2006-07-13 A dark, creepy thriller! Another winner for Vachss!,

Man oh man, Mr. Vachss!!! You just refuse to allow your protagonist, ultra anti-hero Burke, more than one novel's worth of happiness in a romantic relationship. You keep killing-off his women! At least allow them to live and love together for 2 books' worth! Imagine my chagrin to find, before page 20 in "Choice of Evil," that you had deep-sixed Burke's latest, Crystal Beth (I keep thinking crystal meth...what were you thinking???). She appeared in your previous bestseller "Safe House," a lovely lady, half Inuit, half Irish, kind and gentle activist for abused women, determined to stand by her man...and love him no matter what. Tell me, how am I supposed to believe that in what seems to be a drive-by hate shooting at a gay pride demonstration, with 3 dead, that Crystal Beth coincidentally happens to be one of the victims??? You lost credibility with me on that one. I mean, out of hundreds, Crystal Beth manages to get hit? Otherwise, "Choice of Evil" is a terrific book, as always! For readers of this review...I really didn't spoil anything because, as I previously stated, this horrific event occurs by page 20. And... there is much more non-related action which take place before that. Are you curious? I won't tell. There's a Job-like character in the comic strip Lil Abner, "Joe Btfsplk," who walks around with a cloud over his head who jinxes everyone he comes into contact with. More and more I am reminded of Joe when I read about Burke and his romantic counterparts.

In this, Andrew Vachss 11th Burke novel, our dark hero, who seems to grow more morose with each episode (and can you blame him?), calls vengeance the name of the game. Burke wants to "get" Crystal's killer(s). So does someone else. Enter a shadowy psychopath with Homo Erectus as his/her moniker. He...or she appears determined to wipe all gay bashers and pedophiles from the face of the earth. At first police believe Burke is the "doer." After all, his major hatred is reserved for pedophiles. And gay bashers killed his girlfriend. Gradually, the killer's MO, his signature, is that of Wesley, the ice-man who wouldn't know an emotion if it slammed him in the face. Wesley, a brilliant assassin who never missed, used to be Burke's homeboy. The two met in prison and found they are both past "Children of the Secret." But Wesley is dead. Or is he? As the body count climbs, and it climbs high, Burke is hired to track the serial killer, and of all things, to help him escape.

While not as brilliant as Mr. Vachss earlier novels, "Flood" & "Strega," "Choice of Evil" is well plotted and provides an excellent read. The usual suspects appear here: Max the Silent, a mute Mongolian version of Conan the Barbarian with creative ways of communicating; Pansy, Burke's 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; Michelle, a gorgeous former transvestite who recently "took the plunge;" Terry, Mole and Michelle's adopted son; the Prophet, a wise old scam artist who has logged-in too much time behind walls and was Burke's original mentor; Mama Wong, group doyenne and Chinese restaurateur, "keeps her prices high and the ambiance foul to discourage yuppies." She cares for the gang and holds Burke's stash; I should add that our hero drives a souped-up Plymouth, another important character. It usually looks like it's been painted with rust. Strega, a persona from the past, makes a guest appearance here, and former DA Wolfe, for whom Burke has a major jones, returns to tease fans into believing that maybe there's a chance for the two of them to make-it in a relationship...that is if Mr. Vachss doesn't kill Ms. Wolfe off in the next installment.
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JANA