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John Francis Cuddy #2
The Staked Goat
A friend's murder takes Cuddy back to the dark days of Vietnam As military policemen, John Francis Cuddy and Al Sachs bonded while patrolling the wild streets of American-occupied Saigon. Over a decade later, Cuddy is a private detective making a living in Boston's back alleys. Awoken by a ringing phone at seven a.m., Cuddy is shocked to hear Sachs asking to meet for a drink that night. His old friend's voice reminds him of the time a Cagney movie inspired Sachs to say that, if ever captured by enemy agents, he would break his pinkie finger to signal to Cuddy that his death was not an accident. Sachs never shows for the drink, and the next morning he is found naked in a park, his body mangled and his pinkie broken.To avenge his friend, Cuddy confronts a dark military cover-up, and travels back to the war zone he thought he left behind years ago.
305 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1986
9 people are currently reading
80 people want to read
About the author
Jeremiah Healy
74 books20 followersaka Terry Devane
Jeremiah Healy was the creator of the John Francis Cuddy private-investigator series and the author of several legal thrillers. A former sheriff's officer and military police captain, Healy was also a graduate of Rutgers College and the Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston before teaching for eighteen years at the New England School of Law. His first novel, BLUNT DARTS, was published in 1984 and introduced Cuddy, the Boston-based private eye who has become Healy¹s best-known character. Moral, honest--and violent, when need-be--Cuddy makes his living solving cases that have fallen through the cracks of the formal judicial system.
Of his thirteen Cuddy novels and two collections of short stories, fifteen have either won or been nominated for the Shamus Award.
www.JeremiahHealy.com
Series:
* John Francis Cuddy
Jeremiah Healy was the creator of the John Francis Cuddy private-investigator series and the author of several legal thrillers. A former sheriff's officer and military police captain, Healy was also a graduate of Rutgers College and the Harvard Law School. He practiced law in Boston before teaching for eighteen years at the New England School of Law. His first novel, BLUNT DARTS, was published in 1984 and introduced Cuddy, the Boston-based private eye who has become Healy¹s best-known character. Moral, honest--and violent, when need-be--Cuddy makes his living solving cases that have fallen through the cracks of the formal judicial system.
Of his thirteen Cuddy novels and two collections of short stories, fifteen have either won or been nominated for the Shamus Award.
www.JeremiahHealy.com
Series:
* John Francis Cuddy
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 23, 2017
This book won the Shamus Award for this author in 1987. It also draws from his own knowledge and experience in the Vietnam War, so it's complicated compared to the two other books in the series I have read so far.
The plot is tightly woven but was more of a challenge for me to buy into as I tried to follow the logic and planning along the complex trail of events that required more than super-human effort to pull off. The intent is to exact revenge for the brutal killing of Cuddy's old friend and fellow MP from Vietnam days. The result is costly on many levels, but he does accomplish what he'd hoped.
When his friend from the past calls him late one night from Boston they make a date to have dinner after his friend's important meeting he is clearly nervous about. He doesn't show and cannot be found so Cuddy suspects the body found in Boston will be his friend. Cuddy tries his contacts to get into the morgue to see the body, but there was one Lieutenant Murphy who had to be present. "'Recognize him?' grunted Murphy. I glanced up at him and came around the slab. 'Yeah,' I said, bumping rudely into him, 'just barely.'" The body had been mutilated. It was his friend Al Sachs.
Lieutenant Murphy allows Cuddy to contribute to the investigation as he tells him he knows nothing about this killing. "I'd had only one call from the guy in the last year. I have no idea what reason somebody would have for singling him out." Murphy invited Cuddy to join him at Sachs' hotel room and continues to allow him a great deal of slack throughout the long investigation.
Cuddy travels to Al's home with the body, does all he is able to do for the widow, then travels to Washington, D.C. to get some insight into what Al had stumbled on in Boston that could have led to his death. Rather than his old D.C. contact helping him, Cuddy is brutally used and subjected to torture. "You pulled all those strings and called all those favors to get me a look at the files, and all the time you knew...like you were writing the script. You put me in that office like it was a clearing and I was a goat. You fucking staked me out to shoot a tiger." The action is a tad difficult to swallow with statements like, "C'mon John, this is the Army, remember? We clean our own laundry."
In addition to this story line another of Cuddy's investigation results is playing out while he tries to get police protection for an older couple, witnesses who testified against an arsonist/murderer. Both Cuddy and this couple are under threat by the brother of the arsonist with revenge being the dominant theme throughout this book. There are deadly results as well as the loss of Cuddy's own home and a shared experience with Assistant DA Nancy Meagher who has been a true and close friend to Cuddy on both lines of inquiry that dominate this book.
There are references and remembrances for someone my age such as recession impacts on steel workers, old cars...Cuddy's ride in this one: "I got back into my car, a '73 Fiat 124 sport sedan, my '63 Renault Caravelle finally having blown an unobtainable part."
The plot is tightly woven but was more of a challenge for me to buy into as I tried to follow the logic and planning along the complex trail of events that required more than super-human effort to pull off. The intent is to exact revenge for the brutal killing of Cuddy's old friend and fellow MP from Vietnam days. The result is costly on many levels, but he does accomplish what he'd hoped.
When his friend from the past calls him late one night from Boston they make a date to have dinner after his friend's important meeting he is clearly nervous about. He doesn't show and cannot be found so Cuddy suspects the body found in Boston will be his friend. Cuddy tries his contacts to get into the morgue to see the body, but there was one Lieutenant Murphy who had to be present. "'Recognize him?' grunted Murphy. I glanced up at him and came around the slab. 'Yeah,' I said, bumping rudely into him, 'just barely.'" The body had been mutilated. It was his friend Al Sachs.
Lieutenant Murphy allows Cuddy to contribute to the investigation as he tells him he knows nothing about this killing. "I'd had only one call from the guy in the last year. I have no idea what reason somebody would have for singling him out." Murphy invited Cuddy to join him at Sachs' hotel room and continues to allow him a great deal of slack throughout the long investigation.
Cuddy travels to Al's home with the body, does all he is able to do for the widow, then travels to Washington, D.C. to get some insight into what Al had stumbled on in Boston that could have led to his death. Rather than his old D.C. contact helping him, Cuddy is brutally used and subjected to torture. "You pulled all those strings and called all those favors to get me a look at the files, and all the time you knew...like you were writing the script. You put me in that office like it was a clearing and I was a goat. You fucking staked me out to shoot a tiger." The action is a tad difficult to swallow with statements like, "C'mon John, this is the Army, remember? We clean our own laundry."
In addition to this story line another of Cuddy's investigation results is playing out while he tries to get police protection for an older couple, witnesses who testified against an arsonist/murderer. Both Cuddy and this couple are under threat by the brother of the arsonist with revenge being the dominant theme throughout this book. There are deadly results as well as the loss of Cuddy's own home and a shared experience with Assistant DA Nancy Meagher who has been a true and close friend to Cuddy on both lines of inquiry that dominate this book.
There are references and remembrances for someone my age such as recession impacts on steel workers, old cars...Cuddy's ride in this one: "I got back into my car, a '73 Fiat 124 sport sedan, my '63 Renault Caravelle finally having blown an unobtainable part."
January 21, 2021
Other than the title (which I strongly disliked) I enjoyed this second John Cuddy novel. A staked goat is how a tiger is often caught and this is what the army does to Cuddy to catch a group of crooks. This puts Cuddy in a precarious position and he must use his wits to escape. Well written and exciting. Recommended to Cuddy fans.
June 23, 2012
A good story. John Francis Cuddy and his South Boston roots make for a believable Detective. I thought this book suffered some for it's overly heavy reliance on violence, beatings etc., and the finish was a bit operatic as well, but all in all an interesting story and one that will probably make you want to seek out another one of his books.
June 7, 2018
I have read books #1 (Bunt Darts) and #2. For me, very good writing style, rhythm and cadence, and humor. Also he does does not belabor the past or dwell in gruesome details. He gets to the point, leaving enough details to understand the issue, then he moves on to the story. I look forward to #3 (So Like Sleep)
August 25, 2012
Jeremiah Healy won a Shamus in 1986 for this book. Very gripping.
September 9, 2014
Great, kept me guessing at the ending. Infortunately, the author committed suicide last week. Saw it in the NYT.
December 14, 2017
Book Description:
A friend's murder takes Cuddy back to the dark days of Vietnam.
As military policemen, John Francis Cuddy and Al Sachs bonded while patrolling the wild streets of American-occupied Saigon. Over a decade later, Cuddy is a private detective making a living in Boston's back alleys. Awoken by a ringing phone at 7 a.m., Cuddy is shocked to hear Sachs asking to meet for a drink that night. His old friend's voice reminds him of the time a Cagney movie inspired Sachs to say that, if ever captured by enemy agents, he would break his pinkie finger to signal to Cuddy that his death was not an accident. Sachs never shows for the drink, and the next morning he is found naked in a park, his body mangled and his pinkie broken.
To avenge his friend, Cuddy confronts a dark military cover-up and travels back to the war zone he thought he left behind years ago.
My Review:
This second installment of the John Francis Cuddy series was even better than his debut novel. This fast-paced plot was more complex than the first book and the action moves fast and kept my interest until the very end. The characters are very interesting and believable. The murder of Cuddy's friend stems back to Vietnam and has lots of twists and turns. Cuddy visits his wife grave a couple times in each book and tells her what is happening in his life. This book shows a start of a relationship, the first since his wife's death. Each book leaves you with a feeling that you need to read the next one in order to see what will happen next. I look forward to reading the 3rd in the series very soon and I highly recommend this series to those who like mystery books with a likable, realistic and endearingly human character.
A friend's murder takes Cuddy back to the dark days of Vietnam.
As military policemen, John Francis Cuddy and Al Sachs bonded while patrolling the wild streets of American-occupied Saigon. Over a decade later, Cuddy is a private detective making a living in Boston's back alleys. Awoken by a ringing phone at 7 a.m., Cuddy is shocked to hear Sachs asking to meet for a drink that night. His old friend's voice reminds him of the time a Cagney movie inspired Sachs to say that, if ever captured by enemy agents, he would break his pinkie finger to signal to Cuddy that his death was not an accident. Sachs never shows for the drink, and the next morning he is found naked in a park, his body mangled and his pinkie broken.
To avenge his friend, Cuddy confronts a dark military cover-up and travels back to the war zone he thought he left behind years ago.
My Review:
This second installment of the John Francis Cuddy series was even better than his debut novel. This fast-paced plot was more complex than the first book and the action moves fast and kept my interest until the very end. The characters are very interesting and believable. The murder of Cuddy's friend stems back to Vietnam and has lots of twists and turns. Cuddy visits his wife grave a couple times in each book and tells her what is happening in his life. This book shows a start of a relationship, the first since his wife's death. Each book leaves you with a feeling that you need to read the next one in order to see what will happen next. I look forward to reading the 3rd in the series very soon and I highly recommend this series to those who like mystery books with a likable, realistic and endearingly human character.
September 16, 2021
The Staked Goat (The John Cuddy Mysteries Book 2) is a solid example of the old-school P.I. novels of the '70s and '80s (it was originally published in 1986). John Francis Cuddy is a Vietnam Veteran turned P.I. but, in an interesting twist, he's a widower who regularly visits his wife's gravesite for imaginary consultations. He's not crazy just a tad eccentric in this one respect.
Cuddy is woken by a phone call from an old Army buddy he hasn't seen in years. There is a cryptic message attached to an invitation to meet up for drinks. The friend never shows up and is later found dead (murdered) under unusual circumstances. Feeling an obligation to a former comrade Cuddy goes in search of answers and opens up the proverbial can-of-worms.
It's kind of dated but it's not awful. A few cliches and plot twists that are a bit random keep it from achieving 5-star status. All in all a good, basic P.I. novel with a little conspiracy mixed in for fun. It's not splashy. More of a slow burn than a page turner.
***Adult language and content along with some outdated/possibly offensive terminology.
Cuddy is woken by a phone call from an old Army buddy he hasn't seen in years. There is a cryptic message attached to an invitation to meet up for drinks. The friend never shows up and is later found dead (murdered) under unusual circumstances. Feeling an obligation to a former comrade Cuddy goes in search of answers and opens up the proverbial can-of-worms.
It's kind of dated but it's not awful. A few cliches and plot twists that are a bit random keep it from achieving 5-star status. All in all a good, basic P.I. novel with a little conspiracy mixed in for fun. It's not splashy. More of a slow burn than a page turner.
***Adult language and content along with some outdated/possibly offensive terminology.
October 18, 2017
Bad book, too simple on every front.
July 7, 2021
Loved It
Holy moly, if you start one, you can’t stop! Or stay away for very long if you do. John Cuddy - jeez, guy’s a man’s man, sharp mind; he’s like a James Bond with a heart.
Holy moly, if you start one, you can’t stop! Or stay away for very long if you do. John Cuddy - jeez, guy’s a man’s man, sharp mind; he’s like a James Bond with a heart.
January 10, 2022
Hehe he drinks screwdrivers just like me.
Read
August 18, 2024Fairly solid read. I enjoyed it.
March 17, 2016
PLOT OR PREMISE:
John Cuddy is a former insurance investigator who lost his job when he started drinking too much following the death of his wife to cancer. A friend from Vietnam calls him up unexpectedly while visiting Boston, arranges to meet him for dinner and drinks, and misses the date only to show up dead the next morning. Cuddy smells a rat in the official story, and sets out to help clear his friend's name and help his family.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
"Well, I was supposed to be studying French today. I even promised myself I would spend the evening doing that. Then I made the mistake of wandering over to a bookstore and looking through the Mystery section to see if there was anything that leaped off the shelves at me. Jeremiah Healy's ""The Staked Goat"" was feeling particularly restless and somehow not only forced itself off the shelf and into my hands, but also managed to take hold of my wallet and steer me to the register. That was, I think, somewhere around 5:00 p.m. Except for the time on the way to the diner and the time to walk home, I've been subjecting myself to the simply wonderful story contained within its covers ever since. I'm almost tempted to read it again over the next few days s l o w l y this time to see if there is anything I missed, and if not, just to savour it a while longer. In any event, a very enjoyable four hours.
I liked the very realistic portrayal of the friends -- biting their tongues when they used idioms (""dead to the world"", etc), laughing occasionally, etc. But regardless of the fast-paced action after the visit to Pittsburgh, the part I loved the best was the portrayal of the gay couple. I lived with a gay male couple with about the same age discrepancy, who had been together for nineteen years, and it seemed like I was back in their kitchen having breakfast when I was reading the story."
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
I did wonder about the accuracy of some of the details surrounding the Shivah sitting for Al (i.e. a funeral on the Saturday -- Jewish Sabbath -- I didn't think that was kosher, no pun intended). But it did say at the start that Al didn't go very often -- hope that wasn't a cop out...could've been an interesting sub-area.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
I was only going to read a little -- and lost an entire evening!
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did follow him on social media.
John Cuddy is a former insurance investigator who lost his job when he started drinking too much following the death of his wife to cancer. A friend from Vietnam calls him up unexpectedly while visiting Boston, arranges to meet him for dinner and drinks, and misses the date only to show up dead the next morning. Cuddy smells a rat in the official story, and sets out to help clear his friend's name and help his family.
.
WHAT I LIKED:
"Well, I was supposed to be studying French today. I even promised myself I would spend the evening doing that. Then I made the mistake of wandering over to a bookstore and looking through the Mystery section to see if there was anything that leaped off the shelves at me. Jeremiah Healy's ""The Staked Goat"" was feeling particularly restless and somehow not only forced itself off the shelf and into my hands, but also managed to take hold of my wallet and steer me to the register. That was, I think, somewhere around 5:00 p.m. Except for the time on the way to the diner and the time to walk home, I've been subjecting myself to the simply wonderful story contained within its covers ever since. I'm almost tempted to read it again over the next few days s l o w l y this time to see if there is anything I missed, and if not, just to savour it a while longer. In any event, a very enjoyable four hours.
I liked the very realistic portrayal of the friends -- biting their tongues when they used idioms (""dead to the world"", etc), laughing occasionally, etc. But regardless of the fast-paced action after the visit to Pittsburgh, the part I loved the best was the portrayal of the gay couple. I lived with a gay male couple with about the same age discrepancy, who had been together for nineteen years, and it seemed like I was back in their kitchen having breakfast when I was reading the story."
.
WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:
I did wonder about the accuracy of some of the details surrounding the Shivah sitting for Al (i.e. a funeral on the Saturday -- Jewish Sabbath -- I didn't think that was kosher, no pun intended). But it did say at the start that Al didn't go very often -- hope that wasn't a cop out...could've been an interesting sub-area.
.
BOTTOM-LINE:
I was only going to read a little -- and lost an entire evening!
.
DISCLOSURE:
I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I was not personal friends with the author, but I did follow him on social media.
August 11, 2020
A life in the military crime thriller. A friend’s murder takes Cuddy back to the dark days of Vietnam. As military policemen, John Francis Cuddy and Al Sachs bonded while patrolling the wild streets of American-occupied Saigon. Over a decade later, Cuddy is a private detective making a living in Boston’s back alleys. Awoken by a ringing phone at seven a.m., Cuddy is shocked to hear Sachs asking to meet for a drink that night. His old friend’s voice reminds him of the time a Cagney movie inspired Sachs to say that, if ever captured by enemy agents, he would break his pinkie finger to signal to Cuddy that his death was not an accident. Sachs never shows for the drink, and the next morning he is found naked in a park, his body mangled and his pinkie broken. To avenge his friend, Cuddy confronts a dark military cover-up, and travels back to the war zone he thought he left behind years ago.
March 4, 2010
I'm attempting to read Healy's books in order from the beginning. Some of them aren't easy to find. The Staked Goat is the second in the series featuring John Cuddy (think Travis McGee meets Elvis Cole). He's a Vietnam vet - pretty interesting guy - and the plots are tight. I won't soon forget Cuddy's comment about the war:
It is, I think, the greatest irony of our time, at least
of my time. A President I thought I understood and would
have died for dropped us into a war in a country which none
of us understood and where nobody should have died.
'Nuff said.
It is, I think, the greatest irony of our time, at least
of my time. A President I thought I understood and would
have died for dropped us into a war in a country which none
of us understood and where nobody should have died.
'Nuff said.
September 20, 2013
This second entry in Healy's John Francis Cuddy series shows a big step up from the first. It's a tighter, more focused, and more complex story than that one. It's also a much more violent one with several deaths.
Cuddy investigates the torture-murder of an MP buddy from his days in Vietnam. We also see Cuddy taking the first steps into a relationship with a woman since the death of his wife.
Cuddy has more depth here and comes across as much more human.
I plan to read the rest of the books in this series and wish Healy would write more.
Cuddy investigates the torture-murder of an MP buddy from his days in Vietnam. We also see Cuddy taking the first steps into a relationship with a woman since the death of his wife.
Cuddy has more depth here and comes across as much more human.
I plan to read the rest of the books in this series and wish Healy would write more.
March 23, 2013
More like 3 1/2 stars. I appreciated the humanity and authenticity of the characters but found some of the near scrapes for the protagonist a bit of a reach. Sometimes things can work out just a trifle to tidy in a mystery. In real life, all the loose ends - particularly those earlier bathed in great complication - don't always tie together in the end. What I would have really liked to have seen is Healy abandon the mystery aspect of the novel and stick with what is clearly his strength - the ability to craft authentic literary characters.
June 7, 2020
This was really good! A bit violent, but the violence makes generally sense. John Cuddy is the perfect hero -- sensitive, caring, determined but also really tough. The one thing I didn't really understand was how he found the murderer He was looking for? Still, I will read more of Healey's work.
Want to read
December 19, 2018Synopsis: a body is found on Beacon Hill; it was John Francis Cuddy's best buddy from Vietnam. He wants to avenge his friend's murder.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews