2006, ISBN: 0743464214

[SR: 2557745], Mass Market Paperback, [EAN: 9780743464215], Pocket Star, Pocket Star, Book, [PU: Pocket Star], 2006-06-27, Pocket Star, A day of kayaking on the East River turns tragic wh… More...

[SR: 2557745], Mass Market Paperback, [EAN: 9780743464215], Pocket Star, Pocket Star, Book, [PU: Pocket Star], 2006-06-27, Pocket Star, A day of kayaking on the East River turns tragic when Conrad Voort and his fiancée, Camilla, find a corpse floating in the water at Hell's Gate, a ship graveyard dating back to colonial times. The discovery seems at first tied to the accident-strewn history of the treacherous passage, but Voort begins to suspect a more modern and global enemy is emerging and when he begins to ask questions he himself is targeted. A man with the power to destroy all that Voort holds dear stages an unimaginable attack that leaves the detective broken and on the run. Defying the laws of his extended cop family and of his brother officers, he returns to exact revenge -- alone. , Suspense novelist Ethan Black has made a regular business of getting inside the heads of his heroes and villains in order to make clear that they are neither wholly good nor wholly bad, neither all strength nor all weakness. His taste for psychological nuance has inspired critical plaudits, and was keenly on view in 2003's Dead for Life, which featured an ostensibly textbook-caliber sociopath who is eventually shown to be no less complex or deserving of sympathy than anyone else, including Black's protagonist, multimillionaire New York police detective Conrad Voort. Sadly, At Hell's Gate, the fifth entry in the Voort series, pales by comparison with that previous work. In his effort to explore the depths of Voort's fears, Black has produced a tale that sacrifices emotional intrigue to vengeful violence. Things begin promisingly enough. Voort, the Jaguar-driving scion of one of New York's founding families, is kayaking with his impossibly beautiful, on-and-off girlfriend, Camilla Ryan, in a treacherous stretch of the East River called Hell's Gate, when they encounter the corpse of a murdered taxi driver. Turns out the cabby was fascinated with old shipwrecks, including a riches-laden 18th-century frigate that might be sunk near Hell's Gate. But Voort's homicide probe leads him well beyond treasure hunting, to arson and death aboard a tugboat--and eventually into the clutches of a remorseless mercenary named Leon Bok, who threatens the cop with sexual debasement and the slaying of his family, unless Voort leaves town for a couple of weeks. Traumatized, increasingly paranoid of further attack, and fearing that he's "no good as a man anymore," Voort flees to Argentina with Camilla. But he soon returns and, under an alias, too boldly resumes his inquiry, which leads to revelations of international money laundering, divisiveness within Voort's usually close-knit clan, and a climactic shootout that begs for cinematic adaptation. Black--the pseudonym used by a New York journalist--would have done better completing his portrait of a golden-boy treading the precipice of collapse, and left all the fireworks to lesser novelists. --J. Kingston Pierce, 10482, Police Procedurals, 10457, Mystery, 18, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, 1000, Subjects, 283155, Books, 10484, Thrillers & Suspense, 7538392011, Crime, 9536069011, Financial, 7538393011, Historical, 10487, Legal, 10489, Medical, 7538394011, Military, 10491, Psychological Thrillers, 10493, Spies & Politics, 9059890011, Supernatural, 10495, Suspense, 10497, Technothrillers, 18, Mystery, Thriller & Suspense, 1000, Subjects, 283155, Books<

ISBN: 9780743464215

Conrad Voort's family members have enforced the law in New York City for three centuries, since Manhattan was a Dutch colony. Raised from childhood to be a detective, he heads a vast cop … More...

Conrad Voort's family members have enforced the law in New York City for three centuries, since Manhattan was a Dutch colony. Raised from childhood to be a detective, he heads a vast cop clan, with its own code of honor and obligation. But now he faces his most dangerous adversary yet -- a man who has the power to destroy the family and will stop at nothing to prevent Voort from uncovering a terrible new kind of crime. Detective Voort and his beautiful fiance, Camilla, are kayaking New York City's Hell's Gate, a treacherous section of the East River and graveyard for several centuries' worth of ships, when they spot a body floating in the water. The death seems related to a tragedy that happened in Hell's Gate over two hundred years ago. But could it also involve something more modern, menacing, and international in scope? With the help of TV producer Camilla and his partner, Mickie, Voort pursues the clues. But something doesn't feel right about the trail the dead man left behind. What starts out to be a complex investigation takes a sinister turn when Voort falls into the clutches of a man whose bloodless methods of persuasion have Voort stricken with real terror, for his family, his fiance, and himself. But the man with the dead voice leaves Voort with few choices. Psychologically crippled, he can no longer confide in his fiance or his partner. He must ignore the long-standing law of the clan -- and his brother officers -- and take action alone. Breathlessly paced and filled with Ethan Black's trademark explosive action, At Hell's Gate is a spellbinding new thriller that follows a man fighting to find the truth, save his family, and redeem himself. Fiction Fiction eBook, Pocket Books<