Hell's Gate
A Novel
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- 11,99 €
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- 11,99 €
Publisher Description
A riveting tale of river piracy, gang wars, and the worst catastrophe to hit New York City before September 11, 2001
In 1904 the Hudson and East Rivers were vital to the people of Manhattan. They offered families an escape from the squalor of the tenements, politicians a means of catering to their constituents, and criminals a means to make a fortune in black-market goods.
When Detective Mike Braddock foils a midnight heist led by the gangland thug Smiling Jack, the city honors him as a hero. But Mike can't forget Jack's final revelation: the identity of a new mobster jockeying for position in the cutthroat world of New York's gangs.
Mike is committed to bringing down this new criminal powerhouse before he takes power, no matter where his investigation takes him. He finds out quickly that he's not the only one who wants to take down this new gangster. A host of other mob heavies have their eyes on the same target, and they're more than willing to knock Mike out of the way to get there first.
Full of action, double-crossing, and high-stakes mob warfare, Richard E. Crabbe's Hell's Gate brings readers to the rough-and-tumble streets of historic Manhattan, all set against the vivid backdrop of the greatest tragedy to strike New York until 9/11: the General Slocum disaster.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Crabbe's third novel (after The Empire of Shadows and Suspension) links a pedestrian police investigation plot to New York City's worst pre-9/11 catastrophe, the 1904 fire aboard the steamship General Slocum, which claimed more than a thousand lives. The city is in the grip of numerous gangs, but Det. Sgt. Mike Braddock, the son of a legendary police captain, manages to throw a monkey wrench into their operations by disrupting a smuggling operation in the East River. One of the smugglers dies with the word "bottler" on his lips, giving Braddock a lead to pursue. A less-than-compelling subplot centers on Braddock's love interest, Ginny Caldwell, a prostitute who's forced to find new work after a run-in with a customer. The climax disappoints, despite the inherent drama of the General Slocum disaster.
