New Lots

Jack Devlin #4

by John Clarkson

The heavily symbolic, titular New Lots in John Clarkson's gripping crime novel is a public housing development in one of Brooklyn's worst neighborhoods, Brownsville--"most of which was nothing but long stretches of waste and rubble interrupted by structures that had collapsed under the weight of abuse and neglect and the final ravages of fire. The houses and apartments and commercial buildings still in use were so run down and decrepit that they seemed to be discarded versions of what the rest of the city used." New Lots is a scarred and profane territory of poverty, hopelessness, drugs, and whatever other depravity is the new lot in life for its unloved and unlucky inhabitants. Two tribes are fighting for control of this ugly the Blue-Tops, a gang of parasitical crack dealers who suck up the blood of the residents, and a Muslim outfit called MS-2, bonded in prison and bent on a show of power as a portent of things to come. A troubled veteran cop named Loyd Shaw, facing forced retirement without a pension if he refuses or fails, is brought in to settle the situation when it threatens a women's shelter run by Justine Burton, the daughter of the police commissioner. Shaw in turn assembles a squad of oddball specialists to take on two extremely smart, dedicated, and deadly gang leaders. Clarkson, a New York advertising executive, makes it all believable and fast-moving, as he did with such previous thrillers as And Justice for One, One Man's Law, and One Way Out. --Dick Adler

Genres: Mystery, Crime

Paperback

First published September 1, 1998

About the author

John Clarkson is the author of eight previous novels, including And Justice for One.

His new thriller series featuring James Beck began with the publication of AMONG THIEVES in 2015. The sequel, BRONX REQUIEM, came out in November of 2016.
After quite a long effort, the third novel in the series was finally published in December of 2020. The title is DEATH COMES DUE. Quite of few of John's readers have hailed this novel as the best in the series. Find out more about it on John's website: www.johnclarkson.com

John spent many years in the New York advertising industry as a copywriter, running his own agency, and as a private consultant. He is now writing full time and intends to publish under his own imprint which will hopefully mean more books more quickly.

He and his wife divide their time between a home in upstate New York and Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Tom Tischler · Rating 5 out of 5]

New Lots, Brooklyn second to the last stop on the L train. Hell
on earth for the people who have to live here. It's a twenty four
hour drug market with a warren of dark hallways and burnt out
apartments ruled by a gang of killers. Not even the police set foot
in this place. A war is raging here, a gang of Muslim Security people
have moved in determined to clean out the complex from the vicious
Blue-Tops a crack gang. People are being shot, beaten and the burned
bodies begin to multiply rapidly even by Brooklyn standards. The call
goes out for the one man who can stop it. NYPD Detective Loyd Shaw.
A man who has nothing to lose and the only one brave enough to enter
this place. This is an oldie from 1998 but it's non stop action from
front to rear.

[Mysticpt · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one features a new character, Loyd 1 L Shaw who's on his last legs with the NYPD. He's giving one more chance to put a team together to drive out the violent drug dealers in the New Lots section of town. Lots of violence, lots of action and a pretty decent crime story. It might have gone on a little too long, and a little over the top at the end with the old Damsel in Distress scenario but Clarkson knows New York and it's pretty well written.

FYI, this is NOT a Jack Devlin book as Goodreads describes it, this is a stand alone.

[Sheri Brown · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read!