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Blaze
A rising star in the NYPD, police captain Nora Riter is smart, strongwilled, and beautiful -- with a private life that threatens to torpedo her career. A streetwise actor/conman, Nicky Ossman faces a stretch in prison for assaulting a vice officer. Nora needs Nicky to help her re-establish personal and professional control, as she takes on a case that's leading her to the meanest of Brooklyn's streets. And Nicky has no choice but to go along, joining Nora Riter in a very dangerous game that is about to ensnare them in a wide net of secrecy, lies, and betrayal cast out from the top levels of the department -- as they conspire to end the reign of Red Hook's most feared a loan shark, sadist, and pathological killer in steel-tipped boots; an untouchable madman called Blaze.
432 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 1, 1999
11 people want to read
About the author
Robert Leuci
19 books1 followerAka Bob Leuci
Robert Leuci was an officer with the New York City Police Department for more than twenty years (1959-1981), known for his work exposing corruption in the police department and the criminal justice system.After retiring from the NYPD he wrote novels, short stories, TV episodes and a memoir of his years on the force. He taught and had residencies at over forty universities and law schools, and lectured on morality and ethics erosion at many US police departments and the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia. The book (by Robert Daley) and the film Prince of the City are based on a portion of Leuci's police career. In 1999 he received the South County Center for the Arts Literary Prize. He was an Adjunct Professor of English and Political Science at the University of Rhode Island. Leuci passed away on October 12, 2015 at the age of 75 after complications from surgery.
Robert Leuci was an officer with the New York City Police Department for more than twenty years (1959-1981), known for his work exposing corruption in the police department and the criminal justice system.After retiring from the NYPD he wrote novels, short stories, TV episodes and a memoir of his years on the force. He taught and had residencies at over forty universities and law schools, and lectured on morality and ethics erosion at many US police departments and the FBI academy in Quantico, Virginia. The book (by Robert Daley) and the film Prince of the City are based on a portion of Leuci's police career. In 1999 he received the South County Center for the Arts Literary Prize. He was an Adjunct Professor of English and Political Science at the University of Rhode Island. Leuci passed away on October 12, 2015 at the age of 75 after complications from surgery.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
October 17, 2017
Quick, simple, read, but not a lot of uniqueness to separate it from others in the genre.
January 17, 2013
(I read this book because one of my college professors wrote it and I was intrigued.)
This one was definitely a slow read, which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of 4. There was a lot of development, and the action part of the story only really occurred in the last 50 pages or so. Personally, I think that development is a good thing and is necessary for novels but, for a "thriller," it just wasn't very... thrilling. The development part of the novel did make it so that I was able to really connect with both main characters, but I also wish that there had been a little bit more time spent on them together. We're supposed to believe that these two have some sort of romantic connection, but they barely spend any time together.
I also thought that Sam's storyline was a little bit bizarre. For the first 100 pages or so, you think that he's this extremely important character to the story, but then he ends up disappearing, with nothing noteworthy in his storyline happening until the very end. I liked that this character was in the story in general, I just wish that it wasn't built up to make it seem like he was going to be a crucial element.
I felt similarly about the storyline having to do with Nora's husband. It was obviously important, because what went down with him really affected Nora's character, but I felt like it could've been pared down a little bit. He doesn't ultimately end up being as important as it seems like he's going to be. The important part of his story was his connection with Ceballos, but the author still could've kept that part while not spending quite so much time on him.
Another part of the story that I felt could've been done better was Jean-Paul's relationship to Blaze and why he wanted Nora to go after him. The way the story was building up on it made it seem like it was going to be this big shock -- like, "Oh... THAT'S why he's obsessed with him?? Oh my god!!" but it didn't end up being like that at all. It was more like, "Oh... okay. So what?"
There were also a LOT of grammatical errors that were driving me nuts the whole time I was reading it. It obviously wasn't edited very well, although that didn't really take away from the book itself.
Ultimately, I really did like the stories of Nora, Nicky, Blaze, Charlie, Tino, and Irma, and the writing was very good. I just wish that the other, less-important story lines had been pared down a little bit and that it was a bit more "thrilling" (it definitely wasn't a page-turner). But overall it was a good read, although I don't think I would necessarily recommend it to someone else.
This one was definitely a slow read, which is why I gave it 3 stars instead of 4. There was a lot of development, and the action part of the story only really occurred in the last 50 pages or so. Personally, I think that development is a good thing and is necessary for novels but, for a "thriller," it just wasn't very... thrilling. The development part of the novel did make it so that I was able to really connect with both main characters, but I also wish that there had been a little bit more time spent on them together. We're supposed to believe that these two have some sort of romantic connection, but they barely spend any time together.
I also thought that Sam's storyline was a little bit bizarre. For the first 100 pages or so, you think that he's this extremely important character to the story, but then he ends up disappearing, with nothing noteworthy in his storyline happening until the very end. I liked that this character was in the story in general, I just wish that it wasn't built up to make it seem like he was going to be a crucial element.
I felt similarly about the storyline having to do with Nora's husband. It was obviously important, because what went down with him really affected Nora's character, but I felt like it could've been pared down a little bit. He doesn't ultimately end up being as important as it seems like he's going to be. The important part of his story was his connection with Ceballos, but the author still could've kept that part while not spending quite so much time on him.
Another part of the story that I felt could've been done better was Jean-Paul's relationship to Blaze and why he wanted Nora to go after him. The way the story was building up on it made it seem like it was going to be this big shock -- like, "Oh... THAT'S why he's obsessed with him?? Oh my god!!" but it didn't end up being like that at all. It was more like, "Oh... okay. So what?"
There were also a LOT of grammatical errors that were driving me nuts the whole time I was reading it. It obviously wasn't edited very well, although that didn't really take away from the book itself.
Ultimately, I really did like the stories of Nora, Nicky, Blaze, Charlie, Tino, and Irma, and the writing was very good. I just wish that the other, less-important story lines had been pared down a little bit and that it was a bit more "thrilling" (it definitely wasn't a page-turner). But overall it was a good read, although I don't think I would necessarily recommend it to someone else.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews