Book Review: Hard, Hard City

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Hard, Hard City     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Jim Fusilli
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator
Series: Terry Orr # 4
Putnam, Oct 2004, $24.95, 288 pp.

After years of mourning for his wife and their son who died in a train accident, private detective Terry Orr still struggles with the fact that his spouse was locked in a passionate embrace with another man while her son was on the rail tracks. She died trying to save their child’s life. Terry cares for Julie, but is unable to tell or show her how much he needs her. His daughter Bella looks after him because she understands his pain and he will do anything for her.

Bella asks her father to find Allie Powell, who has been missing for several days. Terry visits John McPorter, who shows the sleuth his open safe in which $471 and some envelopes were stolen leaving behind much more valuable items. Next Terry sees Allie’s father Powell who believes the detective has the stolen items; his goons rough up Terry. He returns to John’s house to find the man impaled on a fence and not long afterward the man’s son is dead in a shoddy apartment building. Terry concludes that Powell seeks incriminating documents that John possessed and if he can prove this perhaps Allie can come out of hiding.

Jim Fusilli provides a dark urban noir that paints the meanness of city streets. The protagonist prefers being shot at or beaten up as less painful than his thoughts and enables him to escape from his growing unwanted feelings for Julie. The story line is action-packed filled with colorful secondary characters, but it is the sinister Manhattan skyline that makes HARD, HARD CITY a tale that fans of James Patterson will want to read.

Harriet Klausner

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Harriet Klausner