Exit .45
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4.2 • 10 Ratings
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
Marshall Grade returns in an action-packed thrillride through the New York underworld.
When a former NYPD colleague is shot dead in front of him, private investigator Marshall Grade discovers there's far more to the killing than meets the eye.
Ray Vialoux is in trouble. Big trouble. And he needs Marshall Grade's help.
Reluctantly, Grade agrees to meet. Over dinner in a Brooklyn restaurant, he learns that his former NYPD colleague owes money - a lot of money - to the wrong people. But the conversation is cut short by gunfire, and suddenly Ray is lying dead on the restaurant floor.
As Marshall investigates the circumstances leading up to the murder, tracking down the drug dealers, bag men, bent cops and mob players within Ray's orbit, it becomes clear there's far more to the killing than a gambling debt. Just who is responsible for Vialoux's death . . . and why? What secrets are his family hiding? And can Marshall find the answers before his own history marks him as the prime suspect?
'It's easy to see what the fuss is about. Sanders' prose is sharper than a switchblade . . . It's like Raymond Chandler, Lee Child and Elmore Leonard rolled into one.' - Sydney Morning Herald on American Blood
Customer Reviews
Entertaining if not particularly memorable
The author is a New Zealander with multiple crime genre titles to his credit, set in Auckland initially, then the US. The US series is based around former NYPD undercover detective/wisecracking PI named Marshall Grade whose OCD does not restrict his ability to kick a**. (A*** if he were in NZ, which he isn’t.) The first instalment (2015) was optioned for the screen with Bradley Cooper in the lead role, but I’ve heard no more since then.
This time, an old cop buddy also turned PI gets shot through the window of a restaurant while he and our boy are having dinner. Or maybe it was just a drink? The dead guy called Marshall for help (the technical term is holler for a Marshall, I believe) about a gambling debt to the mob. Our hero suspects there’s more to it. The serving NYPD detective on the case does too, but is about to retire. Our hero feels compelled to investigate. Did I mention he once had an affair with the dead guy’s missus?
The convoluted plot involves, in no particular order, low level mobsters, a contract killer, the family of a chick who was BFF at school with the dead guy’s daughter, a crooked businessman whose wife has left him for a high level mobster, a female PI/school administrator/love interest for Marshall, his Russian landlady’s cat, and possibly others I’ve missed. The action unfolds over several days at cracking pace. The body count, most of it due to Marshall, is impressive considering the time frame.