimed position as a sentinel of black-and-white justice. The Nameless series is 26 entries and almost 30 years old, and Nameless himself is edging toward 60. The sheer duration of the series, as well as its increasing depth and the steady maturation of Nameless--both chronologically and emotionally--represent a stunning and unique achievement in crime fiction. The series, the character, and this book are not to be missed. Nameless has become an American treasure.
Wes Lukowsky
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
