Customer Reviews
Burke Is Back! And Blue Belle Is OUTSTANDING! - By: Jana L. Perskie, 13 Feb 2005 
Andre Vachss' "Blue Belle" is my third Burke novel. All three book are excellent, but Burke, the man, & the strange folks who people his world & call him" friend" are what keeps me a faithful fan. They are my focus, whatever the plot. And the plots are good, fast-paced & riveting. However, this far-out group of characters has me hooked on the series. Burke is as complex a figure as they come, & he grows, evolves & changes with each book. I have never encountered anyone quite like him beforein fiction. He is a hard-boiled, in-your-face, ex-con detective, who still isn't sure on which side of the law he prefers to operate. A survivor, at all cost, he is also a stand-up guy. Vachss delves more into Burke's past here, reveals more about his various prison stints & what he learned there. Fascinating stuff. If you are a Vachss/Burke fan, or become one, I would suggest that you try to read the booksin order - at least the first 3 or 4. Of course, every novel stands on its own, independent of the others, but the character's development is continual. There are also references to past events, & for a richer reading experience it is helpful to know the history. If you're just looking for a good read, & not interestedin becoming a Burke maven, then by all means, read at random.
"Blue Belle" is one hard-hitting novel, reminiscent of crime fictionin the 1940s & 50s, though much more disturbing. Burke, as always, is our narrator. Everything & everyone comes under his cynical, seen-it-all scrutiny. I have never learned more about the underworld & the seamier side of life, the one most people rarely observe, than through the author's narrative. Burke's expert eyes takein details of life on the street that mine never would. His gritty urban world is one where "citizens" dwell side-by-side with "maggots."
A "ghost van" is terrorizing New York City's prostitutes. A gang of fiends, travelingin a big, smoke-colored van, are brutally murdering teen streetwalkers, young girls, only thirteen & fourteen years-old. A group of pimps put together a war chest & hire Burke to take the van off the streets. Pimps are, after all, businessmen, & lost merchandise & declining profits are bad for business. When the Prophet, a friend, mentor & "colleague" of Burke's, "scopes the scene" for information concerning these killers, he encounters a psychopathic martial arts freak by the name of Mortay, ("muerte"). As a result, the Prof winds upin St. Vincent's Hospital with two broken legs,in a world of hurt. Mortay has been hitting the city's dojo's & challenging each sensei to a death match. He will not allow anyone to walk away, & has killed everyone he has forced to fight him. He gave the Prof a message. He wants to fight Max The Silent, a mute, 20th century Mongolian warrior who calls Burke "brother." Max & his woman have just had a baby daughter, whose life Mortay threatens if Max refuses to accept the challenge. Burke senses a connection between the van & Mortay. He just has to find out what it is & how to eliminate both problems....while protecting his brother's family. Grim.
New developments occurin this novel which will have a long term effect on our protagonist. Burke has a lifetime history of living a loner's existence. Belle, "a big sweet-smelling girl with a snake tattoo on her thigh" meets our man to set up an initial appointment with Marques, the pimp. Burke & Belle act on a mutual attraction, which then begins to grow into a relationship. She is a voluptuous exotic dancer, a superb getaway-car driver, & she loves our man. Her past is dark. So what else is new?
The usual suspects are all present, including: Max the Silent, now a father, who "makes his living as a courier, moving things around the city for a price. His collateral is his life;" Pansy is a warrior of another species - she's a Neapolitan mastiff, just like the kind that came over the Alps with Hannibal; the Mole, a pasty-faced genius who livesin a bunker beneath a high-tech junkyard; the Prophet, a scam artist who speaksin rhyme; Mama Wong, group doyenne - a Chinese Jewish mother & restaurateur, "keeps her prices high & the ambiance foul to discourage yuppies." She cares for the gang, takes Burke's messages & holds his stash; Michelle, a gorgeous transvestite who is about ready to go to Denmark for a life-changing operation; I should add here that our hero drives a souped-up Plymouth, another important character. It usually looks like it's been painted with rust. That's the fresh coat of primer it almost always sports - "the Mole makes sure to change the car's color after it is used on a job."
Mr. Vachss' writing is bleak, gritty, disquieting. His chapters have gotten shorter, his prose choppier - it adds to the ambiance. The author is a lawyer, who specializedin prosecuting child abuse cases. He has worked as a federal investigatorin sexually transmitted diseases, a caseworkerin New York, & managed a maximum-security prison for violent juvenile offenders. Vachss calls the child protective movement "a war," & considers his writing as powerful a weapon as his litigation. He openly admits that he writes about the abuse of children because he wants to raise people's awareness of what's going on, & he'll reach a wider audience with fiction.
"Blue Bell's" grittiness may not be for everyone, but it is one fantastic novel. Highly recommended!
JANA
Typical Vachss moralistic tales of the New York underworld. - By: , 07 Jan 2001 Burke, the honourable oulaw, is retained to find the frightening Ghost Van & its lethal guardian, Mortay, an indestructible karate expert who is single-handedly cleaning the streets of New York of teenage prostitutes. In this tale, Burke is accompanied by Belle, a sexy stripper & getaway driver, plus all the regular members of Burke's 'family': all comfortably familiar to readers of the hero's saga. Highly recommended.
