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Joe Serpe #1
Hose Monkey
Joe Serpe doesn?t have much. A dead brother, an old cat, and the unshakeable stink of heating oil and shame. He's not interested in redemption. He can?t undo his past. But when a young mentally challenged boy is murdered on the oil lot, Joe needs to find answers.
- GenresMystery
2992 pages, Hardcover
First published October 31, 2006
1 person is currently reading
15 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
May 1, 2015
Tony Spinosa is a pseudonym used by Reed Farrel Coleman - either way, not an an author well known to UK readers. This is the first book in a short series and like Coleman's Moe Prager books it's a crime story situated in Long Island, New York.
I really like the style and pace of the storytelling; I'd just finished reading the Prager books so I'm delighted to discover these.
I really like the style and pace of the storytelling; I'd just finished reading the Prager books so I'm delighted to discover these.
March 1, 2010
After page 90 I laughed at the really cool cover art -- complete with a Ken Bruen quote that cites Sam Peckinpah -- because none of it had anything at all to do with this novel's plot or level of violence. Things start out with vivid detail and energy -- the protagonist wakes up amid a morass of empty vodka bottles to hear his dead 9/11-firefighter brother's voice on the answering machine. Drags himself to work pumping home-fuel oil. Dead body presents itself, and crazy mystery time ensues, in which protagonist inadvertently teams up with his former nemesis and prosecutor in NYPD. As with most light mysteries I felt like I was staring at a storyboard most of the time... I mean yeah, there is a narsty violent scene toward the end -- was that all Bruen was talking about? Still this Spinosa does seem to have some real knack at twisting up convoluted plots (but not so much character development), so I suspect he'll present us with a dynamite screenplay sometime soon...
June 4, 2008
HOSE MONKEY (Unlic. Invest-Joe Serpe-Long Island, NY-Cont) – G+
Spinosa, Tony (aka Reed Farrel Coleman) – 1st of series
Bleak House Books, 2006, US Hardcover – ISBN: 1-932557180
First Sentence: Joe Serpe just assumed there was no more, that things had moved well beyond loss and grief, beyond worsening.
Ex-cop Joe Serpe had been dismissed from his job, his partner committed suicide, his wife divorced him and moved, with his son, to Florida and his younger brother, Vinnie, killed in 9/11. The only thing he has left is his cat, Milligan. Joe is just getting by delivering heating oil when he finds the murdered body of the young, retarded man, who was his hose monkey—someone who handles the hose on the oil truck. This final straw is enough to jolt Joe back to action, investigating Cain’s murder with the help of Bob Healy, a retired IA cop who played a major part in Joe being fired from the force.
Spinosa is definitely the darker side of Reed Coleman but the same high quality of writer is there. The story starts simple but increases in complexity as it increases in suspense, although it was a little over-complicated. Coleman knows how to create real, interesting characters and give the reader an insight into their emotions. I do have a bit of a problem with the classic hasn’t-been-in-a-relationship-for- a-long-time-but-suddenly-am-in-love thing. The best relationship was that between Serpe and Healy. I really enjoyed the dynamic it brought to the book. This isn’t my favorite book by Coleman/Spinosa, but I liked it well enough that I shall definitely read another.
Spinosa, Tony (aka Reed Farrel Coleman) – 1st of series
Bleak House Books, 2006, US Hardcover – ISBN: 1-932557180
First Sentence: Joe Serpe just assumed there was no more, that things had moved well beyond loss and grief, beyond worsening.
Ex-cop Joe Serpe had been dismissed from his job, his partner committed suicide, his wife divorced him and moved, with his son, to Florida and his younger brother, Vinnie, killed in 9/11. The only thing he has left is his cat, Milligan. Joe is just getting by delivering heating oil when he finds the murdered body of the young, retarded man, who was his hose monkey—someone who handles the hose on the oil truck. This final straw is enough to jolt Joe back to action, investigating Cain’s murder with the help of Bob Healy, a retired IA cop who played a major part in Joe being fired from the force.
Spinosa is definitely the darker side of Reed Coleman but the same high quality of writer is there. The story starts simple but increases in complexity as it increases in suspense, although it was a little over-complicated. Coleman knows how to create real, interesting characters and give the reader an insight into their emotions. I do have a bit of a problem with the classic hasn’t-been-in-a-relationship-for- a-long-time-but-suddenly-am-in-love thing. The best relationship was that between Serpe and Healy. I really enjoyed the dynamic it brought to the book. This isn’t my favorite book by Coleman/Spinosa, but I liked it well enough that I shall definitely read another.
August 31, 2010
Our hero, Joe, has sunk about as far as he can; working as an oil delivery man (hose monkey), dealing with losing his job as a NYPD detective due to an internal affairs investigation, his family to the aftermath of that investigation and his brother to 9/11.
Next door to the heating oil company is a home for the mentally retarded. One of their young men has been working for the oil company, and is found dead in one of the oil truck tanks. This is Joe's wake up call--he takes this death personally, and starts to investigate on his own, in addition to joining forces with the retired IA officer that helped get him fired. Together they face bad cops, the Russian mob in Brighton Beach, and an anti-immigration group against a recent influx of Hispanic workers.
Hose Monkey is more descriptively violent than many of the books/mysteries I usually read, which occasionally made me take a step back, but 99% was a part of this particular story, not gratuitous. In a personal aside, I hate the "c" word, the word that refers to a part of the female anatomy.
This quote sums up the book for me: "None would remember the two ex-cops, old enemies who had come together to find justice in a world without any." (p 287)
The writing in this book is amazing. Highly recommended.
Next door to the heating oil company is a home for the mentally retarded. One of their young men has been working for the oil company, and is found dead in one of the oil truck tanks. This is Joe's wake up call--he takes this death personally, and starts to investigate on his own, in addition to joining forces with the retired IA officer that helped get him fired. Together they face bad cops, the Russian mob in Brighton Beach, and an anti-immigration group against a recent influx of Hispanic workers.
Hose Monkey is more descriptively violent than many of the books/mysteries I usually read, which occasionally made me take a step back, but 99% was a part of this particular story, not gratuitous. In a personal aside, I hate the "c" word, the word that refers to a part of the female anatomy.
This quote sums up the book for me: "None would remember the two ex-cops, old enemies who had come together to find justice in a world without any." (p 287)
The writing in this book is amazing. Highly recommended.
January 28, 2016
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I especially liked the whole narrative of the search for answers. The author, even with an alias, has never disappointed me. I'll continue reading his work no matter what name he uses.
Want to read
July 3, 200807/03/08 rec via bookmooch
April 3, 2012
Good read for a free boo for Kindle.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews