The Strangler
A Novel
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3.3 • 3 Ratings
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
Before the New York Times bestselling success of Defending Jacob, William Landay wrote this widely acclaimed second novel of crime and suspense, which was named a Favorite Crime Novel of the Year by the Los Angeles Times and several other newspapers.
Boston, 1963. Meet the charming, brawling Daley brothers. Joe is a cop whose gambling habits have dragged him down into the city’s underworld. Michael is a lawyer, always the smartest man in the room. And Ricky is the youngest son, a prince of thieves whose latest heist may be his last. For the Daleys, crime is the family business—they’re simply on different sides of it. Then a killer, a man who hunts women with brutal efficiency and no sign of stopping, strikes too close to the Daley home. The brothers unite to find the Strangler, a journey that leads to the darkest corners of Boston—and exposes an even deeper mystery that threatens to tear the family apart.
Includes an excerpt of Defending Jacob
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST CRIME NOVELS OF THE YEAR BY
Los Angeles Times • The Guardian • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Kansas City Star
“Reminiscent of Dennis Lehane’s Mystic River, the novel takes us into a dark world where goodness is smothered and villainy thrives. . . . I was completely riveted.”—The Boston Globe
“A dense and satisfying novel of crime and retribution . . . [Landay has] been touted as the natural successor to George V. Higgins.”—The Independent
“A gripping, atmospheric saga.”—The Wall Street Journal
“An impressive and satisfying performance.”—The Washington Post
“Smart and surprising.”—Esquire
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Set in Boston in 1963, Landay's engrossing crime novel is less about the titular strangler than the three Irish-American Daley brothers: Ricky, a thief; Michael, a lawyer; and Joe, a bent cop. A year earlier, the Daleys' father, also a cop, was fatally shot on the job, and the killer has never been caught. The father's partner on the force, Brendan Conroy, has insinuated himself into the family to the point that he's now sleeping with the brothers' mother, Margaret, and is a permanent fixture at Sunday dinner, much to the disgust of Michael and Ricky. Landay (Mission Flats) movingly explores the bonds of family and basic questions of honesty and loyalty. While the novel suggests another killer than the historical Boston Strangler, the emphasis remains on such themes as crime and punishment, love and honor, truth and justice.
