What do you think?
Rate this book
Risk
An honest lawyer, a Czech hand model, and a box of mysterious Christmas ornaments, each play their part in Harrison's intricate mystery
George Young never thought of himself as a detective, but that's pretty much his vocation--an attorney for a top insurance firm, it’s his job to pin down suspicious claims. But Mrs. Corbett, the rich, eccentric wife of the firm's founder, has it in mind to put George’s skills to a peculiar assignment. With only a few months to live, her one desire is to know the true circumstance of her son Roger's violent death. George's investigation leads him to Roger's mistress, a cagy Czech hand model named Eliska, whose motives for latching on to Mrs. Corbett's son may have gotten him killed. Set against a brilliantly-drawn Manhattan, at once volatile and vivid, Risk is prime Colin Harrison.
George Young never thought of himself as a detective, but that's pretty much his vocation--an attorney for a top insurance firm, it’s his job to pin down suspicious claims. But Mrs. Corbett, the rich, eccentric wife of the firm's founder, has it in mind to put George’s skills to a peculiar assignment. With only a few months to live, her one desire is to know the true circumstance of her son Roger's violent death. George's investigation leads him to Roger's mistress, a cagy Czech hand model named Eliska, whose motives for latching on to Mrs. Corbett's son may have gotten him killed. Set against a brilliantly-drawn Manhattan, at once volatile and vivid, Risk is prime Colin Harrison.
176 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
16 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Colin Harrison
63 books140 followersColin Harrison is a crime novelist. He is a vice president and senior editor at Scribner.
He lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with his wife, the writer Kathryn Harrison, and their three children (Sarah, Walker and Julia).
He attended: Haverford College, BA 1982; University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. MFA 1986
His short nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Vogue, Salon, Worth, and other various publications.
He lives in Park Slope, Brooklyn, with his wife, the writer Kathryn Harrison, and their three children (Sarah, Walker and Julia).
He attended: Haverford College, BA 1982; University of Iowa Writers' Workshop. MFA 1986
His short nonfiction has appeared in The New York Times, New York Magazine, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Vogue, Salon, Worth, and other various publications.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
November 1, 2009
After reading the New York Times Book Review about this short novel, I was glad to have read it. I liked how Harrison captured New York City and the unravelling of a sad, but realistic story of a middle-level Wall Street executives life after he is accidentally flattened by a garbage truck. There is real drama lurking in the side plots. Highly recommended.
August 30, 2024
Harrison’s noir set in New York tells of Manhattan insurance attorney, George Young, who agrees to help Mrs. Corbett, the widow of his company’s founder, with what seems initially, a minor mystery. Her son, Roger, was crushed by a garbage truck in the street when crossing the road, a tragic accident.. But Young is retained to find out how Roger spent his last hours.
It has all the feel of a 1940s piece of pulp-fiction, and in fact the story started its life being serialised in the New York Times Magazine.
It starts really well, but Harrison can’t quite get the knack of the dialogue exchanged. The pulp writers of the 40s and 50s could get away with a lot more maybe. Harrison may have been better setting it then. In those heady days of noir the plot was less important than the characters and situation they were put in. It mattered far less if the climax just petered out; as this does, but here it matters much more as the entertainment gained from the key cast is so much less.
It has all the feel of a 1940s piece of pulp-fiction, and in fact the story started its life being serialised in the New York Times Magazine.
It starts really well, but Harrison can’t quite get the knack of the dialogue exchanged. The pulp writers of the 40s and 50s could get away with a lot more maybe. Harrison may have been better setting it then. In those heady days of noir the plot was less important than the characters and situation they were put in. It mattered far less if the climax just petered out; as this does, but here it matters much more as the entertainment gained from the key cast is so much less.
March 4, 2016
I've read several of the novels that started off as serials commissioned by the New York Times Magazine, and so far they've all been pretty flat. Risk is perhaps the best of them (memory of the others is a bit hazy), but that's not saying a great deal. It's by no means a bad novel, just a little unambitious and formulaic.
Some years ago the man who created the NYC legal firm of Patton, Corbett & Strode died, and more recently his son Roger was run over late at night by a garbage truck. One of the company's attorneys, George Young, is called in by the old man's ailing widow to investigate not Roger's death -- which she accepts was an accident -- but the events leading up to it. Since ol' man Wilson Corbett essentially pulled George out of nowhere and gave him his career, George doesn't feel he can rightly refuse her request. And, although he tells himself and everyone else that being a PI isn't really his bag, since the specialty of Patton, Corbett & Strode is investigating dubious insurance claims, he's as qualified as most.
He soon realizes that he's finding out the secrets of not just Roger but the old man, who was apparently a serial philanderer. The novel's first few chapters have a sort of mechanical construction: George meets up with someone who knew Roger or Wilson, he gets some more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, he gets yelled at by his wife Carol for devoting so much of his precious bodily fluids to the quest, he meets up with someone else who knew Roger or Wilson . . . and so the pattern repeats. Some of those characters are quite interesting, but even so this grows a little irksome.
Except that one of the characters really is interesting. Roger wasn't doing too well in business, and his marriage had broken down. At the time of his death he was living in a crappy apartment in a building full of other crappy apartments. His upstairs neighbor was a Czech emigre, Eliska Sedlacek, who'd come to the US to try to build her career as a hand model. She and Roger, two lonely people in the city, formed a liaison -- no great love affair, but a matter of friendship and intimate companionship. As George interviews her more than once, he become fascinated with her -- not attracted, precisely, but fascinated -- and so do we. She's dispassionate and coldly graceful, yet intriguingly brittle. On the rare occasion she removes the gloves she must wear in order to protect her precious hands, it's almost as if she's gingerly offering herself to him.
We learn -- as does George -- that Eliska was half-unwittingly involved in a smuggling operation, which has put her in the cross-hairs of the nasty Russian gang from whom the smuggled goods were stolen. (I had the oddest sensation that I'd encountered the smuggling modus operandi somewhere else, but this may have been just deja vu.) The trouble is that the Russian thugs are nowhere near brutish enough; they sort of play patty cake with paunchy middle-aged George and, once they've gotten what they wanted, they ensure his silence by making diabolical threats against his nearest and dearest rather than simply bumping him off.
This isn't the only plot problem. The twist at the end of the book is several times so clumsily telegraphed from quite early on that I assumed Harrison was making a hamfisted effort to slyly introduce a red herring; the final reveal thus made my jaw drop for all the wrong reasons. And, when it came, it suddenly made the prior actions of a minor but pivotal character completely incomprehensible.
In short, then, while the book's flowingly readable and generally entertaining throughout, it doesn't quite hang together and it doesn't feel as if the author is entirely invested in it. But the character of Eliska is a splendid, hauntingly memorable creation, and on her own just about makes Risk worth the price of admission.
Certainly, on the basis of this novel, I'll be giving Harrison another try.
Some years ago the man who created the NYC legal firm of Patton, Corbett & Strode died, and more recently his son Roger was run over late at night by a garbage truck. One of the company's attorneys, George Young, is called in by the old man's ailing widow to investigate not Roger's death -- which she accepts was an accident -- but the events leading up to it. Since ol' man Wilson Corbett essentially pulled George out of nowhere and gave him his career, George doesn't feel he can rightly refuse her request. And, although he tells himself and everyone else that being a PI isn't really his bag, since the specialty of Patton, Corbett & Strode is investigating dubious insurance claims, he's as qualified as most.
He soon realizes that he's finding out the secrets of not just Roger but the old man, who was apparently a serial philanderer. The novel's first few chapters have a sort of mechanical construction: George meets up with someone who knew Roger or Wilson, he gets some more pieces of the jigsaw puzzle, he gets yelled at by his wife Carol for devoting so much of his precious bodily fluids to the quest, he meets up with someone else who knew Roger or Wilson . . . and so the pattern repeats. Some of those characters are quite interesting, but even so this grows a little irksome.
Except that one of the characters really is interesting. Roger wasn't doing too well in business, and his marriage had broken down. At the time of his death he was living in a crappy apartment in a building full of other crappy apartments. His upstairs neighbor was a Czech emigre, Eliska Sedlacek, who'd come to the US to try to build her career as a hand model. She and Roger, two lonely people in the city, formed a liaison -- no great love affair, but a matter of friendship and intimate companionship. As George interviews her more than once, he become fascinated with her -- not attracted, precisely, but fascinated -- and so do we. She's dispassionate and coldly graceful, yet intriguingly brittle. On the rare occasion she removes the gloves she must wear in order to protect her precious hands, it's almost as if she's gingerly offering herself to him.
We learn -- as does George -- that Eliska was half-unwittingly involved in a smuggling operation, which has put her in the cross-hairs of the nasty Russian gang from whom the smuggled goods were stolen. (I had the oddest sensation that I'd encountered the smuggling modus operandi somewhere else, but this may have been just deja vu.) The trouble is that the Russian thugs are nowhere near brutish enough; they sort of play patty cake with paunchy middle-aged George and, once they've gotten what they wanted, they ensure his silence by making diabolical threats against his nearest and dearest rather than simply bumping him off.
This isn't the only plot problem. The twist at the end of the book is several times so clumsily telegraphed from quite early on that I assumed Harrison was making a hamfisted effort to slyly introduce a red herring; the final reveal thus made my jaw drop for all the wrong reasons. And, when it came, it suddenly made the prior actions of a minor but pivotal character completely incomprehensible.
In short, then, while the book's flowingly readable and generally entertaining throughout, it doesn't quite hang together and it doesn't feel as if the author is entirely invested in it. But the character of Eliska is a splendid, hauntingly memorable creation, and on her own just about makes Risk worth the price of admission.
Certainly, on the basis of this novel, I'll be giving Harrison another try.
November 8, 2009
Got this as a freebie from Picador.
Another reviewer described this book as "modern noir." Wish I had thought of that. George Young works for a law firm with one client, a large European insurance company. The firm's role is to investigate suspected fraudulent claims. The founder's widow asks George, who has a reputation for tenacity, to look into the death of her son, a man killed in an accident. There was no question it was an accident, the man had been drinking for hours before before he inadvertently stepped in front of a garbage truck. She wants to know why he had been imbibing for so long, behavior totally uncharacteristic.
At first glance, Roger Corbett appears to be the normal, middling level, investment banker, whose career began optimistically, but then moved from one job to another as vapor-ware financial instruments and desire for instant riches began his downward spiral. Divorced, struggling to hold things together, Roger meets a Czech hand model (did I mention ordinary?) who has been bringing little Christmas figurines into the country.
Young begins asking questions, discouraged initially by the ex-cop detective Roger's mother had originally hired to investigate. He soon finds himself learning a lot about rhodium, a precious metal worth $9,000 per ounce.
Harrison writes well. It's a good novella, reminiscent of the better Block and McBain, and I discovered it was difficult to put down despite the lack of murder, sex or violence. It's to Harrison's credit that he can build such a fascinating story from a combination of otherwise ordinary people living ordinary lives who find themselves caught up in extraordinary situations.
My congratulations to Picador the publishers of this short novel for the binding, a combination dust jacket, trade paperback, and nice design. It's light and will stand up under use. Makes a lot more sense than hardcover as we know it. Love to see more like this. It seems to me, if my memory serves me correctly, this kind of binding was relatively common in Europe years ago. Of course, ebook format works even better.
I've ordered several other titles by Harrison.
Another reviewer described this book as "modern noir." Wish I had thought of that. George Young works for a law firm with one client, a large European insurance company. The firm's role is to investigate suspected fraudulent claims. The founder's widow asks George, who has a reputation for tenacity, to look into the death of her son, a man killed in an accident. There was no question it was an accident, the man had been drinking for hours before before he inadvertently stepped in front of a garbage truck. She wants to know why he had been imbibing for so long, behavior totally uncharacteristic.
At first glance, Roger Corbett appears to be the normal, middling level, investment banker, whose career began optimistically, but then moved from one job to another as vapor-ware financial instruments and desire for instant riches began his downward spiral. Divorced, struggling to hold things together, Roger meets a Czech hand model (did I mention ordinary?) who has been bringing little Christmas figurines into the country.
Young begins asking questions, discouraged initially by the ex-cop detective Roger's mother had originally hired to investigate. He soon finds himself learning a lot about rhodium, a precious metal worth $9,000 per ounce.
Harrison writes well. It's a good novella, reminiscent of the better Block and McBain, and I discovered it was difficult to put down despite the lack of murder, sex or violence. It's to Harrison's credit that he can build such a fascinating story from a combination of otherwise ordinary people living ordinary lives who find themselves caught up in extraordinary situations.
My congratulations to Picador the publishers of this short novel for the binding, a combination dust jacket, trade paperback, and nice design. It's light and will stand up under use. Makes a lot more sense than hardcover as we know it. Love to see more like this. It seems to me, if my memory serves me correctly, this kind of binding was relatively common in Europe years ago. Of course, ebook format works even better.
I've ordered several other titles by Harrison.
Read
April 4, 2010Colin Harrison is one of those writers that I _want_ to like, and can always see what he was trying to do... but maybe that's the problem. I'm down with the regrets, ennui, and petty compromises of early middle age; but a TINY bit less exposition about them might have been all to the good. And I like how the thriller elements drive the action forward, but somehow the McGuffin doesn't end up supporting the themes of the rest of the story. And although the characters are vividly sketched in their compact format, most of them ultimately seem to do nothing but provide one crucial piece of information and a bonus portentous warning to the protagonist. Lots of craftsmanship on display, for better and worse.
July 11, 2017
This short novel was commissioned as a fifteen part weekly serial for "The New York Times". I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The story was tight and well developed. The characters were believable and the main character was intriguing, thoughtfully developed and totally believable. The book made sense. This story could have happened in real life.
This book could be read in an afternoon, although it took me longer due to other commitments. I liked it so much that when I returned it to the Berkley Public Library, MI, I immediately checked out another book by this author.
This book could be read in an afternoon, although it took me longer due to other commitments. I liked it so much that when I returned it to the Berkley Public Library, MI, I immediately checked out another book by this author.
July 13, 2024
Risk is a throwback to the classic crime noir of Hammett, Cain, and Thompson - short, intense, and hardboiled. Set in 2007 New York City, I read Colin Harrison's gripping novel when I was up in Manhattan this past week. Here's a highlight reel to whet a reader's appetite:
George Young, One: Meet the tale's narrator: a successful NYC lawyer pushing fifty who's up for a little excitement in his life since he's spent over twenty years sitting behind a desk handling cases involving insurance fraud. George is also a good family man with a wife, Carol, a bank executive, and a daughter, Rachel, in college. George and Carol, both avid fans, occasionally catch the Yankees when they're playing at home.
Wilson Corbett: Founder of the law firm back in the sixties, Wilson was a blazing ball of energy, personally running thirty cases at once. George reflects, “I owed him a lot. It was Wilson Corbett who'd hired me when I was a kid, pulled me out of the muddy waters of the Queens DA's office back in the eighties.” Wilson died some years back, but everyone working at the firm who knew the founder recognizes that they have what they have as a result of Wilson's incredible accomplishments.
Mrs. Corbett: The eighty-one-year-old widow of Wilson beckons George to her Park Avenue apartment for a specific reason: her son, Roger, stepped out of a bar and into the street, where he was run over by a garbage truck. Mrs. Corbett is painfully aware she doesn't have long to live, and before she dies, she wants to know why Roger was sitting in that bar for four hours. So unlike him. She hired a private detective, but the guy was little help. Now she wants George to find out. After all, her husband told her that he was very capable and tenacious. When George tells her he'll do what he can, Mrs. Corbett hands him a green folder with all the current information revolving around the tragic event.
George Young, Two: Oh, yes, George will to it. As he told the old widow, “We can call it replaying an old dept of gratitude to Mr. Corbett.” When he talks with a Detective Hicks who did the initial snooping around for Mrs. Corbett, Hicks tells him bluntly, “My advice? Don't get involved.” And for good reason: George senses Hicks is passing on “something nasty and unfortunate and reprehensible.” Ah, an element of excitement and danger injected into his otherwise rather bland existence – lawyer George just can't help himself. He'll eagerly take on the role of detective. Meanwhile, his wife, Carol, isn't exactly thrilled at the prospect. But, hey, boys will be boys, especially when they're pushing fifty and see their hair turning gray.
Roger Corbett: George hits the internet and discovers a great deal about the now dead Roger. Fifty-one, divorced, two young children, the one-time millionaire gave nearly all the money to his former wife. New York can lift people up and shove them down, and overweight Roger was reduced to living in a tiny downtown apartment while hunting for a job in the world of high finance. Not easy.
The Czech Model: One bright spot in Roger's life: he developed a relationship with Eliska Dedlacek, a hand model who lived in the apartment above his. However, as George discovers, attractive Eliska has had some murky dealings with a couple of Russians with underworld connections. The thick plottens.
Big Apple Vibe: On every single page, we feel the pulse, the dramatic throbbing of what it means to live and work and play in New York City. As Michiko Kakutani wrote in her glowing New York Times review of another of the author's novels, “Colin Harrison is trying to do for New York what Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy have done for Los Angeles: map the sinister underbelly of the city, the nexus of greed and lust and ambition that metastasizes there and its dark spawn of larceny and murder.” For me, this is one of the great appeals of reading a Colin Harrison novel.
The Writing: Colin Harrison's use of language to shape character, to construct a setting, a mood, an atmosphere, to write dialogue, is nothing short of stunning. He's a wonderful writer. You'll usually find his novels shelved in the Thriller section (as I found out this past week, exactly the case at The Strand Bookstore), but he's writing high quality literature on the level of Don DeLillo and Philip Roth.
A Final Word: As I noted above, Risk is a riveting page-turner. And the good news: once you've had a chance to read this short work, you'll surely want to move on to the author's longer novels, such as Bodies Electric, Manhattan Nocturne, The Havana Room, and You Belong to Me. Grab a copy and strap yourself in for an exhilarating ride.
American author Colin Harrison, born 1960
December 19, 2016
Colin Harrison writes "literary thrillers", and his best books rank high in both dimensions, literary quality and the punch we expect from a good crime novel. He's the New York writer I recommend when people start talking about New York writers. His books always show you something interesting about the Big Apple.
