Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Frank Behr #1

City of the Sun

Rate this book

Riveting suspense in the tradition of Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly, City of the Sun introduces retired detective Frank Behr—an imposing, charismatic former cop who agrees to take the case of a boy who’s been missing for over a year.

Jamie Gabriel gets on his bike before dawn to deliver newspapers in his suburban Indianapolis neighborhood. He is twelve years old. Somewhere en route, as the October sky lightens, he vanishes without a trace.
Fourteen months later, Paul and Carol Gabriel are on the verge of abandoning all hope. Crushed by frustrating dead ends and exhausted by a police force that cannot (or will not) find their son, the Gabriels finally find a ray of hope: the name of an elusive private investigator who may represent their last chance.
Frank Behr is an enigmatic mountain of a man, a former cop who wants to help—but knows better than to give the Gabriels any hope of a happy ending. He has worked this kind of case too often. But Paul’s plea stirs up old personal demons that Behr can no longer ignore. Going against everything he fears, Behr enters into an uneasy partnership with Paul on a quest for the truth that is, in turn, dangerous … and haunting.
Richly textured and crackling with suspense on every page, City of the Sun weaves a moody narrative that hinges on the bond between a damaged detective and a lost father. From the antiseptic comforts of suburban Indianapolis to the city’s seamy underworld, David Levien introduces a private investigator as complex, idiosyncratic, and sympathetic as any in modern crime fiction. Levien is a gifted storyteller who will keep readers guessing right up until the final, explosive scene.

320 pages, Hardcover

First published February 26, 2008

76 people are currently reading
1047 people want to read

About the author

David Levien

26 books87 followers
David Levien is an American screenwriter, novelist, director, and producer. Best known as the co-writer of Ocean's Thirteen, Levien has also produced films such as The Illusionist and The Lucky Ones.

As a screenwriter, he has a deal with Paramount Studios. His next project with the studio is the 2009 film The Winter of Frankie Machine, starring Robert DeNiro.

As a novelist, he has published City of the Sun with Random House.

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
333 (19%)
4 stars
706 (40%)
3 stars
550 (31%)
2 stars
109 (6%)
1 star
45 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews
Profile Image for Bob.
Author 8 books20 followers
March 16, 2015
I never used to write reviews but I must admit this is a great forum to do so. I am a bit surprised by some of the harsh critiques of this book. As a lover of the "mystery, P.I., noir," genre I found Frank Behr to be one of the more "real" characters I have ever encountered. Characters like "Spenser" from the Robert Parker novels, or even "Alex Cross" and "Lucas Davenport" while a few of my favorites are often over the top and unbelievable. The authors tend to put entertainment above reality, which is fine, that's their job.
With this particular book I felt like Levien tackled a a difficult subject by creating a worl with exponentially real characters. I never felt like any part of this novel was fluff. I thought Behr's relationship with the father was wonderfully written. This author seemed to know exactly how each person in this novel would feel whether they were the criminal or the cop. It felt to me like there wasnt one scrap of bullshit in this book.
I eagerly await the Next Frank Behr novel.
Profile Image for Elizabeth A..
320 reviews30 followers
May 1, 2010
Though this was a good read and I don’t regret having picked it up, ultimately there was just something…. lacking. The premise is obviously a gripping one – child disappears while on paper route and the parents’ attempts, with the help of PI Frank Behr, to find out what happened – but the way it unfolds is rushed and somewhat hackneyed.

The early scenes between the husband and wife post disappearance are well done, but later scenes with just the wife come across as afterthoughts or throwaways. As does, in fact, the presence of many of the secondary characters, especially Behr’s former boss at the police department. It was as if Levien was following some formula that “required” there to be a petty, semi-competent, vindictive authority figure for his lead to bang heads with. The romantic aside was equally by-the-numbers and forced. If this is indeed to be a series, there will be more than enough time to delve into Behr’s romantic / social life.

Frank Behr definitely has promise as a series lead, but I believe the gushing comparisons reviewers have been making to Michael Connelly’s Harry Bosch and Robert Crais’ Elvis Cole are a bit premature. A better comparison in my opinion would be Lee Child’s Jack Reacher (complete with Behr’s 6′6″ size), though Behr has in no way proven himself (yet) to be as emotionally complex or intellectually sharp as Reacher.

The bottom line is that Behr simply did not have enough of a chance to shine in this book, with the secondary characters taking up more space than necessary, at the expense of Behr’s development. There has been a second book in the series published, but I can’t say I’ll be rushing out to get it.
Profile Image for Jim.
1,108 reviews19 followers
March 20, 2018
First book in the Frank Behr series. A good old fashioned private eye thriller. A solid plot with exceptional dialogue and character development. If it weren't the fact I'm travelling in Arizona for Cactus League baseball, I would have read this one in two sittings. A compelling read that at times very difficult to put down. I've been looking in several book stores for more books in this series. (Amazon gets too much of my business). I thought the conclusion was a bit to sappy. Author David Levien lost protagonist Frank Behr's true character with the conclusion. A must read. Check it out.
Profile Image for Paul  Perry.
414 reviews206 followers
June 14, 2023
Levien is an excellent screenwriter - best known for the TV show Billions, several successful movies and working as a script doctor "punching up" other's work. Here, he has written an OK detective thriller, centred around a kidnapped boy.


My main problem with it is how many of the events seem random; yes, that is precisely how things work in the real world, but makes for a less-than-satisfying way to structure a plot.


I do already have the next book in the series so will probably see how that goes but, on this outing, John Connolly and Dennis Lehane don't have much to worry about.
23 reviews
July 29, 2009
This book was NOT good. The writing was clumsy. The premise of the plot would grab anyone indeed and especially strike fear in the heart of all the parents out there: a young boy is abducted and there are no clues whatsoever. But the way the story unfolds is unconvincing. The police doesn't work the case, and after 14 months a private investigator quite easily comes about clues. All the suspects spill their guts quite easily, all the bad guys get their comeuppance and the ending is just so incredibly bad.

As a parent myself, I never quite felt any anxiety, never felt any kinship with the parents, whose point of view takes the backseat to the detective's point of view. Somehow the writer doesn't manage to make you feel the terror that they would have felt, the desperation, the way their lives are completetly destroyed. The writing is flat and unexpressive. During the first part of the book the parents just don't seem all that important even though they are the center of the story since the child has disappeared. Then the father gets involved and suddenly this becomes a buddy story: the detective and the father bond and go get the bad guys together. The mother stays home and... does what?! Oh yes, she does yoga once. What does she feel, what is her life like? This isn't explored at all.

It reads like a second-rate, bad Hollywood movie. Don't waste your time with this one.
5,730 reviews146 followers
March 29, 2020
4 Stars. Frank Behr has problems, we all do, but his may be a little larger than some of ours. He's beset with the loss of a son, marital breakdown, issues with his former employer, the Indianapolis Police Force, and certain of its members in particular. Depressing. Yet he has talent and instincts which serve him well as a private detective. I empathized with him. When the police show little interest in their case, and a few of Frank's competitors get no further, the desperate parents of preteen Jamie Gabriel tentatively approach him. Their son had disappeared one morning on his paper route over a year ago; will Frank be the one to finally help them, or at least determine what happened? I empathized with them too. Sad stories had collided. Behr senses their neediness, their hopelessness, and declines at first, "After such a long time missing, there's only one conclusion." Jamie's father Paul begins to realize the extent of his love for his son and asks to help Behr. Unexpectedly, a partnership develops. This one's full of human frailty and the terrible things some people can do to others. (December 2019)
Profile Image for Geoff Battle.
549 reviews6 followers
June 14, 2017
City of the Sun is a gripping, realistic and gritty crime thriller about a private detective investigating a kidnapping, which occurred over a year back, the trail stone cold. It sounds old hat, but there is a wonderful sense of pace, excellent characterisation and a style of narrative which is seldom found in this crowded genre. Genuinely unpredictable, the story is cleverly constructed, drawing the reader in with punchy short sentences, then filling out the detail later. It's the intriguing and subtle style of writing, and coupled with the terrific plot the result is an awesome and gripping novel. Haunting and realistic, this book will stay with you for some time. Absolutely recommended.
Profile Image for Angela.
552 reviews13 followers
March 29, 2017
I would say that this was an ok read. Not brilliant but not absolutely awful. I would consider reading more by this author, but not in the foreseeable future.
Profile Image for Klara Gonciarz.
291 reviews42 followers
February 9, 2023
an eye opening and distressing page turner concerning those who have experienced loss, who are grieving, or who are still waiting.
Profile Image for Mira Margitta.
378 reviews13 followers
February 3, 2021
Nije loša ideja, ali na momente mi nije bilo jasno šta čitam( loše prevedeno)...kraj zbrzan i sfušeren.
Jedva 3.
Profile Image for Michael Compton.
Author 5 books161 followers
August 2, 2021
Gritty, realistic page-turner. Believable characters, believable action, but the plot too often relies on coincidence. Levien creates palpable dread and despair, and he knows when to show the violence and when to suggest it. If you read it, you will learn some things you probably didn't want to know about child sex trafficking, but never fear--this book is more about catharsis than revelation. Recommended, if you like it rough.
Profile Image for J Edward Tremlett.
70 reviews3 followers
April 6, 2011
Frank Behr is a mess. Used to be a cop, but that didn't work. Now he's a PI, and that's kind of shaky, too. But it's something he's good at -- mostly because he can grab hold of something and choke the lies out of it until only the truth remains.

One sad truth about kidnappings: if you don't find the child within the first few days, chances are good they're already dead, or worse. So when a couple at their wits end come to him for answers about their little boy, who's been missing for over a year, he has to be honest about what kind of sad answers they're going to find.

But something about how the father looks at him with hope ignites that small piece of Behr that still wants to believe that a miracle can happen. Thusly energized, the PI pounds some pavements, works some leads, and starts doing the impossible -- finding a way to uncover what happened to their boy, and possibly even get him back alive...

David Levien's first time writing a novel is a total smash. In the character of Frank Behr we have a revelation: a broken but unbreakable man who, brilliantly flawed, goes down but never for the full count. While the ending is a bit happier than it should be, given the subject matter, the trip to find this missing child will be something that fans of PI stories will enjoy a great deal.

If you haven't uncovered City of the Sun, yet, pick it up and give Frank's services a try.
Profile Image for Flo.
1,157 reviews18 followers
October 31, 2019
This is the 2nd time I have read this action packed mystery. I liked it the first time I read it and liked it now too. For readers who complained the writing is clumsy, not so. I thought it was quite well written for this type of genre. This is a fast paced "police procedural" type mystery and not a psychological thriller so no going into the fear and terror of the family concerned when their teenaged boy goes missing. Nor are we very concerned with the workings of the mind of Levien's protagonist who lost his own son and his marriage. This is Frank Behr, who comes across as a big, heavy man (bear?) well versed in dealing with the dregs of society, getting them to talk and spill what they know out of fear of Behr. Now to read the 2nd novel in the series.
Profile Image for Sandra.
324 reviews15 followers
May 30, 2016
This was a fast-paced, suspenseful read with likeable and believable characters. As usual the detective protagonist is hard-boiled and flawed, but a lot less cliched than most. The best part of the story is the emerging friendship between him and his client, both of them fathers grieving over lost children. Better than most, and I would consider reading more in the series
Profile Image for Tory Wagner.
1,300 reviews
December 27, 2017
City of the Sun by David Levien is a gritty novel about the abduction of a young boy and his father's search for him. He is helped in this search by a private detective who once served as a police officer. Together they patiently investigate the clues and eventually uncover a far bigger conspiracy involving the kidnapping of multiple boys. This one was hard to put down.
Profile Image for Lee.
928 reviews37 followers
July 29, 2015
A gut wrenching and intense suspenseful debut. One that places ordinary people in unimaginable filled circumstances. Former cop turned P.I. (imagine that) Frank Behr, is a nice addition to the genre. Will be reading Mr. Levien's other two Behr cases.
14 reviews15 followers
Read
March 26, 2021
The book City of the Sun is a book for those looking for a challenging thriller/mystery. The book will keep you on the edge of your seat and it will make you want to keep reading. If you want a great mystery this book is the one for you.
1,990 reviews10 followers
March 8, 2016
My first read for this author. Enjoyed a new hero. Will be reading the others in this series soon. Looking to see the hero's character flesh out a bit.
536 reviews2 followers
November 12, 2019
I picked this book up based upon the description of this being a private eye working on a missing person case. However, as I read the book the missing person turned out to be a 14-year-old boy who was taken by a pedophile ring. Pedophile cases are tough stories to read as the crime is so disgusting and abhorrent. For me, the story started quite slowly and it was difficult to tell what was going on. However, once it got going, it became a page turner as I wanted to see how this case would be resolved by the private eye, Frank Behr. While Frank is a tough ex-policeman, he needs his brains and experience to resolve this case. He doesn’t just barrel through full force extracting confessions and details from suspects through brute force. So, the story does have elements of a police procedural as Frank uncovers and examines clues. I gave the story 4 stars just because of the content (child molestation). As I noted earlier, I don’t like stories involving pedophiles. It is depressing to read about these low-lives and what they do to children. Otherwise, it probably would have rated 5 stars.
Profile Image for Steve P.
120 reviews6 followers
October 22, 2010
After spending much time with the melancholy, dour Nordics, an encounter with the all-American macho P.I. Frank Behr is like being thrown into a pool full of ice cold water. Frank, a hulking ex-cop, is the kind of guy whose idea of fun is doing wind sprints with a 70 lb. pack on his back. Uphill.

In this, the first novel by screenwriter Levien (he wrote the screenplay for 'Ocean's Thirteen' among others), Frank is hired by a couple whose son left for his paper route one morning and never returned. Having lost a young son of his own, Frank develops a special bond with the missing boy's father and, against his better judgement, allows him to accompany him as he tries to discover the boy's fate. The trail leads them into an underworld of sleaze and brutality.

Early on I didn't think I was going to enjoy this book and even thought about abandoning it. But I'm glad I stuck with it. Once it got revved up it was hard to put down. I'm looking forward to Frank Behr #2, 'Where The Dead Lay'.
Profile Image for M. Sprouse.
723 reviews3 followers
May 31, 2018
David Levien takes on a very difficult subject with child abduction. Kudos for him handling it with discretion and taking that fine line between light and darkness of a very sensitive topic. My only hesitation is the question whether this story gives false hope to those whose children have been taken, at the end all they have is hope... if that.

I found this book and detective Frank Behr surprisingly interesting for such a straight forward story. Behr is a bulldog who you might not be thrilled to invite to your wedding, but is perfect for the job of a relentless tracker. When I got this book I was thinking 3 stars at best, but soon found that I had underestimated it considerable, much like many underestimate Frank Behr.

Are there flaws? Certainly, some things seem to come a bit too easily, but for the author to add the more realistic brambles, that an investigation like this entails, would only add another 50 pages and make it less interesting. I will be reading more of Mr. Levien's, Frank Behr series.
Profile Image for Barbara ★.
3,510 reviews286 followers
September 12, 2016
Ex-cop turned Private Investigator, Frank Behr takes on a case that the local police didn't give much attention...a 12 year old boy snatched while delivering the morning papers. It is now 14 months later with zero effort (read clues) by the police and instantly Behr not only has leads but suspects.

Of course I felt pity for the parents of the missing boy but I didn't actually like either parent. There really didn't seem to be any depth to either of them...cardboard characters. I didn't like Frank Behr either. It's no wonder he got fired from the police department. He was incredibly violent and the kind of guy you could see beating up little old ladies.

The ending was a little too pat and just plain unrealistic.

This isn't a series I would continue as I just couldn't stand to dwell in Behr's head again.
Profile Image for Jason.
69 reviews2 followers
August 30, 2016
On Goodreads, two stars equals "it was OK" and three stars equals "liked it," and my level of satisfaction with this book (my first David Levien read) is somewhere in that range (I gave it three stars because I wanted to be gracious).

The pacing of the story is sometimes a bit slow (though this may accurately reflect the work of real-life detectives), but the plot was intriguing enough to keep me sticking around. I do have a bit of a soft spot for the classic hard-boiled-detective story, so that might explain my willingness to hang in there with this book.

At any rate, Levien mostly stays away from the long, unnecessary descriptions that weigh down so much of popular fiction, which for me is a big point in his favor, and the main character—cop-turned-private-eye Frank Behr—is likeable as well as sympathetic.
24 reviews
May 1, 2017
Fantastically written. Fast paced and straightforward story line. David Levien has captured the pain of the kidnapped child's parents succinctly. The principal character "Frank Behr" comes across as a cross between Jack Reacher and Ben Copper. Frank has a close physical proxmity to Reacher but has the emotional state of Ben.

The pace of the book is quite steady, there is no unwarranted breaks from the story nor does the David Levien takes time to provide frivolous history. David Levien stays to the point and true to the story.

Fantastic Read, DO NOT miss it !!
Profile Image for David Rough.
Author 16 books12 followers
April 17, 2018
City of the Sun by David Levien introduces retired detective Frank Behr. Behr is asked by 12-year-0ld Jamie's father, Paul Gabriel to help find his son who disappeared 14 months before while delivering newspapers on his bike. The former cop reluctantly agrees to take the old case because the police have failed to follow through with a thorough investigation. The idea and plot of the book is interesting, but the adult language and perverted vocabulary of so many of the characters diminished my rating significantly. I understand the depraved world that Frank Behr had to enter to research the whereabouts of Jamie, but the dialog had so many "f"bombs that it was quite distracting from the plot itself. Better language would have resulted in a much higher rating, but as is, it is hard for me to recommend this read.
Profile Image for Kristy Budner.
223 reviews1 follower
Read
December 24, 2015
This was my first book by David Levien and I am always surprised when I like a book by an unknown author. It's very easy "reading" and I happen to like Scott Brick as a narrator. The plot of the story is about Jamie Gabriel, a 12-year old boy out delivering newspapers in early morning when he goes missing, and the search to try to find him. The book introduces Frank Behr as its main character, a middle-aged former cop now working as a private investigator, and thus, a new series is born. I must say that Frank Behr is one of the luckiest PI's on the planet, but the story kept me distracted while walking and it was easy to pick up wherever I previously left off. Not a very complicated storyline. I have already downloaded the second book in the series.
Profile Image for elkarreneskutik.
38 reviews13 followers
April 29, 2017
I personally found myself hooked by the story of this book. The writing is simple and straight to the point without going into much detail which is something I enjoyed for this hard tragic story that reminds us how scary the world is.

I would like to point out though, that I felt really disgusted by the portrait women face in this story. They are meetig only the wife/partner role or worse. The descriptions of them made me feel uncomfortale as a woman and although sometimes it could be said that it added background to the "world" the book presents, I fear it was not only limited by the story.
Profile Image for Art.
984 reviews6 followers
August 27, 2019
It's a new city for a regional mystery series: Indianapolis.

Frank Behr is a former policeman, whose life and job were shattered by the death of his 7-year-old son. Now a couple is asking him to look into the disappearance of their 12-year-old son.

The boy got up early to do his paper route but never made it back home. The police think he is a runaway and they don't put much effort into the investigation.

But Behr finds indications the boy was deliberately taken. This is a seamy, dark book but the characters have some promise. I'm eager to read another of the discards from this series I got at the local library.
Profile Image for Jessica.
2,207 reviews52 followers
April 24, 2009
I normally stay away from mysteries where the crime involves a child, and this one reminds me why - it's far too easy for the author to slip into cliche and melodrama, trading on cheap sentimentality to make up for a lack of depth in the storytelling. Yes, child crimes are tragic, but that alone is not enough to make for a story that stands out from the thousands like it on the shelves already. It might have done for a low-rent movie starring a past-his-prime B-lister, but as a novel, it just didn't work.
98 reviews4 followers
January 29, 2016
David Levien, what an awesome discovery! How did I not know of this author until now!? I tore through the pages of City of the Sun and quickly found myself at Coffee Tree Books, ordering every other book of Levien's that I could get my hands on. I'm now anxiously awaiting the rest of this series. This book features troubled ex-cop Frank Behr, helping parents of a missing child investigate their child's abduction. A nightmare for any parent to imagine, however, Levien twists a scarily plausible story that reads like a movie. Mark my word, we'll see this in Hollywood.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 244 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.