Rating: 
Summary: Ouch
Review: More lecture than normal, dulls the most recent entry to the Burke series. Too many interrupted sentences annoy more than enlighten. We always learn something new, this time about VA hospitals, but Burke obviously needs his "family" to fully recover from the pain of an assasination attempt.
Rating: 
Summary: In Uncharted Waters
Review: Mr. Vachss brings us back to the gritty, paranoid life of Burke and the underground in which he survives. But Burke is not at home, New York is on the other coast, and he is out of the know in this strange yet similar city of Portland.
Here to find a missing child, Burke is forced to dig deep and put his trust in those who are not part of his "family." This gets him digging in several worlds; from comic books, to "pain sympathizers" in search of drugs to extinguish terminal anguish. Burke also shows us a deeper maturity as he levels with a few who he needs to trust him, and compromises his privacy and past. Ultimately Burke loses control and is manipulated into doing other work before he can accomplish his own goals further showing us his own abilities at PAIN MANAGEMENT.
Rating: 
Summary: Pain managment
Review: Of all the burke books this was the most dissapointing. Throughout the book no clues were given.
Rating:
Summary: Burke: re-focused, re-newed
Review: Pain Management takes our familiar anti-hero and sets him out of his element, giving a new direction and a welcomed breath of fresh air in the Burke series. As is usual, this book is not directly about Burke but rather about the darker and darkest problems in society. Although, if one wanted to see Burke as a protagonist and end the novel with such a view, Pain Management becomes a reaffirmation of the Burke character: this is a novel about the less blatant evils in the world combined with the attachments one forms with the 'usual' or 'normal' aspects of life. Altogether, this novel is definately worth the few hours necessary for a complete read, both in terms of Vachss' dedicated fans and newcomers alike.
Rating:
Summary: none
Review: Reading the novels of Andrew Vachss is like strapping yourself into a nitrous injected car for a dark and harrowing ride thru the deceit and detritus of society's underbelly. PAIN MANAGEMENT is tight and intense...highly addictive! Gary S. Potter Author/Poet
Rating:
Summary: RIGHTEOUSNESS
Review: Say the name "Vachss" and one immediately thinks of a champion of the weak, poor and down trodden. His fictional vigilante/super-hero named Burke goes the distance in trying to right the wrongs of our society in general and the ills of certain individuals specifically. PAIN MANAGEMENT is another no-holds barred crusade to help a young girl find her way around the pathological control of her father. It also is a vehicle for another woman operating in the gray zones to bring relief to those suffering from ailments that hospital administrators and accountants callously neglect in the quest to protect the bottom line. Burke is the catalyst helping to correct the wrongs of a father and bring relief to those suffering. His techniques may be unorthodox and questionable,but he always seems to prove that the ends justify the means. In these troubling and uncertain times we find ourselves in, Vachss vis a vie Burke gives us a sobering analysis of what is important in life and how to defend it. Put simply, Do the right thing. Help those in need. Respect your family and friends for they are all you have. PAIN MANAGEMENT is another quxotic adventure for Burke, but he is alawys prepared with the best hardware and stone cold conviction to combat the dark forces of our world. Students of Vachss will not be disappointed. Newcomers will want to study the evolution of Burke. And all will gain some degree of empathy and strength for the weak and exploited.
Rating:
Summary: Words are clay; they take real meaning from their sculptor.
Review: So Burke describes Prof during the teacher's brief appearance in "Pain Management." Burke returns, again in Portland, away from his family, permanently separated from his beloved partner. Still with Gem, he's searching for work that will make him - not happy; Burke is never happy - but less restless. It's harder without his crew.
He finds work. HIS kind of work. Looking for a runaway. The search, as always, brings him over the line between a mainstream world and the world in which he grew up.
Burke is not a loveable character, yet people join him in each book. This time, it's a woman looking for an anodyne who helps Burke with loose ends in his quest. (Burke's affinity for big-butted women seems to have gone with the induction of Gem in "Everybody Pays.")
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I love the way Andrew Vachss writes. I've been reading his books since before they had been reprinted, when I used to have to crawl around on hands and knees in dusty warehouses looking for out of print copies.
One of the best things about Vachss's books is that they lead an inquisitive reader to other things. "Blossom" and, later, "Safe House," introduced me to a continuing friendship with the blues. "Batman" illustrates the horrors of children in countries outside the United States who are sold into prostitution younger than kids in this country who enter second grade. The web site introduced me to Geof Darrow, whose art is now tattooed permanently on my arm. The list continues. "Pain Management" revolves somewhat around the runaway's love of the books by Charles de Lint, whose books I hope to begin this week.
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"Pain Management" continues in the crisp Vachss style. However, either I'm getting smarter, or Vachss has slightly changed his style, because I didn't need to reread this book before I could write the review. Vachss, as an author and as an attorney defending children, has seen stuff so horrible that my mind can't comprehend it the first-go-round.
The only problem with this book is that the wait for the next Burke novel is going to be too long.
Rating:
Summary: A powerful entry in this long running series
Review: Still healing from the Hunt's Point New York ambush, Burke decides to remain in hiding in Portland, Oregon a bit longer. His new web is still tentative and being formed unlike that waiting for his return to the East Coast.
Burke's West Coast woman Gem, a Khmer Rouge survivor with her own "business" sends work to the still injured sociopath vigilante. The job is to find a missing runaway teen, whose parents already went the full law enforcement route including a high priced private detective agency filled with former cops. They all failed. Gem heard the street whispers about the unsuccessful search and offered the parents an unlicensed detective who accepts cash only to find the teen. Desperate the parents jump at the opportunity to search anew and hire Burke who begins his trek to find Rose. An underground series of clues seems serpentine and circular leaving Burke to wonder if he will adjust to the confusing environs of the Pacific even as he slowly unravels the truth about why Rosebud ran away from an allegedly loving home.
The latest Burke tale, PAIN MANAGEMENT, is a powerful entry in this long running series starring a different kind of hero. The story line engages those readers who do not mind violence. Andrew Vachss modifies his approach by adding a different type of depth with this novel as readers hear the voices of key cast members not filtered through Burke's interpretation. The answer to why is fabulous and keeps the audience sitting until Burke metes out justice his style. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Magnificent writing
Review: The prose is tight, it's really wonderful. Vachss is really getting to be an outstanding writer, in a technical sense. He also is great at developing characters and making them really three dimensional. However - the "infomercial" part of this book was too much a part of the plot element - it took too much time and was very obviously a heartfelt pitch on a subject I also find compelling. But it got in the way of the story... Anyone who really likes any of Vachss books should really read Flood, the first book in the series and really the best in terms of depth of character. It's really remarkable.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent!!!! The Series and Burke Continue to Grow
Review: The search for a missing teenage girl propel Burke on journey where he encounters the fall-out from 1960's radicalism, the disappearance of prostitutes, and a disparate group dedicated to relieving the suffering of those in pain. More is revealed of the complex emotional make-up of Mr. Vachss' "protagonist" Burke as he continues to evolve. Mr. Vachss has created yet another novel rich in both information and entertainment value. Enthusiastically recommended to both fans of the series and newcomers alike ... a highly imaginative and important book.
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