Post on Good Reads-
Another pulse-pounding page-turn from author Dan Simmons's 'Joe Kurtz series'. Kurtz is on the trail of a serial killer who also happens to be the chief of the Buffalo, NY detectives unit. Joe is contacted by a man whose 13 year old daughter was raped and killed over twenty years ago, and on a recent trip through Buffalo accidentally recognized chief detective Hansen as the man who murdered his daughter. And, throughout the course of the novel, Kurtz is dodging hits from various local crime families and militant groups even though he has formed an alliance with Angelina Farino, the beautiful crime boss of the Farino mob. The novel opens with an assassination attempt on Kurtz by three killers known as 'The Three Stooges' at Buffalo, New York's famous (and very real!) Ted's Hot Dogs that is so exciting that you can't put the book down after reading the first couple of pages.
Nonstop action, and the Joe Kurtz series is easily one of the best out there. I highly recommend any of these books!
NOTES-
Begins with a hit on Kurtz by 'The Three Stooges' at Ted's Hot Dogs, a very popular Buffalo hot dog stand. This is a real place- http://www.tedshotdogs.com/history/
The hit was from Stephen 'Little Skag' Farino of the Farino crime family of Buffalo. Kurtz begins a partnership with 'Little Skag's' sister, Angelina Farino Ferrara. She had left the area to marry an Italian boss, had a son by him, killed the son, and then married a count. She wants to be a world class thief (she learned this skill from the count) and to be The Don of the Farino crime family.
The Gonzaga crime family is the other organization in Buffalo, and it's run by an ugly toad of a man called Emilio.
A Black concert violinist, John Frears, contacts Kurtz's agency. He runs a dating service, and is soon going to expand into the wedding planning market, but everyone knows that is was one of the best detectives in the US. Frears wants to find who killed his thirteen year old daughter almost twenty years ago. The serial killer/rapist is a man who is a master of identity theft, and now is the head of the Buffalo detective department- James B. Hansen. Frears was in the Buffalo airport on a concert tour and saw Hansen and recognized him, and this is why he comes to Kurtz.
Kurtz puts it all together, and later he and Angelina break into Hansen's house and rob his safe of $200,000 and incriminating evidence (photos of teens that he has murdered).
Donald Raferty is a drunken thug who is the guardian of Rachel who is the daughter of Sam, a close friend of Joe's who was murdered many years ago. This is why Kurtz landed in jail because he three the man responsible out the window and killed him. He did twelve years.
The final throw-down happens in the abandoned Buffalo train station. It's the middle of the winter, snowing, and very cold. This is the reason for the title of the novel.
Hansen is called by Kurtz to buy back the evidence. Hansen shows up with two crooked detectives to kill Kurts. And an Asian hit-man from Gonzaga's outfit tries to kill them all. This man throws Kurtz over the side of the building, and almost kills him. Kurtz is rescued by Frears. Frears was also a demolition expert in Vietnam. He was in Princeton at the time, but dropped out to enlist. He was doing this because his professor was an expert on ethics and morals. and he wanted to prove himself. This professor is now homeless and a friend of Kurtz, his name is Professor Frederick (called Pruno).
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