Flood (1985)

Years ago, I read Strega and was instantly a Vachss fan. However, while I did read some of his other works (including some comic book contributions), I never got a chance to return to the Burke series. So now, here I am at the beginning.

Flood is a great crime noir featuring larger than life characters that achieve almost mythical street cred without - in my opinion - straining credulity. At the center of this story of revenge and justice is Burke, a below-the-radar survivor that makes his home and living in the slimy underbelly of New York City. Much like the author, Burke has a special hatred for child molesters and other freaks that prey on innocent youth, and the focus of this first novel involves him helping the mysterious Flood track down the main responsible for the rape and murder of her best friend's baby.

It's hard not to draw parallels between the Burke series and other off-the-radar protectors like Jack Reacher and Repairman Jack, but the comparisons end when it comes to the level of real-world evil on display in Burke's world, which is unfortunately too close to the real world. If you like your action dark, gritty, and violent, you might want to tag along with Burke. ( )

Burke's newest client is named Flood, a young woman, trained in martial arts but naive about the ways of the street who is hunting the man who killed her best friend's child. Flood hears of Burke and enlists his help to find a monster for her, so she can kill him with her bare hands. Flood is the first novel featuring the anti-hero Burke, and the best place to get to know him. Later novels build on top of this introduction. Burke is not a happy man and is filled with an emptiness he calls "The Zero." Abandoned as a child, he grew up hard in the system. Only now as he approaches middle age has he developed any sort of wisdom. He works the gritty streets of New York City and the atmosphere of the city seems extremely authentic.

Originally published in 1985, Flood by Andrew Vachss has been reissued by the Vintage Crime House of Black Lizard Publishing and written in first person, in a hard-boiled noir style. The writing may seem a little dated because it was written so long ago, but the story is quite compelling.
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The first entry in the respected and often controversial series. And it was my introduction to it. Written, as I understand it, as the author’s attempt to bring things like child abuse to light by stealth when he could get no one to listen otherwise. The novel failed to this as well, at least initially. Publishers loved everything about the book except where it dove too realistically into the disturbing and morally corrupt side of life. Today we know Vachss was right, that things like this existed--and, sadly, still exist. At least he no longer fights the fight alone. And in the meantime, he produced a superior novel. We are the better for it. ( )

Auftakt zur Reihe um den "Privatermittler" Burke und sein ungewöhnliches Team.
Aus diesen Genre das beste Buch, was ich gelesen habe. ( )