From Publishers Weekly

Vachss, author of the long-running Burke series that concluded with 2008's Another Life, introduces an engaging if damaged new hero in this soulful thriller. Ho, an elderly martial arts teacher who once was the master of a successful dojo, renounces all worldly goods after one of his students dies because of something he said. He takes to the mean streets of an unnamed American city to atone, joining a ragtag group of homeless men: Michael, once a high-flying stockbroker; Ranger, a Vietnam war vet; Lamont, an ex-gang leader and poet; Brewster, a psychotic; and Target, who speaks only in repetitive verbal explosions. A mystery involving a white Rolls Royce emerges early on, but as the book progresses, this plot is abandoned for another concerning Brewster's book collection. Despite compelling prose, the author's failure to follow through on the Rolls Royce business leads to a disappointing conclusion. (Nov.)
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Review

"[Andrew Vachss's] New York . . . is not borrowed from anybody, and it shimmers on the page as gaudily and scarily as it does on the streets."
—*New York

"Vachss gives such a smooth ride, it is easy to forget someone is driving."
—The New York Times Book Review

"Compelling and challenging . . . [Vachss takes us] not simply into the mean streets but into a subterranean nightmare."
—The Washington Post Book World

"Vachss's reverence for storytelling is evident in the blunt beauty of his language."
—Chicago Sun-Times

*"Andrew Vachss continues to write the most provocative novels around."
—Martha Grimes

"Vachss writes with . . . an unerring ear for the language of the streets."
—*Rocky Mountain News

*"The voice of Vachss: uncompromising, exciting, and fiercely original."
—George Pelecanos

"Vachss is a master."
—Sacramento Bee

From the Trade Paperback edition.