Andrew Vachss - Pain Management (2001)
Andrew Vachss' series featuring Burke, a lifelong criminal and con, is now in its 16th year and its 13th volume. The Burke books take their readers through a Hobbesian netherworld that is dark and ugly and, unfortunately, all too real.
Pain Management features a plot that is based on the suspected abuse of children and the exploitation of women; as, apparently, do most of Vachss' books. A young girl has gone missing, apparently voluntarily, and her rich, leftie father wants Burke to bring her back. It's the kind of thing he's good at, so it wouldn't prove much of a problem--except other hidden intrigues keep popping up and getting in his way.
Burke's travels have taken him to Oregon, a place that is as foreign to him as his New York City would be to a Kansas farmer. Still, Burke understands crime and criminals, which are the same the world over. He hits the streets and starts nosing around, gradually building himself a tough guy rep and a network of bent watchers. What he finds doesn't surprise him much, although it probably will the reader. (The ending seems to come out of nowhere, with little foundation laid in the body of the story.)
Vachss' style is a little different from the typical mystery writer's. He writes with an economy of words that makes most hard-boiled authors seem verbose, yet he is still able to paint grim images with his prose that stay in the reader's mind.
This book, as well as the others in the series, draws obvious parallels to Richard Stark's superb Parker series. Like Burke, Parker is a thief and a killer with few scruples, but an abiding respect for his own unique code of honor. Although Pain Management is not as good as the best of the Stark novels, it is still an interesting, if at times unpleasant, read.
Posted by David J. Montgomery in Book Reviews | Permalink
