Book Review: Broken Machines

Reviewed By: Harriet Klausner

Broken Machines     Amazon US HC Amazon Canada HC
Michael I. Leahey
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Private Investigator   Noir
St. Martin's Minotaur, Oct 2000, $23.95, 304 pp.

New York City business partners James Joseph Donovan and Boris Mikail Koulomzin provide consulting services to people for whom there is no remaining option. The legal system for whatever reason failed justice 101, leaving Donovan and his associate with plenty of customers, who pay a sizable fee.

Good friend, social case worker Janet Fein asks Donovan to do a favor involving a murdered prostitute, Ruby Brice and her ten year old boy Clifford. Janet wants Clifford to have a real chance to succeed, but first he needs the murder solved. Janet believes the police arrested the wrong person and offers a potential clue involving Brooklyn's National Manufacturing Corp. Donovan agrees to make inquiries and starts by landing a job at the National Manufacturing Corp. However, even Donovan is not prepared for the layers of depravity and corruption that threaten to leave him dead in a neighborhood dumpster.

BROKEN MACHINES is the debut of the Donovan sleuthing novels and although the hero is unlicensed, he is as good as any of the urban private investigators. The story line can become overwhelming with its tiers of corruption that turns a simple case into a complex investigation. Although the plot is tense and loaded, the cast makes this tale work. Donovan, Dr. K, Janet, Clifford, and the City provide the right amount of intelligence, chutzpah, and reality to transform Michael I. Leahey's novel into a triumphant urban noir.

Harriet Klausner

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