Flood

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Summary: "FLOOD" - A Novel Of Revenge - OUTSTANDING!!!
Review: "Flood" is Andrew Vachss' first novel featuring Burke, the hard-boiled, in-your-face, ex-con detective, who still isn't sure on which side of the law he prefers to operate. Abandoned at birth, father and mother unknown, Burke has no real first name. "Baby boy" is the name on his birth certificate. He is a survivor. He's also a stand-up guy. The novel is set in 1980s NYC, before Mayor Guiliani came to office and cleaned up the mean streets - or tried to. I have read a few other Burke books and became so fascinated with this complex character, and with the strange folks who people his world and call him" friend," that I wanted to read this first book in the series to get a better sense of how he was developed. If you are a Vachss/Burke fan, or become one, I would suggest that you try to read the books in order. Of course, every novel stands on its own, independent of the others, but the growth and development of the characters are continual. There are also references to past events, and for a richer reading experience it is helpful to know the history. If you're just looking for a good read, and not interested in becoming a Burke maven, then by all means, read at random.

"Flood" is one hard-hitting novel, reminiscent of crime fiction in the 1940s and 50s, though much more disturbing. Burke is our narrator. And the narrative, at times, goes off on a tangent, like his thought processes. Our protagonist is a meticulous man. He always returns to make his point. I think this occasional stream of consciousness is very effective and enhances Burke's persona. Vachss still manages to maintain a tight writing style throughout. Everything and everyone comes under Burke's cynical, seen-it-all scrutiny. I have never learned more about the underworld and the seamier side of life, the one most people rarely observe, than in this compelling tale. Burke's expert eyes take in details of life on the street that mine never would. His gritty urban world is one where "citizens" dwell side-by-side with "maggots."

Flood, a young woman with an attitude and a black belt in karate, hires Burke to track down a freak, Martin Howard Wilson, a.k.a. The Cobra. He is a vicious pedophile, at the very least, and responsible for killing her best friend's child. She has sword a blood oath to kill this degenerate, but she has to find him first. That's where our man comes into the picture. Flood will become an extremely important person in Burke's life and her presence in this novel is a powerful one.

Vachss populates Burke's world with a colorful assortment of characters, and I am just crazy about all of them. Max the Silent, a mute, 20th century Mongolian warrior with creative ways of communicating; Pansy, another 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 lives in a bunker beneath a high-tech junkyard; the Prophet, a scam artist who speaks in rhyme; Mama Wong, group doyenne - a Chinese Jewish mother and restaurateur, "keeps her prices high and the ambiance foul to discourage yuppies." She cares for the gang and holds Burke's stash; Michelle, a gorgeous transvestite who needs to "break out;" Mouse who continues to exploit his one successful scam "despite a lengthy sojourn in the federal joint;" Maurice the bookie, who Burke speaks to almost daily, due to his appreciation for all things equestrian; 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."

In "Flood," published in 1985, Andrew Vachss began to publicly address the plight of kidnapped and abused children - way before the era of Amber Alerts and photographs of missing kids on milk cartons. Mr. Vachss is a lawyer, who specialized in prosecuting child abuse cases. He has worked as a federal investigator in sexually transmitted diseases, a caseworker in New York, and managed a maximum-security prison for violent juvenile offenders. He was also deeply involved in the relief effort in Biafra, now Nigeria. Vachss calls the child protective movement "a war," and 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, and he'll reach a wider audience with fiction.

"Flood" has some of the toughest prose and most intriguing characters around - an absolutely riveting read!!
JANA

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Summary: This is the place to meet Burke
Review: "Flood" is the first novel featuring the anti-hero Burke, and the best place to get to know him and his crew. Especially since later novels build one on top of the other more than is usual for a "detective" series. Burke is not a happy man. He survives despite the vast emptiness he feels inside. Emptiness that 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. When the femme fatale "Flood" comes into his life with her own tragic background, she does the worst to Burke, she begins to make him feel. In addition to being the first Burke novel, this is also one of the best.

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Summary: It's Better To Face The Enemy...
Review: ...than to turn away because you don't like what you see. Vachss's work is compelling; his stories are the product of what he has seen in his long-standing and ongoing defense of children.

I've prosecuted criminal cases for eleven years. Sadly, I can tell you that Vachss's "fiction" is grounded in the real world. That means the man won't be bound by crime fiction convention, and those who live and die by formula will be disappointed. But more importantly, it also means his books are required reading for anyone interested in learning how and why we fight the War to keep our children safe. Highly recommended.

