Andrew Vachss

They meet in a noname diner. A shadowy man hands Burke a CD dossier of someone he wants found. Minutes later, as Burke watches from an alley, his client is gunned down by a professional hunterkiller team. Burke slips away, unsure if hes been spotted. Later, when he examines the dossier, he discovers that the missing woman is Beryl Preston, a girl hed rescued from a brutal pimp twenty years earlierwhen she was only thirteenand returned to her father. Now he has to find her againnot only because she might be in danger, but also because he has to prove to himself that his rescue mission hadnt been financed by a predator who wanted his property returned. His search will force him to confront a new kind of human ugliness and, finally, to practice the survivalist triage that has markedand cursedhis life since childhood. In Mask Market , Burke the outlaw investigator finds himself searching for the truth: not only about a girl named Beryl, but also about himself. This is classic Burke: dark, dangerous, and galvanizing, from the opening scene to the explosive climax. From the Hardcover edition. From Publishers Weekly Hard-boiled crime fans will enjoy the latest entry in Vachss's long-running Burke series ( Down Here , etc.). The renegade New York City PI, who operates by an idiosyncratic private moral code, has been lying low since being shot in the face. But a longtime fixer, Charlie, soon sees past Burke's attempt to pose as his own brother and arranges a meeting with a prospective client, who wants to find a missing woman. What should have been a routine setup turns deadly when professional hit men gun down the client as he's attempting to retrieve Burke's retainer from his car. Burke, afraid that the gunmen may come after him and the data-filled CD the dead man gave him, uses his own network of allies and contacts to learn more about the missing woman, Beryl Preston, whom he happens to have saved from a pimp 20 years earlier. Despite a familiar plot, the sharp-edged prose and cutting insights into New York's underbelly elevate this above many similar crime novels. (Aug.) Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. From Booklist Burke, the shadowy protector of victimized women and children, prowls New York's back alleys and off-the-book joints rebuilding the stake he lost when he was left for dead after avenging the loss of his one true love. Tonight, in a meet set up by a shadowy third party, he deals with a man who needs Burke to find his wife. But when he leaves Burke, he's capped in the street, prompting Burke to search out the killer. Just as Burke survives through an elaborate under-the-radar network, so does his prey. Everyone wears a mask in Burke's world, and it's only by exposing the realities hiding beneath the facades that he can find the killers and understand the limitations he's placed on his own life. Readers of the first few Burke novels--very dark noir tales of abuse, revenge, and retribution--will be surprised at the character's development. The best series characters are welcomed like old friends with each new appearance. Burke is nobody's ol' buddy, but he is a trusted guide to a world we sadly know exists but would be afraid to enter alone. Wes Lukowsky Copyright American Library Association. All rights reserved ϡ쯦랠 Burke, the relentless urban mercenary, returns in this riveting new thriller by bestselling author Andrew Vachss. Two decades ago, Burke "recovered" a teenage runaway from a pimp. Now she's on the run, againches After seeing the man who hired him to find her gunned down by a professional hunter-killer team, Burke realizes he could be next. The master urban survivalist knows he has to finish the job to learn the truth, only now he's looking for a predator, not a victim. The search will force Burke to walk down the one dark alley that has always terrified him -- his past. From the Paperback edition