Gravesend

Gravesend #1

by William Boyle

Some worship him and some want him dead, but either way, tensions run high when “Ray Boy” Calabrese is released from prison. It’s been sixteen years since Ray Boy’s actions led to the death of a young man. The victim's brother, Conway D'Innocenzio, is a 29-year-old Brooklynite wasting away at a local Rite Aid, stuck in the past and drawn into a darker side of himself when he hears of Ray Boy’s freedom. But even with the perfect plan in place, Conway can’t bring himself to take the ultimate revenge on Ray Boy, which sends him into a spiral of self-loathing and soul-searching.


Meanwhile, Alessandra, a failed actress, returns to her native Gravesend after the death of her cancer-stricken mother, torn between the desperate need to escape back to Los Angeles as quickly as possible and the ease with which she could sink back into neighborhood life. Alessandra and Conway are walking eerily similar paths—staring down the rest of their lives, caring for their aging fathers, lost in the youths they squandered—and each must decide what comes next.


In the tradition of American noir authors like Dennis Lehane and James Ellroy, William Boyle’s Gravesend brings the titular neighborhood to life in this story of revenge, desperation, and escape.

Genres: Fiction, Crime, Noir, Mystery, Thriller, Mystery Thriller, New York

260 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 13, 2013

About the author

William Boyle is the author of eight books set in and around the southern Brooklyn neighborhood of Gravesend, where he was born and raised. His most recent novel is SAINT OF THE NARROWS STREET, available in February 2025 from Soho Crime in the US and March 2025 from No Exit in the UK. His books have been nominated for the Hammett Prize, the John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger Award in the UK, and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France, and they have been included on best-of lists in Washington Post, CrimeReads, and more. He currently lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

Reviews

[Will Byrnes · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a man knows another man
is looking for him
He doesn’t hide.

--Frank Stanford, “Everybody Who is Dead”

Even death starts to look attractive when hope is gone. And the fittingly named Gravesend of William Boyle’s first novel is a place where hope is regularly interred. Conway D’Innocenzio and RayBoy Calabrese are in a race. The finish line is their own demise, and the contest is neck and neck all the way. Death comes in many guises. Conway’s big brother, Duncan D’Innocenzio, found his when a gay-bashing teenaged thug and his pals chased him into traffic on the Belt Parkway. RayBoy, the alpha asshole, did 16 years for the deed, but the RayBoy that was is no longer. Now he is looking to pay for his crime for real. Conway wants to kill him, which would seem a nice match. Only problem is that, after sixteen years of planning his revenge, letting his life waste away while he stewed, Conway can’t seem to pull the trigger.

The death-wish field here makes it seem more like a group outing than a pairs event. Ray’s nephew, Eugene, is a 15-year-old, wanna-be thug, with a limp, a misguided case of hero worship and a worse case of bad judgment. Alessandra, an actress back from the other coast to help take care of her widowed father, is one of the few main characters here who seem determined to stay alive. The old classmate she looks up, Stephanie, is the epitome of what it is to be trapped like a rat in the place where you grew up, and to internalize the incarceration.

This is not the well-heeled Brooklyn of the Heights, the Slope, Fort Greene or Boerum Hill. Not the trendy arts scene of DUMBO, not the hipster haven of Williamsburg, nor the post-apocalyptic deathscape of Brownsville. Gravesend is a neighborhood on the southern end of Brooklyn, working-class, ethnic, hard-scrabble. Like most neighborhoods in New York it watches as one immigrant group moves up, hopefully, and another moves in. It used be primarily Italian, still is, but things are changing. Not always for the better. Unfortunately, for some, they are not changing enough, and the only way up is to blast your way there or to leave entirely. The place has its share of gangsters and gang-bangers, dive bars and secluded, while public, spots for the exercise of what is usually private behavior. And the environment helps make these characters who they are.


The author was raised in a small town in Brooklyn, and now writes and teaches in Mississippi – “I see Brooklyn in new ways from here.”

Boyle has plenty of experience with working class Brooklyn life, having had a full measure, hailing from the County of Kings, Gravesend in particular. He communicates quite well the ironically small-town feeling that pertains in so many New York neighborhoods, where kids have only a slight image of what may lie across the bridges and tunnels in Manhattan, or pretty much anywhere in the wider world. I can affirm from personal experience that Boyle speaks truth.

Neighborhood as small town or not, is it possible to go home again? And would you really want to? Can one really get satisfaction from revenge? Or is it that, in the same way that depression is anger directed inward, revenge is self-loathing directed outward?

The writing here is taut. I would not say that Boyle’s text is a place where adjectives go to die, but they’re not bleeding over the edges of the pages either. The narrative movement is certain and consistent, moving towards resolution of the inevitable sort. Which is not to say there are no surprises. There are. The story is not a mystery, per se, but more a look at how place affects people. Rayboy was admired as a kid for his thuggish exploits, was found attractive by girls. Not exactly a disincentive. Homophobia was hardly unknown in the environment of his youth. His nephew Eugene, short on adult male models on which to base his vision of what being a man looks like, fixates on the one male he knows who was effective and respected.

While the bulk of the story is dark, there are some rays of light. Good can be found, although more in thought than deed. Hope digs its way back up to the surface, allowing for some second chances. Alessandra’s affection for a particular painting at the Met can be seen both as an artistic inspiration and an omen. Her participation in various forms of Manhattan life lifts her spirits. After all, she did manage to make it out to the west coast. But hope had better move quickly before another body lands on it. Stephanie latches on to Alessandra as a way out, but she may be too limited to make a go of that.

Most of the characters may not be the sorts you would want your children to marry, but they are very well realized. Boyle offers us abundant surface, but also scrapes plenty of layers away so we can see what is going on beneath.

My gripe with this book was definitely of the minor sort. The title, Gravesend, is particularly apt, suiting well the content, given the body count, whether from violence or less dramatic means. But Boyle wanders a bit in his native borough. If you are expecting a singular, focused portrait of this neighborhood, fuhgeddaboudit. The author gives us a look, for sure, but we also spend time in Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Manhattan’s East Village, a small slice of Queens and even go for a couple of jaunts upstate along the Hudson, these reflecting the author’s personal NY geography, or a lot of it anyway.

It was fun to walk through so many places that are personally familiar, Nellie Bly, the promenade near the Verrazano Bridge, Xaverian High School under another name, subway stations, and so on. I also related to the Stephanie character, as one of the things that makes me truly shudder is the thought of being stuck back in the Bronx neighborhood in which I was raised. No love-hate issues going on there. Such dark fears constitute more of a Twilight Zone episode.

Arthur Miller lived for many years in Gravesend, as did Carlo Gambino. In Boyle’s Gravesend we get to hear the patois of the latter, and look at the people and places of his tale through eyes that see the world a lot more like the former. Gravesend, Boyle’s first novel, is a pretty good beginning to what promises to be a very illustrious long-form career. Dig in.



This review is cross-posted at Coot's Reviews

=============================EXTRA STUFF

Links to the author’s personal and Twitter pages

Interview with the author from LA Review of Books – mucho goodness to be had here

Another wonderful interview with Boyle, by Irene McGarrity

Plumb Beach is the scene of a crime - here is some info on the place

A real life case that, the author confirmed, provided inspiration for the story.

This is the Joan of Arc image that Alessandra focuses on in the Metropolitan. It is a mind-blowing painting to see in person. This link adds some background to the work.

[Kemper · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you live in a neighborhood called Gravesend you should probably expect things to be kind of depressing, but damn…

Ray Boy Calabrese is being released from prison after sixteen years for causing the death of Conway’s brother, and Conway wants revenge. Meanwhile, Conway’s old school classmate Alessandra has returned home from LA following the death of her mother, and Ray Boy’s nephew Eugene has heard all the stories about his bad ass uncle and dreams of being a neighborhood legend like him.

I’d read William Boyle’s excellent The Lonely Witness without realizing that it’s a follow-up novel to this one, and while they can be read as self-contained stories I wish I’d read this first because it does add some layers to it. Better late than never though, and this one is just as good, maybe even better in some ways, than that one.

This isn’t the kind of crime novel that the set-up makes it sound like. It’s much more of a Richard Price style of thing with the characters and place being far more important than the plot or action. Boyle does an exceptionally good job at establishing this Brooklyn neighborhood which feels more like a small town then a part of New York in many ways. The characters are all extremely well-done, and all of them feel like confused and sad human beings rather than stereotypes in a book which they easily could have been.

That’s two books from Boyle that I thought were top-notch, and I can’t wait to get to the third which is being released soon.

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mmm, mmm, mmm . . .

When Conway fails to kill the man who murdered his brother, he starts a chain reaction that results in despair and bloodshed.


This one reminded me so much of George Pelecanos' work - a long, leisurely buildup leading to a violent conclusion. It may be too slow for nonstop-action-cravers, but I enjoyed really getting to know these characters. I also liked the Goodfellas shout-outs.

A great first novel that had my little finger reaching for the ORDER EVERYTHING BY THIS AUTHOR button on my keyboard. What . . . you don't have one of those? Dang - you need to get one - pronto!

[Karl · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Gravesend” byWilliam Boyle

Is a work of neo-noir, capturing the grit and desperation of a neighborhood in flux and spotlighting the neighbors who find themselves caught up in the crimes of the past.

Boyle subverts our expectations; this is no garden-variety revenge story. The characters deal with grief in ways that will be familiar only to those who have faced it firsthand There’s a lot going on. The killer was the paragon of neighborhood manhood. King Guido, and knew these guys,
worshiped and hated them, then laughed at them when they appeared on Jersey Shore in caricature. They had a power we couldn’t understand, their looks and bravado defying teachers and police who wielded their authority on commoners such as us.
The luster quickly wears off for Alessandra as a sleazy producer-wannabe tries to wrangle her into a third-rate Goodfellas ripoff and she meets the angry glares of former neighbors who think she put on airs. Boyle sets up a perfect triangle of 30's disappointment as Alessandra sees her high school crush crushed by prison while Conway all but stalks her, stunned that she has returned home. Conway still lives at home and works in a drug store with Stephanie, another bird who never left her mama’s nest and is thrilled to go out drinking with her actress friend. And she’s always had a crush on Conway, but he’s a cellar dweller who obsesses on Alessandra and other women he has nothing to offer while sneering at a neighborhood woman with a good job who cares about him. Five years later and Conway would be an incel ("involuntary celibate).

some characters are full of hate from being mocked all their lives, friends with a rich loser nicknamed Sweat who drive them around and pay for pizza and prostitutes.

Boyle twists the characters together like a perfect braid, as compelling as Season 2 of “The Wire”.
“Gravesend” is a strong story of Brooklyn noir.

[George K. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Βαθμολογία: 9/10

Πριν από κάμποσους μήνες έμαθα για το συγκεκριμένο βιβλίο, όταν ανακοίνωσαν οι εκδόσεις Πόλις ότι θα το έφερναν στην Ελλάδα. Διάβασα την περίληψη της ιστορίας, καθώς και κάμποσες κριτικές (τόσο απλών αναγνωστών όσο και κριτικών) και δίχως δεύτερη σκέψη το έβαλα στη λίστα μου. Εδώ που τα λέμε, δεν χρειαζόταν καν να διαβάζω κριτικές για να πεισθώ, μιας και μιλάμε για Αμερικάνικο νουάρ από τις εκδόσεις Πόλις. Τέλος πάντων, τόσο καιρό περίμενα με ανυπομονησία, μέχρι να κυκλοφορήσει, να το αγοράσω και να το διαβάσω. Και να που έγιναν και τα τρία.

Λοιπόν, πρόκειται χαλαρά για ένα από τα πιο έντονα και σκοτεινά δραματικά νουάρ με στοιχεία εγκλήματος που έχω διαβάσει. Και, όπως ξέρετε, δεν είναι και λίγα για την ηλικία μου! Πεδίο δράσης είναι το μουντό Γκρέιβσεντ, μια φτωχική συνοικία του Μπρούκλιν αποτελούμενη κυρίως από κατοίκους Ιταλικής και Ρωσικής καταγωγής, και η ιστορία αφορά κάποιους χαρακτήρες, κατά κύριο λόγο νέους στην ηλικία, που έχουν πάρει λίγο έως πολύ την κάτω βόλτα. Ένα τραγικό περιστατικό από το παρελθόν έχει στοιχειώσει με τον έναν ή τον άλλο τρόπο τις ζωές των πρωταγωνιστών, και στο παρόν γινόμαστε μάρτυρες κάποιων τραγικών επιλογών και γεγονότων...

Αν βάλετε στο μίξερ λίγο από Τζορτζ Πελεκάνο, Τζιμ Τόμσον και Ντένις Λεχέιν, καθώς φυσικά και ξεχωριστά συστατικά που καθορίζουν σαν συγγραφέα τον Γουίλιαμ Μπόιλ, το αποτέλεσμα θα είναι το Gravesend. Μιλάμε για ένα αρκετά σκοτεινό και εξαιρετικά ατμοσφαιρικό νουάρ, που αποδίδει με τον πιο έντονο τρόπο την παρακμή της πόλης, την έλλειψη ελπίδας, την οργή και την παραίτηση νέων ανθρώπων που δεν είναι σε θέση να χαρούν τη ζωή. Η γραφή είναι πραγματικά πολύ καλή, σφιχτή, σίγουρη, τρομερά εθιστική και σε σημεία υποβλητική. Οι περιγραφές σκηνικών και γεγονότων αφόρητα ρεαλιστικές, μεταφέρουν τον αναγνώστη σ'έναν κόσμο γεμάτο απελπισία, ενώ οι διάλογοι είναι επίσης πολύ ανθρώπινοι.

Βασικά προσόντα του βιβλίου είναι η γραφή, η ατμόσφαιρα και οι χαρακτήρες, και δευτερεύοντος η πλοκή, που κρύβει πάντως εκπλήξεις και σκηνές βίας (οι οποίες σκηνές είναι κάπως ψυχρά και "κλινικά" δοσμένες). Είναι ένα βιβλίο που καλύτερα να διαβαστεί τώρα το καλοκαιράκι, με μπόλικο ήλιο έξω και με δυνατότητα για απόδραση σε κάποια παραλία, γιατί θα τα χρειαστείτε και τα δυο, μετά το τέλος της ανάγνωσης. Πως να το κάνουμε, μπορεί και να σας μαυρίσει τη ψυχή, με όλα αυτά που συμβαίνουν. Όπως και να 'χει, είναι ένα βιβλίο δυνατό, έντονο, που μπορεί να αγγίξει ευαίσθητες χορδές.

[Dave · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gravesend is a neighborhood in Brooklyn. It is also describes the modern-day noir novel that Boyle has dropped on us. It is a neighborhood where people are stuck in the past, unable to move forward, slowly dying, trapped in lives that are going nowhere. It is not a caper novel, more of a character study, not of one character, but of a series of characters. Most of the main characters never left home or, if they did, they are back in their childhood bedrooms, with their widowed parents downstairs stuck and going nowhere fast.

Conway is 29, works at the Rite Aid, lives at home with dad, fantasizes about girls he sat behind in high school and never talked to, and waits for great payback day when he delivers justice to the guy who tormented his brother until his brother ran off into traffic. Ray Boy is getting out of prison after sixteen long years and he welcomes whatever justice is meted out. He feels hopeless now. And this meetup ain't going to go exactly as planned for anyone cause there is no way anyone can ever puts these ghosts to bed. They are going to haunt Rayboy and Conway as long as they live and tear them apart.

Alessandra left the neighborhood to become an actress in tinseltown on the West Coast. She's back for her mother's funeral and probably isn't going much of anywhere. She's tied up with both of these characters for better or worse.

Other tragic despairing characters people this world. You have the 29 year old virgin who has never had a drink and still lives with mom. You have the rebellious high school boy (Eugene) who is going to prove once and for all that he is as tough as all that. You have tragedy left and right and the dialogue is simply spot on.

Perhaps if there is a fault with this novel is that it is a freight train of despair and that no one gets out whole and complete and not broken. There's barely any light at the end of the tunnel. But surely you knew that going in. You can't nurse revenge for sixteen years and expect to have rainbows and puppy dogs bouncing in front of you. You can't come out of prison and expect the neighborhood to welcome you with open arms. You can't go home again, someone once said. And for those like Alessandra and RayBoy, home just ain't what it is all chalked up to be.

The novel includes a terrific introduction and an interview with the author at the end. What makes it work so well is how the author makes the characters come to life, how you get to understand their motivations, their frustrations, their tragic undertakings.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've heard many people refer to New York City as a "small town disguised as a big city." This novel really touches on that theme as we watch our main characters constantly circle each other as they all navigate their Brooklyn neighborhood and try not to get sucked under by it's pull of family and past sins. The novel has the soul of Pelecanos's best but with the nihilism of David Goodis at his most downhearted. It's definitely one of the more depressing novels I've read, with some scenes coming close to making me cry because of the sheer disappointment and desperation that the characters feel as well as the actions they take to escape their situations. It's a violent book, but not in a guns, blood, and guts kind of a way, but it's an emotional violence that turned out to be even more affecting and relatable. A constant theme in Gravesend is mistaken perception and how that's wrecked by the truth. Whether it's in the way everyone has viewed Ray Boy Calabrese as one thing once he gets out of prison but he's actually something else, or the way Conway believes that he's capable of vengeance, but in truth he's just a coward, or the way that people see Alessandra as this beautiful actress who found success in Hollywood and has it all figured out but in truth it's just the opposite; every character gets a rude awakening that shatters that perception.

It's a slow novel that is heavy on character, but it's all told through Boyle's sharp, direct gaze that feels full of honesty and compassion. It was previously released by Broken River Books (the version I read) but is seeing a re-release in hardcover from Pegasus Books later this year.

[Έλσα · Rating 4 out of 5]

" Gravesend"

Διαβάζεται μέσα σε λίγες ώρες.
Συνδυάζει έντονες περιγραφές βίας κ σεξ!
Ανατρεπτικό κ σκληρό!
Αμερικανικά γκέτο, μαφία, εγκληματικότητα, δολοφονίες.
Κάποιοι ζητούν εκδίκηση.
Τελικά υπάρχει θεία δίκη;
Ποια χαρακτηριστικά διαθέτει ένας δολοφόνος; Υπάρχουν γονίδια που προδικάζουν τους ανθρώπους στο να γίνουν δολοφόνοι;
Τύψεις και λύτρωση!

Υ.Γ. Θα ήθελα περισσότερη εστίαση στους χαρακτήρες! Παρ' όλα αυτά μου άρεσαν πολύ κ το περιεχόμενο και η γραφή του συγγραφέα!

[Nigel · Rating 2 out of 5]

In brief - I'm obviously one of the exceptions here as most folk seem to think this is good. I really liked the premise of the book but found it pretty hard going.

I really found the basic premise of this book appealing. Ray Boy is released from prison after serving 16 years for causing the death of Conway's brother. He returns home to find that Conway wants to kill him. To Conway's surprise Ray Boy is happy with that. Conway finds the idea of killing easier than actually doing it. The book looks at their stories and the lives of others in the neighbourhood they grew up in. So far so good..

I found quite quickly that I was not gripped by this story. In part it may have been the colloquial dialogue - Brooklyn - however I've read plenty of similar styles over the years with no adverse effects. The characters tend to fall into two camps. The older generation who don't understand the younger ones and the younger ones. There are a few of these who have not managed to leave the area. An odd one out is Alessandra who has returned after something of a career in Hollywood. I liked her as a character - indeed she probably worked better than any of the others for me.

In the end I didn't really get this story. I wasn't gripped by it or engaged with any of the characters really. I'd envisaged something of a reveal about Duncan's death. He was the person who died in part as a result of Ray Boy's actions. However that aspect of the story never came alive (or to any great prominence) as far as I was concerned. I realise that many people have enjoyed this book but sadly I'm not one of them.

Note - I received an advance digital copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair review

http://viewson.org.uk/fiction/gravese...

[Natalie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Δυνατό, ζοφερό, που προκαλεί ένα κλιμακούμενο σφίξιμο στην ψυχή όσο προχωράει η ανάγνωση, νουάρ μυθιστόρημα!! Από εκείνα τα βιβλία που μου θυμίζουν γιατί είμαι τόσο φαν του είδους!!

[Dave Newman · Rating 5 out of 5]

