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Southampton #2
The Water's Edge
When Jake "Payday" Bechet hears that two men have been murdered a few miles from where he lives in the Hamptons---hanged from the Shinnecock Bridge, their hands severed---he knows that trouble is coming. Trouble for him, for everyone, because it means that someone has betrayed the Castello crime family. Whether it’s someone trying to move in on their drug operation or the cops making their own statement, he doesn’t know, but he wants to stay far away from it all.
After all, years ago Bechet himself walked away from the Castellos with enough inside information to hold over their heads and to keep himself safe, then went underground. He doesn’t want to get anywhere near them now but soon discovers that he can’t remain indifferent---first it seems one of his friends has gotten involved in the fringes of this battle, and then the larger picture becomes Jorge Castello himself wants Bechet to find out who’s behind the killings, claiming there’s a traitor in the family. The last thing Bechet wants to do is work for the Castellos again, but he knows he has to find a way to finish it somehow.
Between Bechet and Tommy Miller, a retired P.I. whose ex-girlfriend has also gotten too close to the Castellos and whose father was one of their casualties a few years back, all the loose ends will be tied up---one way or another---before the end of twenty-four hours.
Once again Daniel Judson shines an unforgiving light on the darkest parts of the Hamptons and delivers a powerful, unforgettable read paced at breakneck speed.
After all, years ago Bechet himself walked away from the Castellos with enough inside information to hold over their heads and to keep himself safe, then went underground. He doesn’t want to get anywhere near them now but soon discovers that he can’t remain indifferent---first it seems one of his friends has gotten involved in the fringes of this battle, and then the larger picture becomes Jorge Castello himself wants Bechet to find out who’s behind the killings, claiming there’s a traitor in the family. The last thing Bechet wants to do is work for the Castellos again, but he knows he has to find a way to finish it somehow.
Between Bechet and Tommy Miller, a retired P.I. whose ex-girlfriend has also gotten too close to the Castellos and whose father was one of their casualties a few years back, all the loose ends will be tied up---one way or another---before the end of twenty-four hours.
Once again Daniel Judson shines an unforgiving light on the darkest parts of the Hamptons and delivers a powerful, unforgettable read paced at breakneck speed.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 2008
About the author
Daniel Judson
21 books151 followersDANIEL JUDSON, a Shamus Award winner and a four-time finalist, is the author of five previous novels, most recently The Violet Hour. He attended Southampton College, and his time in the Hamptons (particularly the parts that don’t make the society pages) was the inspiration for the setting and characters in Voyeur. He now lives in Connecticut.
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
May 24, 2010
RATING: 3.5
The two dead bodies hanging from Shinnecock Bridge in the Hamptons, hands cut off and in full view of passersby, appear to have been meant to convey a message. The two men are drug couriers, and the appalling display may have had something to do with the Castello crime family. Is the message directed to them or someone else?
Jorge Castello orders ex-fighter Jake Bechet to investigate. Jake left the mob scene several years earlier and is not anxious to get involved with them again. However, when Castello threatens Jake's lover, Gabrielle, he decides to do what he can, all the while trying to avoid falling back into his former life as a mob enforcer. As he tries to piece together what happened, he crosses paths with Tommy Miller, a retired PI whose father was a corrupt police chief and who is being pushed by the current chief to investigate the crime. Tommy has also withdrawn from daily life and is only motivated to assist because of his obsessive love for a woman who left him and later became involved with one of the victims. Tommy is good friends with a former female police detective, Kay Barton, who was forced to leave the department. All three of these characters have in common the fact that they have escaped into very solitary lives in order to put the past behind them. Each of them is motivated to find the truth about the murders in order to protect someone that they care about. The question remains about what will happen if they do, whether their lives will become more meaningful or remain as stinted as they are now.
The narrative follows the parallel investigations of Jake and Tommy, which at times overlap. Ultimately, after a promising start, the plot collapses under its own weight with a resolution that I found unsatisfying. Add to that some inconsistent stupid actions on the part of the competent Barton and a prolonged deathbed confessional scene from one of the characters, and my initial promising feelings about the book began to diminish.
Despite all of that, I found that Judson's beautiful prose made up for some of the shortfalls of the book. Here's an example of one of many passages that were almost poetic in nature, while imparting much:
Unable to sleep, still silently adrift, in his mind, on that empty sea, Bechet listened for the first sound he didn't like, the first hint that he had been wrong all along, that his past had seen him, was not moving away at all but in fact coming nearer, swift and unseen, on the hunt for him like some single-minded predator, like the very thing he had once been made to be.
Judson also skillfully creates a setting that figures prominently in the action, with weather that creates an overall ominous background to the action.
Judson is also the author of the Declan MacManus series, for which he won the Shamus Award. Although similarly dark, I found THE WATER'S EDGE to be a more hopeful book.
The two dead bodies hanging from Shinnecock Bridge in the Hamptons, hands cut off and in full view of passersby, appear to have been meant to convey a message. The two men are drug couriers, and the appalling display may have had something to do with the Castello crime family. Is the message directed to them or someone else?
Jorge Castello orders ex-fighter Jake Bechet to investigate. Jake left the mob scene several years earlier and is not anxious to get involved with them again. However, when Castello threatens Jake's lover, Gabrielle, he decides to do what he can, all the while trying to avoid falling back into his former life as a mob enforcer. As he tries to piece together what happened, he crosses paths with Tommy Miller, a retired PI whose father was a corrupt police chief and who is being pushed by the current chief to investigate the crime. Tommy has also withdrawn from daily life and is only motivated to assist because of his obsessive love for a woman who left him and later became involved with one of the victims. Tommy is good friends with a former female police detective, Kay Barton, who was forced to leave the department. All three of these characters have in common the fact that they have escaped into very solitary lives in order to put the past behind them. Each of them is motivated to find the truth about the murders in order to protect someone that they care about. The question remains about what will happen if they do, whether their lives will become more meaningful or remain as stinted as they are now.
The narrative follows the parallel investigations of Jake and Tommy, which at times overlap. Ultimately, after a promising start, the plot collapses under its own weight with a resolution that I found unsatisfying. Add to that some inconsistent stupid actions on the part of the competent Barton and a prolonged deathbed confessional scene from one of the characters, and my initial promising feelings about the book began to diminish.
Despite all of that, I found that Judson's beautiful prose made up for some of the shortfalls of the book. Here's an example of one of many passages that were almost poetic in nature, while imparting much:
Unable to sleep, still silently adrift, in his mind, on that empty sea, Bechet listened for the first sound he didn't like, the first hint that he had been wrong all along, that his past had seen him, was not moving away at all but in fact coming nearer, swift and unseen, on the hunt for him like some single-minded predator, like the very thing he had once been made to be.
Judson also skillfully creates a setting that figures prominently in the action, with weather that creates an overall ominous background to the action.
Judson is also the author of the Declan MacManus series, for which he won the Shamus Award. Although similarly dark, I found THE WATER'S EDGE to be a more hopeful book.
August 6, 2008
This book seemed long. The story started slowly and at times I had to reread sections to pick up on something I missed. It did get better, maybe as I became more familiar with the characters. Not sure if these is part of a series - if so, that would explain it - I often felt like there was more to the past than I knew.
August 17, 2012
This is the first time I have read a Daniel Judson book. I really really liked this book. It was very suspenseful and I did not want to put it down. After reading it, I learned that there was a book prior to this one and one after this one. I am definitely going to read those and any others by this author.
June 5, 2018
It gets a bit verbose at times and I found myself skipping a lot of pages waiting to get to more action. And sometimes the action got a bit over done. Not reading the third book, sorry.
October 13, 2018
A slow read. Not due to poor writing, but due to the deep character development. The characters are human - flawed, conflicted, confused. Definitely worth the time.
February 24, 2018
Very dark, violent, complicated. For its genre, masterfully done.
March 20, 2019
Was a good police mystery.
May 11, 2019
Most everything wrapped up. These people are not the shining light of humanity. The weather is spot on for the winter out east. Would like to know what happens next. One more to go.
March 4, 2016
For me the beginning is a bit slow which has nearly made me given up but thankfully I didn't. As I got to the third part, the suspense started to build and that's when I couldn't put it down. Hell, the book was intense and it just gave me chills when I read it. Since there are many characters I kept going back and forth on guessing who the traitor is. Btw there is a lot of murders in just two days.
December 29, 2013
Very dark and gloomy book, but I guess that means the author did a great job of creating that picture in my mind through his writing. Started out very slow, couldn't keep focused and interested for the first 100 pages or so, but I started getting into the characters and story after that. All in all, not something I would recommend or read again.
October 27, 2010
Although a slow start, it was a very exciting finish. Judson knows how to write suspense. I am glad I had already read the Darkest Place, for that gave me a better understanding of the characters.
Read
April 29, 2011Whodunit with clever, but convoluted plot & interesting characters: Mafioso, hitmen, dirty cops, & gutsy guys and girls
September 22, 2013
Very exciting. I highly recommend Daniel Judson's books. I've enjoyed all I've read.
September 7, 2015
Another hard core Judson page turner. A bit noir, a bit True Detective. Hard to put down.
December 10, 2016
listened on cd 's while driving. Liked narrator voice, very engaging story.
Read
February 28, 2018Enjoyed more as a re-read. Highly energetic plot.
Read
June 3, 2018When Jake "Payday" Bechet hears that two men have been murdered a few miles from where he lives in the Hamptons---hanged from the Shinnecock Bridge, their hands severed---he knows that trouble is coming. Trouble for him, for everyone, because it means that someone has betrayed the Castello crime family. Whether it’s someone trying to move in on their drug operation or the cops making their own statement, he doesn’t know, but he wants to stay far away from it all.
After all, years ago Bechet himself walked away from the Castellos with enough inside information to hold over their heads and to keep himself safe, then went underground. He doesn’t want to get anywhere near them now but soon discovers that he can’t remain indifferent---first it seems one of his friends has gotten involved in the fringes of this battle, and then the larger picture becomes clear: Jorge Castello himself wants Bechet to find out who’s behind the killings, claiming there’s a traitor in the family. The last thing Bechet wants to do is work for the Castellos again, but he knows he has to find a way to finish it somehow.
Between Bechet and Tommy Miller, a retired P.I. whose ex-girlfriend has also gotten too close to the Castellos and whose father was one of their casualties a few years back, all the loose ends will be tied up---one way or another---before the end of twenty-four hours.
After all, years ago Bechet himself walked away from the Castellos with enough inside information to hold over their heads and to keep himself safe, then went underground. He doesn’t want to get anywhere near them now but soon discovers that he can’t remain indifferent---first it seems one of his friends has gotten involved in the fringes of this battle, and then the larger picture becomes clear: Jorge Castello himself wants Bechet to find out who’s behind the killings, claiming there’s a traitor in the family. The last thing Bechet wants to do is work for the Castellos again, but he knows he has to find a way to finish it somehow.
Between Bechet and Tommy Miller, a retired P.I. whose ex-girlfriend has also gotten too close to the Castellos and whose father was one of their casualties a few years back, all the loose ends will be tied up---one way or another---before the end of twenty-four hours.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews