Review by Booklist Review
The relationship between Joe Brody (strip-club bouncer and fix-it specialist for the New York Mob) and FBI agent Donna Zamori has progressed from flirting cute to the real thing, but it's being played out behind closed doors. Staying on the down low is going to be tricky in the wildly talented Gordon's fourth Joe the Bouncer novel (following Against the Law, 2021), as both Joe and Donna are working the same case, albeit from different sides of the law. Sex workers employed at the Mob-run Club Rendezvous, where "those with bodies or identities or desires excluded by the mainstream found a warm harbor," are being killed, and Capo Gio Caprisi, who has his own desires outside the mainstream, wants Joe to find the culprit, both because it's hurting business and because "these were our people and we should have protected them." Gordon deals sensitively with the world of sex workers, generating deep empathy for the Club Rendezvous crowd, both clients and employees, without oversimplifying the brutal business in which they are involved. Once more, Gordon combines gritty subject matter with tension-breaking moments of offbeat humor, as when classics-reading Joe beans a thug with a copy of Ulysses. A moving portrait of "all the rats and cats and pigeons and crackheads and hookers and cruisers and weirdo artists" who pursue the wild life.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Edgar finalist Gordon's rollicking fourth Joe the Bouncer mystery (after 2021's Against the Law) finds Joe, a former Special Forces operative, still fighting lingering PTSD while working as a club bouncer in Queens and reading the classics in his spare time. He's also an all-purpose Mafia fixer, and when sex trade workers begin to disappear under suspicious circumstances, New York's crime bosses turn to Joe for help. Can Joe and his team find the killer before more lives are lost? In the caper tradition popularized by Donald E. Westlake and Lawrence Block, Gordon uses humor to good effect. The parking lot fight in which Joe uses a copy of Ulysses to beat up a pair of thugs, no doubt a literary first, and his attempt to teach a self-defense class at a local community center are particularly amusing. The character-driven plot contains quite a large cast, but each member has an important role to play. Delightful misadventures include a wild chase on a yellow-and-orange Ducati motorcycle and a luxury car heist. Gordon's found his groove in this one. (Apr.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
First seen in Gordon's Edgar Award-nominated The Bouncer, former Special Forces operative Joe Roth struggles with PTSD-induced drug and alcohol addiction and works as a strip-club bouncer. As a side hustle, he takes on work for a childhood friend now running New York's Italian Mafia, which here means investigating the disappearance of the mob's top call girls from their brothels. They aren't runaways; one of the women has just ended up murdered, and Joe is after a kidnapper with a thirst for blood.
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
When a professional thief falls for an FBI agent, what could go wrong? Joe Brody is exploring his options. Childhood friend Gio Caprisi's network of illegal gambling dens provides a steady income not only for him, but for his shrewd grandma Gladys, who's employed to spot cheaters. And occasional side jobs, like the heist at Club Rendezvous, have enabled him to put aside a nice nest egg for the future. But the shootout that ended the heist reminds him of the risks his employment holds of his ending up dead. Plus, the raid that led to the shootout introduced him to Special Agent Donna Zamora, whose life is dedicated to stopping careers like Gio's. He's intrigued by Donna's dedication, but it's her sexy smile that hooks him in the end. And Donna knows that her relationship with Joe is a potential career killer, which is why he's never entered her apartment through the front door. While Joe ponders a career change, Gio has an ask that would put him on the same side as his secret lover. Gio's pals have noticed that some of their working girls have disappeared without a trace. Although their main concern is more loss of revenue than loss of life, Joe sees the chance to do the right thing, so he agrees to investigate on behalf of the mob. Meanwhile, Donna is tasked with busting up the human trafficking ring that's taking a toll on New York's sex workers. Watching Donna and Joe compete, unwittingly, to solve the same case brings a novel and zany twist to the old game of cops and robbers. One wild ride. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
