The Con Man's Daughter

Rating:
Summary: Action packed page turner...
Review: I just finished reading "The Con Man's Daughter" by Ed Dee. This intriguing novel kept me involved and transported to the streets with the main character, Eddie Dunne, and his gritty search for his kidnapped daughter. As the events unfold, I felt the rumbling of the el overhead, Eddie's exasperation, the twists and turns of dealing with his past links with the New York Police and the Russian mob. I tried to guess the results and was still surprised by the ending! Neatly tied sequences and lots of drama kept the pages turning. The action in this story would be a great movie!

Rating:
Summary: Action packed page turner...
Review: I just finished reading "The Con Man's Daughter" by Ed Dee. This intriguing novel kept me involved and transported to the streets with the main character, Eddie Dunne, and his gritty search for his kidnapped daughter. As the events unfold, I felt the rumbling of the el overhead, Eddie's exasperation, the twists and turns of dealing with his past links with the New York Police and the Russian mob. I tried to guess the results and was still surprised by the ending! Neatly tied sequences and lots of drama kept the pages turning. The action in this story would be a great movie!

Rating:
Summary: Welcome Back Ed...
Review: The Con Man's Daughter
By
Ed Dee

He's back...

Been missing noted police author Ed Dee's style and gritty realism? Pick up a copy of The Con Man's Daughter and enjoy a great winter read of New York intrigue and Russian crime insight. Ed's talent in developing characters and twisting plots is better than ever.Welcome back Ed!! We've missed you.

Rating:
Summary: Welcome Back Ed...
Review: The Con Man's Daughter
By
Ed Dee

He's back...

Been missing noted police author Ed Dee's style and gritty realism? Pick up a copy of The Con Man's Daughter and enjoy a great winter read of New York intrigue and Russian crime insight. Ed's talent in developing characters and twisting plots is better than ever.Welcome back Ed!! We've missed you.

Rating:
Summary: Coney Island's Not All Fun and Games
Review: This is a violent story that is carefully constructed, not a page turning thriller but a compelling mystery that had me desperate to find out the story behind the kidnapping. In essence what we witness is a man who will stop at absolutely nothing (and he goes through hell - believe me) in his bid to get his daughter back. I was starting to feel the effects of his struggle myself by the end of the book.
From the beachfront of Coney Island in the heart of Russian mafiya territory and on up to Yonkers The Con Man's Daughter is set in the darker, more dangerous neighborhoods of New York. This is a brooding novel with violence only a matter of eye contact with the wrong person away. Ed Dee immerses us in the dark world controlled by the Russian mafiya, visits with Italian gangsters and reminisces through an ex-cop who gladly bent the law whenever it suited him.

Eddie Dunne is 54 years old, an ex-cop, a father and a grandfather. Since leaving the force he has worked a variety of jobs but the most notable was as a chauffeur for Anatoly Lukin, a Russian businessman considered by the police to be a crime lord.

When Eddie Dunne witnesses the kidnapping of his daughter he can only think of one person who could be responsible. Yuri Borodenko is the powerful head of a Russian mafiya family that is taking control of the area around Coney Island in New York. He is in direct competition with Anatoly Lukin, Eddie's former boss. Could it be that Borodenko is finally repaying some kind of vendetta from the days he was involved in mafiya business?

Eddie uses all of his experience as an ex-cop and his connections with the underworld to try to get a handle on where his daughter is being held. He has added motivation to find his daughter apart from the obvious fact that she's his daughter and he loves her very much, and that motivation comes in the form of his six year old grad-daughter Grace. He must be ever mindful that the Russians could just as readily snatch Grace as they did Kate.

When the days pass and no ransom demand or contact of any kind comes from the kidnappers, Eddie is forced to the conclusion that the kidnapping must be some sort of revenge against him for something he had done in the past. Important busts he made as a cop, criminals he once associated with, any number of things could be used as motivation against him. But which one is it? And how can he find out the answer?

Rather than the more expected feeling of desperation that would normally be typical of a kidnapping case the pace of The Con Man's Daughter is more like the slow pacing of a caged tiger, filled with pent up energy and rage. His movements are controlled but rather than wait for instructions from the police or the FBI, he's just going to go ahead and solve this one on his own...in his own way.

As Eddie gradually homes in on his daughter's captors you can sense that that energy that has slowly been leaking out is about to be unleashed in a terrible fury. Indeed, there is nothing subtle about Eddie's methods right from the start. He is not a believer in reasoning with someone when intimidation can be used just as effectively, or if that doesn't work then bribery may be used. Of course, he is not afraid to skip straight to the old "beat the information out of them" method.

Ed Dee has mixed the dangerous world of the organized criminal with the close-knit law abiding family displaying a stark contrast between good and evil. But then he blurs that line through the persona of Eddie Dunne and the ramifications of his past that come back to haunt him. It's up to us to decide whether Eddie is a guilty man or a victim.


Rating:
Summary: Dee at his Best!
Review: To date, The Con Man's Daughter, is my most favorite ED Dee Novel. Action, suspense, guns, thugs, good guys, good girls, bad guys, bad girls, love, humor, all in one book. Who could ask for more? Well, maybe another book from ED Dee soon!!

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite Yet
Review: To date, The Con Man's Daughter, is my most favorite ED Dee Novel. Action, suspense, guns, thugs, good guys, good girls, bad guys, bad girls, love, humor, all in one book. Who could ask for more? Well, maybe another book from ED Dee soon!!

Rating:
Summary: Very interesting but emotionally uninvolving
Review: When his daughter is kidnapped, ex-cop Eddie Dunne resolves to bring her back, not matter what it takes. He hears a rumor that a Russian mobster is involved and firebombs his Rolls Royce--and is completely unfazed when the FBI tells him that human remains were found in the car. For Eddie, his daughter matters and nobody else amounts to anything. Eddie thrashes around, beating up people, shooting them in the feet, and getting beat up himself, but doesn't seem to be getting anywhere. Until he comes across evidence of a Lesbian affair involving the Russian mobster's wife. That's when things really get nasty.

Author Ed Dee writes with a noire style. New York is gritty, dangerous, and filled with criminals--and the cops are worse. Although a kidnapped daughter is a potentially emotional event, Dee's writing holds the reader back from emotionally identifying with the character. None of the characters in the story are truly innocent and none engage the reader in anything other than horror.

Dee is a retired New York police lieutenant and clearly knows his law enforcement. The police procedural details make the story feel real. THE CON MAN'S DAUGHTER is an interesting story. Dee's writing makes you want to find out what is going to happen next--it just doen't make you care much about whether it happens to Eddie, his daughter, or anyone else.