A PI with PTSD from his tours in Vietnam. The back ground is Boston 1985 where our PI has made friends within the immigrant sections of town. He is hired to investigate a death where the circumstances are suspicious. This is the second book in a very promising series. Andy Roark could be the next Spenser For Hire. I'm definitely recommending to my reading circle.

If you liked the first Andy Roark book, you'll like this one. If you haven't read the first one and you want to read this one, you definitely can. 1980s grizzled PI story against a backdrop of Boston and SF. Endless reference to his Vietnam War past. Sometimes felt like the time period was an excuse to describe things in a way that wouldn't fly in 2020. For me personally, I ended up skimming a lot of the last bit. However, I think a lot of people enjoy this type of book and this is one worth their while. For fans of: long descriptions of guns, cranky Nam vets, and constant references to the fickle nature of Boston's early spring weather.

The protagonist, Andy Roark is a Vietnam veteran of the Special Forces, Recon. He was perfect in his role and good at what he did. He was a survivor. The problem was, he saw a lot of his buddies die and ended with survivor’s guilt as well as a good bit of PTSD.

Arriving back home, no real family to speak of, he worked a short time in the Boston PD and decided it was worse than the Army. So he became a private investigator. It’s been sufficient for him until he is hired by a young Vietnamese American woman to find out who killed her uncle.

His first look into the matter discovers there was a journalist in Boston killed within two days of her uncle. There is a locally strong Vietnamese community apparently divided politically and problems have festered between the two factions.

The deeper he gets into the investigation, the more serious attempt on his life, but at this point, the pit bull in him comes out and he will NOT drop it until he knows the whole story. The corruption appears to spread fingers beyond the community.

It is a complex and well-plotted narrative, fast-paced. I enjoyed the author’s sense of humor, which intermittently softened the seriousness of the storyline. There was knowledge and expertise expressed, explanation of materiels. Remember, this is back in 1985—ten years after the fall of Saigon.

Andy is damaged, scarred, aware of his aloneness. Not lonely. Alone. He is a sympathetic character, an underdog to root for. The author has a unique writing style that I appreciated and kept me engaged. The conclusion was very satisfying.

My first novel with this author and this series, but I found no problem jumping right into Book 2 (and will be looking forward to Book 3). Looking for something different? Entertaining, unique? Totally recommended.

A terrific entry in the Boston PI genre. It's 1985 and the war in Vietnam is not yet a distant memory, especially for a guy like Andy Roark, who has PTSD. When he's approached by Thuy Duong to investigate the murder of her beloved uncle Hieu, he discovers there are vast disagreements in the local Vietnamese emigre community, many of which stretch back years. There's also corruption, which Hieu had planned to expose. It's a complicated plot with great atmospherics. And the character are boffo. Yes Roark has demons but he's facing them. Thanks to n Netgalley for the ARC. This is the second in the series but fine as a standalone. I'm looking forward to the next one.

private-investigators, noir, greed, hard-boiled, historical-research, historical-places-events, ex-military, ex-cop, survivor's-guilt

Roark did a tour in Vietnam, time in the Boston PD, and has refugee friends with similar memories who count him as a friend as well, became a PI. When a journalist in Boston and an import/export man in DC are murdered because of their positions when still living in their homeland, questions need to be asked and Roark is the one to to it. Along the way he is hired by a young Vietnamese American woman, gets royally beaten, and travels a lot looking for answers about these men while dealing with his own forms of survivor's guilt and probable PTSD. I found it a very good read.
I requested and received a free ebook copy from Kensington Books via NetGalley. Thank you!