Finished Su 1/8/12
"Not tonight, My Man!"
Three young men are out for a few drinks and and an innocent evening of fun on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. All three work at a trendy local bar-restaurant, Cafe Berkmann. They are well-educated, white, entitled, and feel fairly certain that all of their creative and artistic aspirations are soon to be realized. Suddenly, two young black men,jump from the shadows, and demand their wallets. A shot is fired, and one of the young white men falls dead in the street.
How this senseless mugging affects those involved, and the entire community is the subject of Richard Price's terrific urban drama. Eric, one of the three white men, is the only one who saw the shooter, but due to some mistaken witnesses, he is treated as a possible perpetrator. And, he was so terrified by the deadly encounter that his whole demeanor is forever changed. Steven, although he was dead drunk at the time of the mugging, and is of no use to the investigation, soon plays the media for all it's worth, and hopes to cash in on his fifteen minutes of fame. But none of this makes any difference to Ike. He was the guy with the sunny disposition that everyone liked, with his whole life ahead of him, yet now he is just one more tragic Big City statistic.
Ike's father, Billy, becomes a problem for the police investigation, because he becomes absolutely unhinged due to the loss of his son. He begins to drink heavily, and acts so strangely that Detective Matty Case is at a loss to control him.
This fine novel is not a run-of-the-mill police procedural, although there is a captivating plot-line, however the book is more of a finely etched character study which examines people whose lives were forever changed by this one senseless act of urban violence.
All of Richard Price's novels are well worth a look, and this is my favorite of the bunch. I give it Five Stars!!!
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