Rating: 
Summary: Like the ketchup commercial, stokes fans 'anticipation'
Review: "Pain Management" delivers just about everything Burke fans crave: a 'cause' championed by a new character (the lack of appropriate pain medication for the terminally ill and suffering); a mystery involving murdered/missing/abused kids; Burke doing what he does to solve the mystery; lots of interesting backround on some element only peripherally related to the story (previously its been everything from dogs to cars to boxing to martial arts - this time its comic books); some kind of mentoring between a father-figure and young male(2 instances here); Burke getting booty from 1 or more impossibly beautiful but emotionally damaged/scarred/unstable women; vengeance aplenty on the bad guys and a point where Burke can't quite do it alone and requires help - usually from his 'family'.Every Burke fan in existance is slobbering to see Burke return home to his family, get a new dog and return to 'normal'. Andrew Vachss wisely doesn't deliver that punchline too soon, adding tension to both the character and the reader in the process. There is a plethora of backstory spliced into the mix, tempting new readers to go back to the source and old fans to deliciously reminisce. The title itself refers to the not-quite expected cause in the book as well serving as a metaphor for Burke's own struggle to come to grips with his own pain, and when, if ever, his deep wounds will heal. In "Pain Management" Andrew Vachss may not deliver a home run, but it will keep me reading until he does.
Rating: 
Summary: Grim, gritty and determined mystery
Review: "Pain Management" features a plot that is based on the suspected abuse of children and the exploitation of women; as, apparently, do most of Vachss' books. A young girl has gone missing, apparently voluntarily, and her rich, leftie father wants Burke to bring her back. It's the kind of thing he's good at, so it wouldn't prove much of a problem--except other hidden intrigues keep popping up and getting in his way. Vachss' style is a little different from the typical mystery writer's. He writes with an economy of words that makes most hard-boiled authors seem verbose, yet he is still able to paint grim images with his prose that stay in the reader's mind. This book, as well as the others in the series, draws obvious parallels to Richard Stark's superb Parker series. Like Burke, Parker is a thief and a killer with few scruples, but an abiding respect for his own unique code of honor. Although "Pain Management" is not as good as the best of the Stark novels, it is still an interesting, if at times troubling, read. Reviewed by David Montgomery, Mystery Ink
Rating:
Summary: Burke returns, in Oregon
Review: Andrew Vachss has to be an interesting individual. You get the idea that Burke, the main character in his novels, is a somewhat nastier version of himself. Burke is a shadowy figure, with only one name (only one was given when he was an orphan) and a mysterious, cloudy, bitter view of the world. He works around the edges of things, making money on the black market, specializing in being untraceable and invisible, or almost. He is almost completely uninterested in the fate of people he doesn't know, and for the most part he's pretty cold. He has a real hatred for criminals who exploit children. In this outing, he's gone to ground in Portland Oregon. This is a departure for Vachss, who's set almost all of his books in New York City. He bounces around town, establishing a "rep" so that someone can hire him to do something. Eventually a troubled father contacts him, looking for his daughter. Burke agrees to look, and does so with his usual disregard for rules, animosity towards authority figures, and dark, mysterious methods. When he finds the girl, the answers are not at all what you were expecting, satisfying though they are. There's a whole interlude where Burke helps a woman who steals drugs for the chronically ill, and it's from this side-plot that the book gets its title. I liked the story, about as much as I usually do with Vachss. Everything's very dark (I don't think I could read two of these in a row without contemplating suicide) and murky, and the structure of the book is strange, too. For those who aren't familiar, Vachss has veered between numbering his chapters and not bothering. They're anywhere between a couple of lines and a page or two of text, very short, very choppy. The author seems to just only write part of the story, several lines of dialog, and expect the reader to fill in the rest. Given that, this is a good book.
Rating:
Summary: For the hard-boiled fans
Review: Andrew Vachss' novel is a story of deep betrayal. Burke is an ex-con who escaped from New York and is now trying to live a life in Portland, Oregon as B. B. Hazard. He is hired to find a missing girl who left her family's home without a trace. While performing his investigation he learns about the darkness this new city offers. The girl's father seems a bit too overeager in finding his daughter. One is ready to think the worst of somebody and one finds that he is but for the wrong reason. The book's resolution was a surprise to me. This novel is very hard-boiled and not for the kids. It took me a while to get to grasp the meaning of this book since it is something I am not used to read. Vachss knows his material as stated in his biography. He shows the dark side of humanity and it is not always pretty. This was my first Burke novel. I might try to read FLOOD in the future in order to gain a better understanding of this character.
Rating: 
Summary: BURKE IS BACK AT HIS BEST
Review: As a mystery writer with my debut novel in its initial release, I believe Andrew H. Vachss's thirteenth Burke novel is his best yet. Burke is true to form, living a life supported by violence. His live-in lover, Gem, brokers his jobs and seems to be a perfect match for Burke. Vachss tells a noirish tale concerning Burke being hired to find Rosebud. Rosebud is no sled. She's the missing teenaged daughter of an oddly secretive and chemically-burdened family. Drugs, pain management drugs, also play a part in the novel's second plotline, and eventually the two stories converge. Excellent read. PAIN MANAGEMENT is Burke's finest adventure and Vachss' best work.
Rating:
Summary: A SLOW RETURN TO THE OLD BURKE!!
Review: Before I start in on the review of the newest novel by Andrew Vachss, let me first say that the Four-star rating I've given this book is a marginal one. A three-and-a-half star rating would've been closer to what I feel it deserves. My gripe with the present "Burke" novels is that since the death of Wesley, Mr. Vachss has taken the series in a different direction. The violence and darkness that was so powerful in the earlier books has gradually been toned down, and Burke has become more introspective and philosophical. Even Max the Silent has been more or less eased out of the last few novels with only an occasional cameo appearance. In other words, the author slowly removed the things that made the "Burke" series stand out in the world of fiction and that gave it the solid punch in the gut that other novels seemed to lack. That's my complaint for better or worse. With regards to PAIN MANAGEMENT, I can say that I enjoyed this novel slightly more than I did the last one. Burke is still living in the Portland area of Oregon with his Cambodian girlfriend, Gem. Feeling bored and not having much to do, Burke decides to accept a job from Kevin Carpin to find his missing teenage daughter, Rosebud. It appears that Rosebud is a runaway, and no one has the slightest idea where she's gone or why. Burke questions her family, then the teachers at her school, and then her best friend. He begins to gradually pick up clues that lead him to the writer of a comic book series that Rosebud liked to read. In time, he runs into Peaches, a lone, sexy female who knows the dark streets of Portland and where the action in the city is located. Peaches is also a drug runner, but not in the normal sense of the term. She hijacks, with the help of friends, truckloads of medical drugs so that people in the area who are dying of AIDS and have terminal cancer can receive the necessary medication they need to ease their suffering. Burke eventually agrees to assist Peaches in a hijacking in return for her help in finding Rosebud. At the same time, as Burke continues his search in the red-light district of Portland, he discovers that a couple of guys just out of prison are threatening the prostitutes on the street with outright violence in order to get a percentage of their nightly earnings. Deciding to take out the two scumbags, Burke reverts to his old ways (Yeah!!!) as he teaches the guys the true meaning of violence. In the background of all of this is still the mysterious reason as to why Rosebud ran away and where she's hiding. In PAIN MANAGEMENT, a large part of the novel is spent with Burke simply driving around and asking questions. At least he's doing something this time around! The book doesn't have a lot of action, but what there is reminded me of the earlier novels. A great deal of information is given about the plight of sick people in our country who are unable to get the necessary drugs to alleviate their pain and how little the government is doing about it. There's also a bit of information concerning the mean streets of Portland and what one can expect to see should a visit to the area ever come about. Burke and Gem (she's pushing hard for some kind of commitment from him) are definitely not getting along, and our dark knight thinks about returning to New York, where his chosen family is, a number of times throughout the book. One can only hope! I have no complaints about the writing style of Mr. Vachss. He's an exceptional author who knows how to create dark and intriguing characters, as well as a brooding atmosphere for his stories. The only thing I ask for is more action in the books. Bring back Burke's family, especially Max the Silent. Even that may not be enough, however. All of the original characters seem to be too comfortable and complacent in their present lives. Wesley is definitely the one to bring back! Since his death several years ago was left open-ended, it could easily be done. I even think Mr. Vachss has been considering the possibility of doing this for the last couple of novels. Wesley is the only character that can raise the stakes, kick some righteous butt from one end of the city to the other, and give the old-time readers an adrenaline rush that will knock them right out of their seats. Andrew Vachss is a remarkable author who's already proven his ability to write the best hardcore action-thrillers in the business, and he can definitely do it again!
Rating:
Summary: Too Much of the Same
Review: Burke has been around for a long time now, and maybe Vachss has reached the end of his rope. Burke is a fully realized character, but he's a static character. There has never been a lot of change, and certainly not a lot of growth in Burke. Each book is much like the last: a mystery, almost always involving violent child abuse, driven by a really horrifying villain. This one is a weaker than most. The villain isn't much of a villain, his only real "crimes" being stupidity, arrogance, and the betrayal of his friends many years before. I have to admit, I'm getting tired of Burke. He's brilliant, but he's so sanctimonious. He pretends to himself that he doesn't have a lot of morals, but in a lot of ways he's a prude. He looks down on damn near everybody and his jaded, cynical opinions of just about everything are becoming a real turn-off. Don't get me wrong. Second rate Vachss is still worth reading, but you'd be better off with Blossom, or maybe Footsteps of the Hawk.
Rating:
Summary: Lucky Burke -- 13th and best so far!
Review: Burke is back on the job, scamming, stealing and doing what he does best: tracking a missing girl who may be running from a pain no one can imagine--except Burke. All while out of his native New York and without the protection of his family of choice. New friends and enemies abound in this "not always what it seems" story of betrayal and risk taking, that finds Burke trying to operate in a very different Portland than the tour guides depict. The search for the missing girl, Rosebud, is the obvious, but along the way are twists and turns that could cost Burke his freedom, and maybe even his life. Great characters, both new and old, bring a seemingly straight-forward story to life. But Vachss never fails to add an unexpected element to their motivations or their personal pain. Are the girl's parents being honest for why they want Rosebud back so badly? Who is the chameleon-like Ann O. Dyne ... friend or foe? And what of Gem, the woman who calls herself Burke's wife, is her past going to destroy Burke's future? More mystery than some of his previous outings, Vachss has done a fantastic job of weaving a story that you won't be able to put down. Definitely a must for Burke and Vachss fans and anyone else who wants a sharp, well-written and stunning in its conclusion story by one of the masters of the crime-fiction genre.
Rating:
Summary: The sadness works, but I miss the wrath...
Review: Burke is laying low in Oregon. He's not in his element (New York), and this affects "Pain Management" as it affected "Down in The Zero." For me, a Burke story works best when the villain inspires a gut-deep flash of pure HATRED. I didn't get that fix this time. Also, just the words "New York" carry a seediness integral to the mood of Vachss' work. Under an alias, Burke agrees to locate a well-heeled hippie's daughter. Things about her disappearance don't add up, and Burke encounters some locals who may or may not help him. They also may or may not be milking him for their own cause - getting pain meds to those in greatest need despite America's short-sighted treatment policies. These two plotlines never really merge. The daughter's family bears a secret that caused her to take off, but it's...well, a more "esoteric" reason than molestation. On the plus side, Vachss offers some intelligent, sympathetic young characters. He reminds us that everyone has the potential to be both Cain AND Abel. Burke's usual anger and vigilance fall short of his melancholy. Things with Gem are decaying, and this almost becomes a distraction from the plot. His woman troubles don't end there; Ann O. Dyne is the most annoying girl Burke has dealt with since Fancy ("Down in The Zero") or Nadine ("Choice of Evil"). She's not stupid, just annoying. Flood, Blossom and Belle are still the top-tier Burkettes. Vachss' effort to broaden the scope of issues in Burke novels is commendable. However, it doesn't play to Burke's strengths. Baby Boy Burke is a conman first and a killer first-and-a-half. "Pain Management," while thought-provoking, didn't hit me as hard as earlier works. Burke has the blues six feet deep, and the only effective remedy is to get back to New York and take it out on the lowest of the low. With "Only Child," I hope to see How Burke Got His Groove Back.
Rating: 
Summary: Pain Management
Review: Burke needs to get back to New York and his family.
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