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At one time, Moe Prager was an officer with the NYPD, admittedly, not a very good one, although he did love the job. He's been forced to retire due to an injury. Contrary to expectations, he wasn't injured while taking down a big time criminal; rather, he hurt his knee when he slipped on a piece of paper in the squad room. He's had a few operations, but his mobility has been affected and he needs to use a cane. Now, he has to move on with his life; and he's uncertain what direction to take. At the moment, he's decided to go in with his brother, Aaron, and buy a wine shop. But then something happens that takes him in a whole different direction. Francis Maloney is a powerful political figure in the City; and based on a recommendation from Moe's best friend, Rico Tripoli, he hires Moe to look for his missing son, Patrick M Maloney. Patrick is a college student; his disappearance has been widely reported in the press but has not led to any sightings. In an effort to figure out what happened, Moe interrogates Patrick's fellow students, friends and family. What he learns is rather puzzling. Patrick has had some relationship issues and was seemingly obsessed with the idea of impregnating a woman, any woman, to start a family. In addition, while at school, he was observed acting in an obsessive-compulsive fashion. He would spend hours in his room, "walking the perfect square," walking in a pattern and dressing and undressing in a predetermined order, over and over again. He certainly appears to be a very conflicted man and not the college frat boy that one might expect. Moe's investigation uncovers a lot of secrets about Patrick and his father. Sadly, there are elements of greed and betrayal that strongly impact Moe personally as well. The one good thing that comes of all of this is that Moe meets Katy, Patrick's sister, and they fall in love. Most of the book takes place in 1978; however, there are flash forwards to the present day that bring the case to its ultimate resolution. The story is well paced and has its share of surprises along the way, although there were a few scenes where I felt the explanatory revelations were overdone. Moe Prager is a great character. I really appreciated that Coleman did not make him into the stereotypical private investigator. He's not an alcoholic; he has a family that he cares about and is involved with; and he's not necessarily the most competent investigator that ever lived. What he does have is lots of heart and an inquiring mind that doesn't let him settle on anything until he's dug as deep as he can. In direct contrast is Francis Maloney, who is a racist and bigot and arouses every possible negative emotion. Coleman has received numerous awards for the Moe Prager series, which inexplicably went out of print even as his success grew. Thanks to Busted Flush Press for reissuing the series and making it available to the reading public.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, August 2008
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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