William Boyle has written a brilliant debut novel, packed full of gritty characters struggling to make a living in the roughed-up neighborhood of Gravesend until the only choice left is tragedy. This is a working-class novel in the way that Fat City is a working class novel or Frozen River is a working-class film. Actresses can’t find films to act in. Kids make drops for the mob. Grown men ring the cash register in Rite Aid. The daily grind Boyle describes is endless. You tend bar. You run numbers. You do anything to make a life until the life you’ve made is barely worth living. Every character in this book deserves a line of praise, just as every building in that neighborhood does. The details Boyle uses to describe the bars and shooting ranges and old houses of Gravesend are spot-on and poetic in the most naturally honest way. It’s the poetry of Nelson Algren. It’s the poetry of Leonard Gardner in Fat City. In only one book, William Boyle jumps ranks to become one of my favorite crime writers, up there with David Goodis and Charles Willeford, but this is something else too, something more than a crime novel. This is someone with Flannery-O'Connor-sized talent writing about Gravesend, a city filled with the dead and the dying, even as Boyle desperately tries to keep them alive with his art. Great book. Great writer. Highly recommended.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sooo...I don't write a lot of reviews. I am not literary literate, just a guy who likes to read. But I felt compelled to jot down a few lines after finishing this book. First and foremost, I thank Megan Abbott for introducing me to Mr. Boyle's work. What I found amazing about this book, beyond enjoying the author's style and cadence, was the care taken with the details and backstory that helped the reader really get a sense of Conway, Stephanie, and Alessandra in particular. At several points in the book, I just had to pause to appreciate what Boyle did in terms of building his characters where I did not expect it, but nonetheless wholly appreciated it. A great read that evoked memories of growing up during the same time period as his characters did, albeit in the ethnic enclaves of Detroit. Not quite Brooklyn, but the way Boyle captures the generational differences in his world certainly applied to mine as well. Fantastic read, hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

[Bloody Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

It' s really scary how Boyle's ''Gravesend'' is somehow gravesent! Characters with grave problems, facing the grave consequences of their grave mistakes, living on the edge defying the grave danger of it, committing grave sins, driven by grave injustice and not minding going to an early grave! Some strange kind of gravity seems to have everyone stuck to the grave-coloured neighborhood of Gravesend. No matter how far they go (not far actually), no matter what chances are given to change their destiny (not many actually), all characters return to Gravesend - and it's their return that seals their fate.

[Δημήτρης · Rating 5 out of 5]

Κριτική για το Smassing Culture.

Όταν το νουάρ συναντά το urban gothic

Γκρέιβσεντ, Μπρούκλιν, Νέα Υόρκη. Μια φτωχική γειτονιά της Νέας Υόρκης μακριά από τα φώτα του Μπρούκλιν Χάιτς και του Μανχάταν, είναι αυτή που δίνει το όνομά της στο πρώτο μυθιστόρημα του Γουίλιαμ Μπόυλ το οποίο μετέφεραν στα ελληνικά οι εκδόσεις Πόλις με τίτλο Gravesend. Ένα μυθιστόρημα που όταν πρωτοκυκλοφόρησε έστρεψε αρκετά βλέμματα προς το μέρος του, αποτελώντας μάλιστα την επιλογή του Γάλλου εκδότη Φρανσουά Γκερίφ για να γιορτάσει τα 30 χρόνια και την 1000ή θέση της συλλογής του Rivages/ Noir το 2016.

Η ιστορία ξεκινάει με τον Κόνγουεϊ, ο οποίος εκπαιδεύεται με τη βοήθεια ενός φίλου του πρώην αστυνομικού, στο σημάδι με όπλο για να εκδικηθεί τον θάνατο του ομοφυλόφιλου αδερφού του, για τον οποίο ευθυνόταν ο συμμαθητής τους Ρέι Μπόι που μετά από δεκαέξι χρόνια στη φυλακή είναι και πάλι ελεύθερος. Την ίδια περίοδο επιστρέφει στο Γκρέιβσεντ η Αλεσάντρα μετά από μία σύντομη και αποτυχημένη προσπάθεια να εδραιωθεί στο Λος Άντζελες ως ηθοποιός. Το κουιντέτο των πρωταγωνιστών ολοκληρώνουν η Στέφανι η οποία είναι συνάδελφος του Κόνγουεϊ και παλιά συμμαθήτρια τους επίσης, η οποία ζει με την προβληματική μητέρα της, και τέλος ο έφηβος Γιουτζίν, ανιψιός του Ρέι Μπόι τον οποίο θαυμάζει για τον βίο του πριν μπει στη φυλακή.

Ο Κόνγουεϊ από την αρχή της ιστορίας θα βρεθεί αντιμέτωπος με τον φονιά του αδερφού του, αλλά θα αντικρύσει μία τελείως διαφορετική εικόνα από αυτή που περίμενε, θα συναντήσει έναν μεταμελημένο πρώην νταή, σχεδόν παραιτημένο από τη ζωή. Αυτό θα φέρει τον Κόνγουεϊ σε σύγχυση, καθώς η εικόνα αυτή μετατρέπει την εκδίκηση σε μία πράξη κενή από περιεχόμενο. Το νερό όμως έχει μπει στο αυλάκι και η βία μαζί με την μαυρίλα στη ζωή όλων των πρωταγωνιστών δε μπορούν να απομακρυνθούν από τον χώρο του σημαντικότερου εν τέλει πρωταγωνιστή της ιστορίας, τον οποίο είχε φροντίσει ο Γουίλιαμ Μπόυλ να μας συστήσει από την εισαγωγή του βιβλίου.

«Πάντα στην πόλη αυτή θα φθάνεις. Για τα αλλού
-μη ελπίζεις-
δεν έχει πλοίο για σε, δεν έχει οδό.
Έτσι που τη ζωή σου ρήμαξες εδώ
στην κώχη τούτη την μικρή, σ’ όλη την γη την χάλασες.»

Με τους στίχους αυτούς του Καβάφη γίνεται εξ αρχής φανερή η σχέση των χαρακτήρων του βιβλίου με την γειτονιά του Γκρέιβσεντ. Ο συγγραφέας φαίνεται πως γνωρίζει πολύ καλά την περιοχή και με τις περιγραφές του, μεταφέρει νοητά τον αναγνώστη μέσα στη γειτονιά αυτή. Σε έναν κλειστοφοβικό και σκοτεινό κόσμο, τον οποίο οι κάτοικοί του λατρεύουν να μισούν και οι χαρακτήρες φαίνεται να θέλουν να φύγουν μακριά μη μπορώντας να το κάνουν. Σε έναν κόσμο που διαμορφώνει κατά πολύ τους χαρακτήρες των πρωταγωνιστών οδηγώντας τους σε πράξεις που κάνουν το όνομα της εν λόγω γειτονιάς να της ταιριάζει ιδανικά.

Εν κατακλείδι, το Gravesend είναι ένα εξαιρετικό μυθιστόρημα το οποίο αγγίζει τα όρια της αστυνομικής λογοτεχνίας, χωρίς όμως να είναι ένα αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα. Η πλοκή βρίσκεται σε δεύτερη μέρα και η ουσία βρίσκεται στους χαρακτήρες και τους εσωτερικούς τους δαίμονες που πλανώνται σε αυτή τη σκοτεινή γειτονιά του Μπρούκλιν. Γι’ αυτό λοιπόν, πιστεύω πως ο όρος urban gothic αντικατοπτρίζει πλήρως το περιεχόμενο της ιστορίας αυτής.

Υπό τους ήχους του, πολύ ταιριαστού με την ιστορία, Death Don’t Have No Mercy του Rev. Gary Davis θα περιμένουμε να διαβάσουμε και άλλα διαμάντια από τον Γουίλιαμ Μπόυλ στο μέλλον (spoiler alert: ο Μπόυλ έχει κυκλοφορήσει συλλογή διηγημάτων με αυτό το όνομα).

[Benoit Lelièvre · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great first novel this was. Not only William Boyle has a mind of his own, but he does write for the good reasons and understands how to stay within himself. His haunting, elegiac style has a stern beauty to it. His characters are beautifully broken and tormented and he doesn't seem to be picking favourites. Boyle is happy to just expose the pain of the world on each character's shoulders. The people of GRAVESEND are worn down by life and are drowning without their dreams and aspirations.

GRAVESEND is a tragedy told through life as we know it. It's extremely sad, subtle, textured and layered. Consider me a William Boyle fan.

[Χρήστος Γιαννάκενας · Rating 4 out of 5]

Καταθλιπτικό όσο δεν πάει! Νουάρ χωρίς καμία ελπίδα για ένα καλό τέλος, με πρωταγωνιστή το Gravesend, μια περιφέρεια του Μπρούκλιν. Μην περιμένετε πως θα βρείτε έστω κι έναν χαρακτήρα να ταυτιστείτε, όμως θα βρείτε πολλούς που μπορείτε να τους καταλάβετε. Δεν είναι για όλα τα γούστα, αλλά διαβάζεται απνευστί!

[Σταμάτης Λαδικός · Rating 5 out of 5]

Καμμία ελπίδα, καμμία λύτρωση, ένα κατάμαυρο σπιράλ... To urban gothic στα καλύτερά του και ένα πολλά υποσχόμενο συγγραφικό ντεμπούτο. Πολύ ατμοσφαιρικό και εξαιρετική απόδοση της παρακμιακής πόλης και των καταδικασμένων χαρακτήρων που ζουν σε αυτή.

Το τελείωσα Κυριακή, έξω είναι σκοτεινά, βρέχει και θαρρώ πως για να στανιάρω θέλω να πάρω αγκαλιά την κόρη μου και να δούμε σερί 3 επεισόδια μικυμαους, τον Μπάμπι το ελαφάκι και το μικρό σπίτι στο λιβάδι...

[Roger Angle · Rating 1 out of 5]

I picked this book up at the library with no expectations. Hadn't heard anything about it. I got 16 pages into it, and frankly, I just don't give a damn. Conway's goal of revenge didn't grab me. I didn't care about any of the characters. The writing doesn't come off the page, for me. Part of it is the way the story is told. Part of it is the writing. Sorry, William Boyle. Your first job is to make the reader care. If you can't do that, it doesn't work for me.

[Andy Weston · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible to read that this is Boyle's first novel. It is certainly one of the finest pieces of noir that I have read, and these days, that's quite a few.

In a striking piece of writing there are stand out passages that will stay with the reader long after finishing the book. That is the case with Gravesend. Notably, the scene by the grave in the forest, and then then at the train station at the very end of the book. Please don't make this into a movie. I have such clear images in my mind of these two scenes, and several others. I fear that with a movie those images would be ruined.

Ray Boy Calabrese is released from a New York prison after serving a 16 year sentence for murder. Despite the adoration of his young cousin he is a changed man, but a targeted one. Conway, brother of the man Ray Boy murdered wants him dead. To this scenario there is a cast of compelling characters in seedy NY. The story races along to an exciting climax, the reader even finding themselves sympathising with the cast of roughouse gun wielding characters. It's really not very nice at times, but it's noir and not supposed to be, and my word it grabs your attention.

Highly recommended to those who enjoy this genre.

[Pearce Hansen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This does not feel like a first novel at all. I'm a sucker for modern composers: Philip Glass, Steve Reich, that gang. With them, they set up a rhythm that feels inevitable and then abandon it in unexpected ways. Like Miles Davis too, sometimes its the silences between the notes that holds the whole structure up -- the focus has to come in at exactly the right place and time or else it won't work.

Gravesend feels like that to me. And it does work. And William Boyle blows his trumpet at the exact right places.

There's a truncation in places that's extremely adroit. It's not what the novel says, it's what it doesn't say.

Perhaps my analogy to music is clumsy but that's on me. Read this book. It's one of those creeper novels that will have you stopping in the middle of a thought and staring blankly into space, considering the story and its characters, long after you finish the last page.

I hope William writes more, cuz he's already in the groove judging by Gravesend.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve become a fan of William Boyle, I’ve read several of his books, but had not read this, his first novel. To my surprise, I liked this one the best. All of the books are set beautifully in Brooklyn, have a great sense of place and feature memorable characters who fit into the world Mr. Boyle describes. In the later books, there is more dark comedy mixed in with the story where this one is more straightforward in depicting a downward spiral of the characters, tragic but it seemed authentic and made this story more memorable for me.

[Ellis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Three & 1/2 stars, because while this did not quite make me laugh out loud at how perfectly it was crafted as did Boyle's other books (which makes sense since those other books came after this) the seeds of spectacular are all here & it is a pretty fine book if relentless bleakness and flawless dialogue is your thing. I get a real kick out of William Boyle as a writer and I hope he continues to rock my world with his Brooklyn books for a long time to come.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven’t had a bunch of time to sit down and read lately and it has been bumming me out. Thankfully I have had a lot of windshield time and have been listening to a lot of good audio books. When this one popped up for review from the narrator Alan Carson, I jumped all over it.

Glad I did, because I dug everything about it.

Written well with well-drawn characters and a smooth rolling plot line. The narration flowed and Alan’s cadence didn’t miss a beat. An all-around a great effort and a very enjoyable work.

"I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review."

4.5 Stars, Yo.

[Smassing Culture · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ολόκληρη η κριτική στο Smassing Culture

Gravesend- Όταν το νουάρ συναντά το urban gothic

Γκρέιβσεντ, Μπρούκλιν, Νέα Υόρκη. Μια φτωχική γειτονιά της Νέας Υόρκης μακριά από τα φώτα του Μπρούκλιν Χάιτς και του Μανχάταν, είναι αυτή που δίνει το όνομά της στο πρώτο μυθιστόρημα του Γουίλιαμ Μπόυλ το οποίο μετέφεραν στα ελληνικά οι εκδόσεις Πόλις με τίτλο Gravesend. Ένα μυθιστόρημα που όταν πρωτοκυκλοφόρησε έστρεψε αρκετά βλέμματα προς το μέρος του, αποτελώντας μάλιστα την επιλογή του Γάλλου εκδότη Φρανσουά Γκερίφ για να γιορτάσει τα 30 χρόνια και την 1000ή θέση της συλλογής του Rivages/ Noir το 2016.

Η ιστορία ξεκινάει με τον Κόνγουεϊ, ο οποίος εκπαιδεύεται με τη βοήθεια ενός φίλου του πρώην αστυνομικού, στο σημάδι με όπλο για να εκδικηθεί τον θάνατο του ομοφυλόφιλου αδερφού του, για τον οποίο ευθυνόταν ο συμμαθητής τους Ρέι Μπόι που μετά από δεκαέξι χρόνια στη φυλακή είναι και πάλι ελεύθερος. Την ίδια περίοδο επιστρέφει στο Γκρέιβσεντ η Αλεσάντρα μετά από μία σύντομη και αποτυχημένη προσπάθεια να εδραιωθεί στο Λος Άντζελες ως ηθοποιός. Το κουιντέτο των πρωταγωνιστών ολοκληρώνουν η Στέφανι η οποία είναι συνάδελφος του Κόνγουεϊ και παλιά συμμαθήτρια τους επίσης, η οποία ζει με την προβληματική μητέρα της, και τέλος ο έφηβος Γιουτζίν, ανιψιός του Ρέι Μπόι τον οποίο θαυμάζει για τον βίο του πριν μπει στη φυλακή.

Ο Κόνγουεϊ από την αρχή της ιστορίας θα βρεθεί αντιμέτωπος με τον φονιά του αδερφού του, αλλά θα αντικρύσει μία τελείως διαφορετική εικόνα από αυτή που περίμενε, θα συναντήσει έναν μεταμελημένο πρώην νταή, σχεδόν παραιτημένο από τη ζωή. Αυτό θα φέρει τον Κόνγουεϊ σε σύγχυση, καθώς η εικόνα αυτή μετατρέπει την εκδίκηση σε μία πράξη κενή από περιεχόμενο. Το νερό όμως έχει μπει στο αυλάκι και η βία μαζί με την μαυρίλα στη ζωή όλων των πρωταγωνιστών δε μπορούν να απομακρυνθούν από τον χώρο του σημαντικότερου εν τέλει πρωταγωνιστή της ιστορίας, τον οποίο είχε φροντίσει ο Γουίλιαμ Μπόυλ να μας συστήσει από την εισαγωγή του βιβλίου.

«Πάντα στην πόλη αυτή θα φθάνεις. Για τα αλλού
-μη ελπίζεις-
δεν έχει πλοίο για σε, δεν έχει οδό.
Έτσι που τη ζωή σου ρήμαξες εδώ
στην κώχη τούτη την μικρή, σ’ όλη την γη την χάλασες.»

Με τους στίχους αυτούς του Καβάφη γίνεται εξ αρχής φανερή η σχέση των χαρακτήρων του βιβλίου με την γειτονιά του Γκρέιβσεντ. Ο συγγραφέας φαίνεται πως γνωρίζει πολύ καλά την περιοχή και με τις περιγραφές του, μεταφέρει νοητά τον αναγνώστη μέσα στη γειτονιά αυτή. Σε έναν κλειστοφοβικό και σκοτεινό κόσμο, τον οποίο οι κάτοικοί του λατρεύουν να μισούν και οι χαρακτήρες φαίνεται να θέλουν να φύγουν μακριά μη μπορώντας να το κάνουν. Σε έναν κόσμο που διαμορφώνει κατά πολύ τους χαρακτήρες των πρωταγωνιστών οδηγώντας τους σε πράξεις που κάνουν το όνομα της εν λόγω γειτονιάς να της ταιριάζει ιδανικά.

Εν κατακλείδι, το Gravesend είναι ένα εξαιρετικό μυθιστόρημα το οποίο αγγίζει τα όρια της αστυνομικής λογοτεχνίας, χωρίς όμως να είναι ένα αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα. Η πλοκή βρίσκεται σε δεύτερη μέρα και η ουσία βρίσκεται στους χαρακτήρες και τους εσωτερικούς τους δαίμονες που πλανώνται σε αυτή τη σκοτεινή γειτονιά του Μπρούκλιν. Γι’ αυτό λοιπόν, πιστεύω πως ο όρος urban gothic αντικατοπτρίζει πλήρως το περιεχόμενο της ιστορίας αυτής.

Υπό τους ήχους του, πολύ ταιριαστού με την ιστορία, Death Don’t Have No Mercy του Rev. Gary Davis θα περιμένουμε να διαβάσουμε και άλλα διαμάντια από τον Γουίλιαμ Μπόυλ στο μέλλον (spoiler alert: ο Μπόυλ έχει κυκλοφορήσει συλλογή διηγημάτων με αυτό το όνομα).

[Roger · Rating 2 out of 5]

Can't tell you how I was disappointed by this book. First, it's set in Brooklyn where I was born and still have many relatives. Second, this new author is compared to Elmore Leonard and George Pelacanos, two of my faves. And third, it's his first novel. Nothing more I like is discovering a new talent.

Unfortunately all those things turned against me. Yes, Boyle has an ear for dialect, but not nearly as strong as Leonard or Pelacanos. And remember, I'm from Brooklyn so I know what is true and what isn't. He'll get a few phrases and cadences right, but it's not nearly as lyrical as the other two.

Second, both Pelacanos and Leonard's characters have some redeeming qualities. They are relatable in one way or another. And they are often funny and endearing. Not at all true of Boyle's characters. The book is a dirge of negativity and bad feelings. The characters are so off-putting you wouldn't want to be friend with them or even talk to them.

And finally the plot is almost non-existent. The ludicrous idea that Conway is going to kill Roy-Boy (and even though it actually happens, it's a let down). The ridiculous entry of Eugene and his limp along with his stupid friend Sweat makes no sense. And when he suddenly gets it into his head he's going to rob a Mob poker game like the Sopranos is so contrived it's laughable.

And finally the ending is so soaked in gratuitous violence because the author has no imagination about how to end the book with a clever hook or even a life lesson.

No this book is hideous. I couldn't wait to finish it because it slide down from 4.5 stars to just 2 stars. And the only reason it gets 2 stars is because I know some of the places where the book takes place. Read something else. Don't waste your time.

[Schurkenblog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hoffnungslos, verzweifelnd, selbstzerstörend ist Gravesend. Ein Tipp für Noir-Leser!

Weil er einen Jungen in den Tod hetzte, kam Ray Boy Calabrese für 16 Jahren hinter Gitter. Nun ist er wieder auf freiem Fuß, doch vom einst harten Typen ist nichts mehr übrig. Er will nur sterben. Durch Conways Hände.
Conway, der Bruder des Hate-Crime-Opfers, hat in all der Zeit auf Rache geschworen. Er will Ray töten, doch so ein Mord, ist nicht so leicht wie man es sich vielleicht erträumt.
Und dann gibt es noch Eugene, Rays Neffen, der seinen Onkel als Verbrecherkönig und Vorbild sieht. Der total enttäuscht ist, weil Ray kein knallharter Exknasti ist, der sich zur Aufgabe macht, seinen Onkel wieder auf den rechten - verbrecherischen - Weg zu bringen.

Doch Gravesend ist ein Viertel, das einfach alle runterzieht. Wer hier ankommt, ist unten angekommen. An einem Ort der Hoffnungslosigkeit, der Verzweiflung, der Selbstzerstörung.
In Gravesend bekommt niemand eine Chance. Man dümpelt vor sich hin, verrottet in den eigenen vier Wänden, oder opfert sich selbst für ausweglose Ziele.

Gravesend ist düster. Es zieht auch den Leser runter. Schlägt aufs Gemüt, erschlägt Hoffnungen. Gravesend ist noir. Durch und durch. Das muss man mögen, dann ist Gravesend ein Lesetipp!

[Θανάσης · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ε.Π.Ο.Σ.
Μαυρίλα και σκατοψυχιά. My cup of tea

[Liam · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5*

[Edward Renehan · Rating 5 out of 5]

A truly brilliant debut from a talent to watch. Boyle's prose = eloquent, his plot = masterful, his characters = vivid, his atmospherics = artfully rendered.

[Kostas Kanellopoulos · Rating 3 out of 5]

Α bunch of unlikable losers with a death wish... meh