What do you think?
Rate this book
Jackson Steeg #2
Old Flame
Dark streets. Darker secrets. Jackson Steeg thought he’d finally put all that behind him. He was wrong. Jackson Steeg isn’t an NYPD homicide cop anymore, not since the bullet he took to the lung. But Steeg’s retirement is looking anything but relaxing. After months of death threats, his ex-wife’s new flame is beaten to death outside a chichi restaurant in the Meatpacking District. When Steeg starts pulling on strings, he discovers that his old pals on the force are strangely reluctant to investigate the murder. Meanwhile, Steeg’s Hell’s Kitchen roots prove impossible to escape when a ne’er-do-well childhood friend finds himself deep in debt to a vicious mobster. Steeg’s brother, Dave, wants to help, but the only language Dave knows is violence, and soon a mob war threatens to erupt. Now Steeg’s got two factions of New York’s nastiest characters aiming for his head. Worse, every thread keeps leading him exactly where he doesn’t want to his own family.From the Trade Paperback edition.
- GenresMystery
275 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
2 people are currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Ira Berkowitz
5 books9 followersIra Berkowitz is the author of the Jackson Steeg Mystery Series. His crime fiction novel Sinners' Ball won the Shamus Award in 2010.
He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Writing fiction was the furthest thing from his mind.
He attended New York University, fully expecting to attend Medical School upon graduation. Instead, he wound up in law school. After enduring two years studying torts, contracts, corporate, real estate, and other legal matters - try curling up with the laws of riparian rights on a cold winter night - he decided there had to be a more interesting way to earn a living. And, with only one more year to go, he quit. Now he was really at odds and ends. No career. No job. And no prospects.
Enter his wife - then fiancee - the very wise, Phyllis.
How about advertising, she suggested. He patiently explained he had absolutely no artistic ability, wasn't trained in snappy headline writing, and had never taken a business or marketing course. A career as an ice-road trucker would make more sense. But the more he thought about it, the more alluring her suggestion. Client lunches with Captains of Industry. TV commercial shoots at exotic locations. Expense account. The mad, Mad Avenue whirl! And a big salary to boot! So he went for it, and managed to land a job paying a hundred dollars a week. And found that he loved the business. Thirty years later he retired and realized how lucky he was. There wasn't a day he didn't enjoy going to work.
After several months of doing absolutely nothing and hating it, Ira's wife asked how he planned to keep busy. With a blank stare for a response she suggested he try writing fiction. Once again he patiently explained that he had never taken a creative writing course - and didn't plan to. And, he reminded her, marketing plans were the only pieces of fiction he had ever written. She reminded him of the "advertising" conversation they had had thirty years earlier. It did the trick.
Ira's first effort at fiction garnered fifty rejections. But a few were encouraging, so he kept at it. His second effort, Family Matters, the first book in the Jackson Steeg Mystery Series, was published in 2006 and won the Washington Irving Award for literary merit. And he repeated with Old Flame, published in 2008. Sinners' Ball, the third book in the series will be published, December 2009.
Ira is writing full time and considers himself lucky. There isn't a day he doesn't look forward to going to work.
He was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. Writing fiction was the furthest thing from his mind.
He attended New York University, fully expecting to attend Medical School upon graduation. Instead, he wound up in law school. After enduring two years studying torts, contracts, corporate, real estate, and other legal matters - try curling up with the laws of riparian rights on a cold winter night - he decided there had to be a more interesting way to earn a living. And, with only one more year to go, he quit. Now he was really at odds and ends. No career. No job. And no prospects.
Enter his wife - then fiancee - the very wise, Phyllis.
How about advertising, she suggested. He patiently explained he had absolutely no artistic ability, wasn't trained in snappy headline writing, and had never taken a business or marketing course. A career as an ice-road trucker would make more sense. But the more he thought about it, the more alluring her suggestion. Client lunches with Captains of Industry. TV commercial shoots at exotic locations. Expense account. The mad, Mad Avenue whirl! And a big salary to boot! So he went for it, and managed to land a job paying a hundred dollars a week. And found that he loved the business. Thirty years later he retired and realized how lucky he was. There wasn't a day he didn't enjoy going to work.
After several months of doing absolutely nothing and hating it, Ira's wife asked how he planned to keep busy. With a blank stare for a response she suggested he try writing fiction. Once again he patiently explained that he had never taken a creative writing course - and didn't plan to. And, he reminded her, marketing plans were the only pieces of fiction he had ever written. She reminded him of the "advertising" conversation they had had thirty years earlier. It did the trick.
Ira's first effort at fiction garnered fifty rejections. But a few were encouraging, so he kept at it. His second effort, Family Matters, the first book in the Jackson Steeg Mystery Series, was published in 2006 and won the Washington Irving Award for literary merit. And he repeated with Old Flame, published in 2008. Sinners' Ball, the third book in the series will be published, December 2009.
Ira is writing full time and considers himself lucky. There isn't a day he doesn't look forward to going to work.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
Read
July 25, 2011This was a terrific book! Never heard of the book or Ira Berkowitz before, but I'm sure glad I picked this up from the bookstore. I'm a big fan of detective/private investigator-type books (modern types, not Sherlock Holmesian) and this one was definitely up my alley. In this book Jackson Steeg is asked by his ex-mother-in-law to investigate the murder of his ex-wife's new husband. At the same time, one of his old friends asks for help escaping from thugs who want to murder him because of a business deal gone really, really bad. And that's just the tip of the iceberg. I really liked Steeg's character (although I admit for some reason I thought he was much older than he was) and thought the action was really compelling and the characters were quite memorable. Since this was the second book in the series, I'll definitely pick up the first.
September 14, 2016
Jackson Steeg, the detective in this novel, was a little too much of a tough guy for my taste, but I enjoyed reading Old Flame anyway. It reminded me of the Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler books I used to read many years ago. Among the strengths of Old Flame were the interesting and diverse characters, especially his former police partner, Luce.
This is the second in the series and I'm torn whether to find a copy of the first book and read it or whether too much was revealed in this book, spoiling the earlier book. If I'd had that book, I would've read it first.
This is the second in the series and I'm torn whether to find a copy of the first book and read it or whether too much was revealed in this book, spoiling the earlier book. If I'd had that book, I would've read it first.
February 21, 2009
I really liked this book. It didn't get me right away but it was a nice quick, no nonsense read. I def. recommend for some good train or commute to work reading.
April 3, 2009
Recommended by Avra, a really good, easy read. Perfect NYC reading.
July 24, 2009
Written by my friend Ira Berkowitz. A great read.
July 30, 2009
I read both books. They are a quick read and love the characters. I can't wait to read the next book coming out in December, Sinner's Ball.
April 1, 2010
New NY noir, better than I expected. Will read the next in the series when it comes out. But why the obsession among mystery writers for hell's Kitchen?
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews