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If you've ever read any of Andrew Vachss's Burke novels, then you know what to expect from DOWN HERE. If you haven't, then you are in for a provocative excursion into the seamy side of New York you'll never want to encounter. To quote from the dust jacket, "Burke has carried a torch for Wolfe, the beautiful, driven former sex crimes prosecutor . . . They share a marrow-deep hatred of predators but walk different sides of the street when it comes to justice. So when Burke hears that Wolfe has been arrested for attempted murder, he knows that something is double-wrong -- and deals himself in." Some of the help he gives to Wolfe, she knows about and has no problem accepting, eventually. Some of it she doesn't ever know about, because Burke knows that if she knows, she will tell him to stop, and he's not about to do that. Wolfe is accused, by the victim, of shooting a convicted serial rapist, John Anson Wychek, who has been freed on a technicality. He has sent Wolfe at least one letter that could be construed as threatening. The DA's office is stalling on releasing any information in the discovery process, which leads Burke and Wolfe's defense team to believe that even the DA's office knows that the case is a load of crap. Burke decides that, since Wolfe obviously didn't shoot this creep, somebody else must have, and finding out who the shooter really is will make a lot of sense, both in terms of getting the case against Wolfe dismissed and in getting Wychek back behind bars where he belongs. In order to find the shooter, Burke investigates Wychek's past. Some of that involves checking out his previous prison terms, finding out who his connections were. Burke also thinks it is likely that the shooter might be one of Wychek's rape victims, so he decides to look for patterns in all of the rapes that the system knows Wychek did, with the help of a computer program devised and set up by two of Burke's extended family, Clarence and Terry. Just about any member of this extended family that has appeared in previous Burke novels is in DOWN HERE. Vachss is adept at presenting sufficient history for these characters so that we know, at least enough for this story, why or how they are connected to Burke, without overwhelming us with superfluous details. I've read all the Burke novels, but it's been so long that I really felt very unfamiliar with the back stories, so these reminders were very helpful to me. For much of the book, I wasn't sure where Vachss was going with the plot. A lot of time is spent explaining the workings of Burke's part of the world, which functions very differently from the world most of us inhabit. Who can be trusted, and why, and to what degree -- it makes the CIA/FBI/KGB world look straightforward. Burke, in pursuit of something he is convinced Wychek has and the money he knows is connected to the case, begins a relationship with Wychek's sister, Laura Reinhardt, whose career is wheeling and dealing on Wall Street. Burke gets some much-needed advice on women from Terry's 'mom', Michelle. For such a street-smart man, Burke is essentially clueless about women, which makes me wonder just how street-smart he can possibly be. Vachss's characters don't always seem very complex, but in order to survive in a very brutal world, they have to have skills and abilities not found in uncomplicated people leading uncomplicated lives. If you like Andrew Vachss's other Burke novels, then DOWN HERE will not disappoint you. Vachss's writing skills are so good . . . I was reading this at work, in the cafeteria, when my husband came up and was tapping me on the shoulder. He says my shoulder just twitched every time he tapped me, and I kept right on reading, didn't know he was there until he said something. Even when I wasn't sure what was going on, when I got a little tired of the very detailed explications of Burke's life, when not a lot was really going on . . . I kept reading, because Vachss sucked me into that other world, that world I never, ever want to live in. If you like Campbell's La-La Land series, DOWN HERE takes that scurfy life and cranks it up (or down?) a notch with exquisite skill. I recommend DOWN HERE very highly, bearing in mind that Vachss can be an acquired taste.
Reviewed by P. J. Coldren, May 2004
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