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Summary: Tough as Nails
Review: ...The novel introduces us to the toughest, take-no-[stuff]-I-dare-you-to-take-a-swing-at-me-if-you-value-your-life detectives, Burke (no first name, just that)!!! Set in what would seem to be a pre-Giuliani New York City, Vachss's narrative strikes you harder than a locomotive. The story deals a lot in the shady business of sex, prostitution, pedophilia and good old revenge. If you read the book twice, you may even get a scent of a love story in there too. The main female character, in which the book is named after, Flood, wants revenge on her friend's and her daughter's killer. She wants Burke to catch the bad guy, so that she could kill him herself. We know the killer. We know the ending. We know what's going to happen. Then what is it that makes this book such a pleasurable read? For one, it's the style of the writing. Narrated from Burke's point of view, you just can't stop feeling amazed by this man and the way he thinks. He's tough, but not into guns and killing. He's loud, but not into the screaming and shouting aspect of it. He's paranoid, but not in the freaky sense of the word. And he has the most ecelectic group of friends (and a dog) that are as mixed as a Macintosh Quality street candy box. Reading how Burke goes on with his everyday life is pure unadulterated entertainment at its best. You just can't be amazed enough at his antics and his witty narration.

Vachss cuts back on the English language, making his book accessible to many readers. The theme, however, is very real and very much mature. Looking back to his experiences with kids, Vachss knows how to punch the right buttons and pull the neecssary strings to make the reader feel his cause.

This is an excellent, in-your-face book that's high on the entertainment factor, but with a moral. Burke is one tough hombre, and with Vachss keeping his origins still a mystery, his character is unforgettable. I'm definitely going to have to read another Vachss novel (Burke all the way, baby). The style and characters have got on to me and will get on with anyone who is swept away by this gem of a book.

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Summary: FROM THE FIRST LINE TO THE LAST...
Review: ...Vachss writing hooks readers into a spell-binding journey through the big-city's dark teeming underworld. Belieavable characters with a plot that races at a steady breakneck speed with more twists, turns and back-alley journeys than a trip through any meltropolis' back-street district.

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Summary: The first Burke novel, and the beginning of something great!
Review: Andrew Vachss is a NY attorney and like his fictional alter-ego, passionate about crimes against the defenseless.

In Flood we meet some of literature's most amazing characters including a Zionist hermit, a Tibetan mute and a razor sharp chinese restauranteer.

The plot and conclusion are mind alteringly poignant and the side vignettes, like the supposed origin of aids, equally mesmerizing.

The best news about Flood is that the sequels are many and all engrossing.

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Summary: Buy a comic book instead
Review: As unpredictable as an episode of Scooby Doo. I think he stole the plot line from a Batman comi

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Summary: Extraordinary......A very violent book
Review: Bourke, the scam artist,a survivour and Flood a temple trained lethal weapon, comb the depths of New York city for a vicious degenerate who raped and strangled her best friends daughter. Iv'e read it twice. I'll probably read it again A must read book....trust me! PS Watch ot for Max.

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Summary: Andrew Vachss' FLOOD
Review: Burke is a man of many trades. All learned and honed on the New York streets and some of the toughest penitentiaries. These days his livelihood is made as a private detective. One with a soft spot for children who have been victims of the scum that crawl the lower rungs of the world. Flood, his newest client with ... the hands of the most devastating of martial artists, has come to him for help in tracking down a deviant murderer and child molester. Grudgingly, Burke is forced to take Flood on as a partner as he pries deeper into the gutters and the penthouses of NYC to track down his prey, a man calling himself The Cobra. And before long Burke finds that a simple track down is going to leave blood and disturbing memories in his wake. This is the first of Vachss' ongoing Burke series. And in this title character we find one of the most humanistic anti-heroes ever created. Vachss brings to bear his knowledge of the streets and his career as an attorney for victimized children to create an original and uncompromising voice that cannot be ignored. Above it all, Flood is a vicious tale for our time about the brutal actions and consequences sometimes we need to face in the name of not only humanity but to service up the most gravest of justice on those who violate the children of our world. In Burke we find a man willing to cross the line, at times against his better judgment, to bring that justice to these defilers. And because of that the reader feels a very primal respect for him.

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Summary: Wonderfully morbid
Review: Flood is the introduction book of Burke, a street-wise detective who understands the filth of the world. If you just look at Burke by himself, you'd think him a low-life scum who works the angles to worm himself ahead. An apathetic opportunist using people for his own needs. Looking at Burke in the context he lives, he should be sainted. Vachss' book describes the repulsive side of humanity esp. wrt child abuse. He has a vividness of his descriptions of the 'freaks' who Burke sees every day. It's hard to say that you like this book, it's morally offensive, but on the other hand, it's real, these kind of people do exist. I liked this book, just fascinating in relating of corruptness of the world. Vachss is also very much of a quip, in spite of the darkness of the subject, he writes these little one liners that are grotesquely humorous. So, why 3 stars. Flood is a just an ok read, disturbing, but just ok. I liked the style and idea, but just not the story. I found Flood (the char.) annoying. BUT, I am going to read more of this series, this is only the first and as such, is prob. just warming up.