Rating: 
Summary: Another great Burke Novel
Review: "Only Child" is a return to what makes the Burke novels great. Andrew Vachss is giving us the message through great characterization and great plot when Burke goes back to New York. His great supporting cast is one of the best I've encountered and it's great seeing Mama, Max, Prof, Clarence, the Mole, Terry and Michelle back in the mix. Some of the fringe players are back as well when Burke is hired to investigate the murder of a young girl. As with all Burke novels, this book takes place in the present and incorporates recent events both above and below ground. People who read it will definitely draw comparisons to the underside of some themes in modern movies like Vin Diesel's XXX (though this book is obviously not an extreme sports action/adventure international spy story, it won't be hard to notice the topicality of some of the themes in this book.) For Burke fans, you won't be disappointed. For newcomers, there's plenty enough in this book to make you want to read the entire series from front to back.
Rating:
Summary: the hardest writing author in the world
Review: Andrew Vachss is a superb writer and a hell of a human being. I've watched his style evolve from his 1st published novel, FLOOD, to his recent books and his writing just keeps getting better and better. Charles Bukowski once said that the most difficult thing in Art is to create something simple. Vachss can say more in one sentence than most writers can say in a whole page; his prose is as lean and spare as a haiku. All of his books are worth owning. I was fortunate enough to have 3 autographed copies of his work, including ONLY CHILD, sent to me while I was a prisoner in the Washington State prison system and to see his handwriting extolling me to "Stay Strong" and "Come Home Soon" was a genuinely moving experience. He's the greatest.
Rating: 
Summary: Better Than the Last, But still Flawed
Review: Andrew Vachss lost the thread of his Burke books about five years ago. What he needs is a good editor again to tell him what's working and what isn't. I have to say, though, that he seemed to be getting back on track with this one, although there's about 80 pages of padding. I kept saying to myself, "Get to it, Vachhs, and stop babbling!" Finally I gave up and just couldn't finish. Still, I remain a fan of the man's work.
Rating:
Summary: Better Than the Last, But still Flawed
Review: Andrew Vachss lost the thread of his Burke books about five years ago. What he needs is a good editor again to tell him what's working and what isn't. I have to say, though, that he seemed to be getting back on track with this one, although there's about 80 pages of padding. I kept saying to myself, "Get to it, Vachhs, and stop babbling!" Finally I gave up and just couldn't finish. Still, I remain a fan of the man's work.
Rating:
Summary: Vachss Fascinates ...
Review: because each book shows the reader the insidious new trends that prey upon us all. Only Child exposes us to the vicious new world of "reality film" -- it's Fight Club meets Candid Camera, all draped in noir. No one is better than Andrew Vachss in laying out the problem, then making us mad enough to think about a solution. He's the only novelist that forces me to think about how to make my reality better as soon as I finish the book.
I have all his books, which are *all* eminently collectable. And all his titles are so popular you can find them in any general bookstore, besides online services like amazon.
Rating:
Summary: Vachss Fascinates ...
Review: because each book shows the reader the insidious new trends that prey upon us all. Only Child exposes us to the vicious new world of "reality film" -- it's Fight Club meets Candid Camera, all draped in noir. No one is better than Andrew Vachss in laying out the problem, then making us mad enough to think about a solution. He's the only novelist that forces me to think about how to make my reality better as soon as I finish the book.
I have all his books, which are *all* eminently collectable. And all his titles are so popular you can find them in any general bookstore, besides online services like amazon.
Rating:
Summary: Andrew Vachss at his very best
Review: Burke knows it is time to come home so he packs up what little he has after living on the run and returns to New York City where he connects with Mama, Michelle and a host of old friends. When Mama tells him his "bank balance" is only $60,000 dollars, Burke understands that he must find a high paying job rather quickly. Mama gets a phone call from a man who needs Burke's special services and she pushes him into listening to what the client has to say. Giovanni Antonelli, a man highly placed in the mob, wants Burke to find out who killed his illegitimate sixteen year old daughter. Giovanni thinks that the killing was to drive a wedge between him and Felix Encarnacion, an assassin for the Colombian cartel. The "friendship" that exists between the two men precedes a betrayal so Burke has to use all his contacts to trace the girl's movements before her death. By doing it his way, he gets answers from people that will not talk to the police and that leads him to what she was doing in her last hours, which could also prove to be Burke's last moments too. Dead or Alive Burke stands for the children when no one else does. He may break many laws in his quest for justice but there is something so admirable about a man who respects and reveres innocence that readers do not care about his methods as long as they are effective. ONLY CHILD is Andrew Vachss at his very best, which makes for an awesome reading experience. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: A Welcome return to NYC.. BINDING [stinks]
Review: Burke returns to NYC. This is not by any means a great "Burke" book but a bad Burke book is better than nearly anything out there - hence the 5 stars.
A really SAD point is the physical book. The 1st Edition hardcover is flimsy at best and wouldn't even be acceptable from a book club. This is simply AWFUL.
U'd recommend waiting for a paperback - it's hard to see how the binding could be worse.
Rating:
Summary: The TRUTH is in the Details
Review: Having read most of the Burke books, I can say I've never been disappointed. ONLY CHILD is no exception. It's a compelling story that will keep readers turning pages long into the night. But the thing I have to point out is the absolutely dead-on right way Vachss captures the feel for the Long Island (NY) locale. Being born and raised here it's nice to see the Island truthfully and honestly depicted in this book. Vachss even managed to find the best hardware store on Long Island (Karp's Hardware in East Northport), and include them in the story. Now I *really* know that Vachss knows what he writes.
Rating:
Summary: Burke's Back!
Review: Here's the thing. Vachss keeps turning out the most realistic bad guys ever. After every one of his books get released, there's a story in the news about the Feds busting a gang of bad guys (and bad girls) doing just what Vachss warned us about. Again, the characters in Only Child are bound to turn up on tonight's news. In his quirky and serious style, Vachss sets Only Child on Long Island, a densely populated suburb of New York City. Its bad guys who prey upon the (mostly) sanguine suburbanites are exactly the kind of predators that your Mom warned you about. This is not a novel ripped from the headlines, quite certainly, it's the other way around. Tomorrow's headlines will, once again, be written about the real people behind the fictionalized characters in this book. Only Child is another Burke novel. If you think you're getting tired of yet another one, don't worry. It's fresh, (in Vachss' punishing kind of way) it's twisted, and the ending plays out like a novel written with a sense of fairness in a decidedly unfair world. Vachss writes dialogue like every writer wishes he could. No matter what crime/noir/verité writer you've been hooked on before, you never really get hooked until you've read Vachss.
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