Burke’s newest client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner. She wants Burke to find a monster for her—so she can kill him with her bare hands.
In this cauterizing thriller, Andrew Vachss’s renegade private eye teams up with a lethally gifted avenger to follow a child’s murderer through the catacombs of New York, where every alley is blind and the penthouses are as dangerous as the basements. Fearfully knowing, crackling with narrative tension, and written in prose as forceful as a hollow-point slug, Flood is Burke at his deadliest—and Vachss at the peak of his form.
“An extraordinary thriller.… Vachss never flinches from the horror.” —Washington Post Book World
“Burke would eat Spade and Marlowe for breakfast, not even spitting out the bones. [He] is one tough, mean, pray-God-you-don’t-meet-him hombre.” —Boston Herald
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"I loved this book, but then I had been waiting months to read the "first" Burke novel. In all honesty I have to admit that this book is a little rough, Vachss has definitely improved with age. As usual it would have been better to have read the series in order... but still, I loved it!"
— Erika (4 out of 5 stars)
" Private eye had a couple of jobs to do. Find the Cobra who had killed his clients friends baby and arrange for a prostitute to get released from her pimp. "
— Joyce, 2/16/2014" Flood is a great crime novel exposing the low-life, gritty nature of the mean streets and the frailty of young human life. Being a Vachss fan, I somehow missed this novel thus this book filled in the blanks I had from reading the subsequent novels. Flood is a classic Vachss. "
— Melinda, 2/2/2014" I thought that maybe the book would be more suspensful being that the Author is a Federal Investigator, social caseworker and has directed Maximum security prison.i plan on reading other books written by Andrew,in hopes they get better!!! "
— Jamie, 1/29/2014" My brother turned me on to Vachss in the 90's sometime. I had not read this one so I decided to revisit the Author and see if I found him as fun as I did back then. This was a really solid read and I really emjoyed. It's graphic and deals with the worst part of society, child molesters and exploiters. The Burke character is an interesting anti-hero. He's self centered, paranoid, damaged and scarred. Tough as nails but not your typical hardboiled type. I enjoyed and recommend highly to those who like crime fiction, if they haven't already read this series. "
— Bosco, 1/29/2014" Hardcase stuff in the shadow world of NYC. Pulpy. A little unsure in parts; it comes across as a first effort, but I understand this is the first of a long series so I'll bet it gets smoother. I plan to go pick up the next one. "
— Jack, 1/17/2014" You can tell that this was a debut novel. It's weirdly dated, but the Burke series gets better and better as it goes. Vachss finds his scwerve about four books in and never loses it. "
— Jake, 1/1/2014" I liked the procedural aspects while finding the subject exploitative, despite the author's life to the contrary. "
— Jim, 12/30/2013" Even though I knew this book was written sometime during the 80's it still holds up today. Burke and crew could easily be operating today and honestly there isn't a whole lot that you could say otherwise. Once again a superb offering from Mr. Vachss "
— Azariphale, 12/14/2013" These books are intense! I have to space them out and pad the 'in -between' with happy fun books. Total Noir and I love it. "
— Melissa, 12/6/2013" This is his first book and first one I read. Since his characters reappear it's a good idea to start with Vachss' books with this one. I got hooked on him and immediately read his next two, Strega, and Blue Belle. "
— John, 11/28/2013" Gritty & realistic. Interesting mix of characters. Brings back memories of growing up NYC and how it was back then. "
— Cindy, 10/21/2013Andrew Vachss is a lawyer who represents children and youths exclusively. His many books include the Burke series and two collections of short stories, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, and the New York Times, among other publications. A native New Yorker, he divides his time between the city of his birth and the Pacific Northwest.
Christopher Lane is an award-winning actor, director, and narrator. He has been awarded the prestigious Audie Award for Best Narration several times and has won numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards.