Dark Maze

Neil Hockaday Mystery #2

by Thomas Adcock

Born and bred in Hell's Kitchen, Detective Neil Hockaday didn't think that much about an old geezer calling himself Picasso and babbling about slaughter on Tenth Avenue—until the killings began. Now it's up to Hock to stop a murderer who makes killing an art—real masterworks in paint, flesh, and blood.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Crime

310 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1991

About the author

Aka Buck Sanders (house pseudonym)

Thomas Adcock is a Detroit-born journalist and mystery novelist who won the Edgar Award for Best Paperback Original in 1992. His novels and short stories been translated into Japanese, French, Spanish, Italian, German, Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Bulgarian and Czech. He began his newspaper career at the Detroit Free Press and has written for the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Chicago Today, the Toronto Telegram, the New York Law Journal and The New York Times.

Adcock has also worked at a Manhattan advertising agency and taught journalism and creative writing—at Temple University (Philadelphia), New York University, and the New School for Social Research (New York). He has been active in P.E.N. International, the Mystery Writers of America, the Czech Writers Union, and was co-founder of the North American chapter of the International Association of Crime Writers.

He and his wife, actress Kim Sykes, live in New York City and upstate North Chatham, N.Y., where they are activists in progressive political organizations

Reviews

[Jack Heath]

Synopsis: Neil Hockaday is a detective with NYPD. The strange crimes keep coming. He ends up questioning the carnies of Coney Island.

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Worth the $1.34 I paid for it new at the Dollar General.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s an odd book to write a review about. On the one hand, the writing is pretty bad. It’s like every cliche of the genre in one book. Every chapter I read I would seriously say, “Man, this is poorly written,” followed usually by, “This is a really stupid book.” With that said, I finished the entire book and I found it hard to put down. It’s a fun book to read and it is certainly engaging, in spite of its issues. I got this book for free from one of those little community library boxes, so I can’t complain at all about what I paid for it. Good book? Not really. Entertaining? Definitely.

[Carolyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read. Unexpected twist in the end.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

#2 of the Neil "Hock" Hockaday series. 'Hock' is a native of 'Hell's Kitchen', NYC, where a good part of the action takes place. He encounters a street artist nicknamed Picasso who raves about death and killing. The murder of a woman in a bar referred to by Picasso seems to be related to him. Other links send 'Hock' to Bellevue Psychiatric Hospital and to Coney Island, where he encounters denizens with a language and culture all their own.

Neil "Hock" Hockaday series - Born and bred in Hell's Kitchen, Detective Neil Hockaday didn't think that much about an old geezer calling himself Picasso and babbling about slaughter on Tenth Avenue--until the killings began. Now it's up to Hock to stop a murderer who makes killing an art--real masterworks in paint, flesh, and blood.

[Elle · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the writing. Some nice quotes.

[Jen · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun easy read. Had a noir tone... Somewhat scattered but I did like it overall. Read at same time as Gone Girl, so the writing definitely pales in comparison