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It takes a lot for a murder to make an impact on the news communities of New Jersey and New York; the cold-blooded killing of four alleged drug dealers in a vacant lot in Newark, New Jersey, really captures the attention of the media. Local investigative reporter Carter Ross goes into the dangerous streets to determine exactly what happened. At first, there seems to be no connection between the victims, other than the fact that they all dealt drugs. But they weren't in competition with each other, and the area where they were murdered wasn't any of their turf. As part of his investigation, Ross makes contact with a local gang to learn about the word on the street. It's not easy for a preppy white guy to earn their trust. He does it by smoking pot with the group and getting massively high, to hilarious effect. He takes a hooker out on a date, interviews local citizens and finds that he has placed himself and the people with whom he has talked in danger. Finally, he uncovers a link—each of the victims was a dealer of a very pure form of heroin known as The Stuff. Why would selling The Stuff make them targets? The answer to that question is quite unexpected and leads to an interesting depiction of the drug lord who is running things almost like a corporate manager, complete with corporate type memos to his dealers. FACES OF THE GONE is an excellent debut. Although the subject matter is dark, there are a lot of humorous moments in the book, including Ross's relationship with his city editor, who is on a quest to become pregnant. Ross is a wonderful character. Skilled at his job, he exhibits a lot of compassion when chasing down leads. But in his personal life, he is pretty clueless about relationships. Parks presents an authentic view of the streets of Newark, exhibiting a deep understanding of its culture and people. The other aspect of this book that was very well done was the newsroom setting. Reporters and their work have been showing up in large numbers in crime fiction of late; I believe that Parks has done the best job of presenting the world of journalism, both from the perspective of the individuals involved in it and the industry and its challenges. Formerly a training development manager for a large company, Maddy is now retired and continues to enable the addiction of crime fiction fans as owner of the online discussion group, 4 Mystery Addicts(4MA), while avidly reading in every possible free moment herself.
Reviewed by Maddy Van Hertbruggen, March 2011
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Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
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