A lawyer at a firm which specializes in investigating fraudulent claims for a big insurer is tasked by the widow of the firm's founder with discovering what drove her son to such distraction that he walked out in front of a truck. The lawyer is a placid soul who would much rather sit and watch the Yankees game than chase clues around Greenwich Village, but he says yes out of a sense of obligation. The quest takes our hero into deep waters involving a mysterious Czech beauty who always wears gloves, a box full of Christmas ornaments and a van full of thugs who are ready to bust heads to get the baubles back.
It has all the humor and insight we expect from the author, but for my tastes it comes up a little short in the thrills department; the bad guys aren't that scary, the intrigue isn't all that consequential, and in the end it's more about the hero's personal history than anything else. A nice little New York story, but a bit genteel for hardened fans of the crime genre.
A lawyer at a firm which specializes in investigating fraudulent claims for a big insurer is tasked by the widow of the firm's founder with discovering what drove her son to such distraction that he walked out in front of a truck. The lawyer is a placid soul who would much rather sit and watch the Yankees game than chase clues around Greenwich Village, but he says yes out of a sense of obligation. The quest takes our hero into deep waters involving a mysterious Czech beauty who always wears gloves, a box full of Christmas ornaments and a van full of thugs who are ready to bust heads to get the baubles back.
It has all the humor and insight we expect from the author, but for my tastes it comes up a little short in the thrills department; the bad guys aren't that scary, the intrigue isn't all that consequential, and in the end it's more about the hero's personal history than anything else. A nice little New York story, but a bit genteel for hardened fans of the crime genre.
January 21, 2018
Another of Colin Harrison's satisfying but offbeat thrillers. An elderly widow asks a middle-aged lawyer to solve an apparent mystery surrounding the death of her son. The lawyer finds himself involved with a mysterious Czech hand model, Russian thugs and a cache of rhodium worth perhaps $1 million. The breadcrumbs are all there, but I'll admit I didn't figure this one out.
August 7, 2025
For once, Harrison left out a gratuitous torture scene. And left in what makes him fun to read: interesting characters dipping their toe into the seamier side of New York City life. Well written fun.
March 7, 2017
Easy quick read from an excellent author on New Yorks hidden sleaze.
February 13, 2018
An short entertaining read. Harrison is a smooth, engaging writer. Well-written fun mystery novel.
November 8, 2021
Great book
March 23, 2023
Not my cup of tea, but the plot twist?!? I love that particular chapter.
May 26, 2024
Es un libro con un final inesperado, aunque le sobran páginas.
August 10, 2025
I would give it a 3.75 if I could. Not willing to go as high as 4. Pretty good, and a quick read.
March 26, 2018
The reigning king of New York Noir?
The plot is good (3 * good), but the prose and tone are spot on.
The plot is good (3 * good), but the prose and tone are spot on.
March 28, 2010
I know this is tacky but I'm trying to add to my list without writing my own reviews. I need this info for my own memory jogging. You gotta love an insurance adjuster as hero.
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by by Patrick Anderson Colin Harrison writes sophisticated novels set in New York. They earn excellent reviews but aren't as well known as they should be. Typically in Harrison's novels, a man who operates at the city's more rarefied levels makes a mistake that puts him at the mercy of denizens of its lower depths. In "Risk," his seventh novel, his imperiled Everyman is lawyer George Young. He has a nice wife who works for a bank, a daughter in college and an apartment on the Upper West Side. He likes to come home at night, watch a Yankees game on TV and drink $14 red wine, which he calls cheap wine, proving once again that all things are relative. As the story begins, the widow of the founding partner of Young's law firm asks a favor. Her middle-aged son Roger died recently. He was hit by a truck as he left a downtown bar where he had been drinking alone for several hours. The woman is herself dying, and she wants Young to find out what her son was doing and thinking in the hours before his death. It's an impossible assignment, but she insists, and Young, who was both fond of and indebted to her late husband, accepts. The first thing he learns is that Roger, who'd once made a fortune on Wall Street, had lost his money, been divorced by his wife and was living in a cheap apartment downtown. Roger was a loser, Young decides, "but on Wall Street you can be an inflatable clown and make a lot of money if you are in the right place at the right time, like America in the eighties and nineties." Young starts digging. He talks to a private investigator who'd previously looked into the case and warns him to stay away from it. Another warning comes from the bartender who served Roger on his last night and says that a mob-type character had also been around asking questions. The super in the dead man's building demands a bribe before doling out information. Eventually, Young makes his way to Roger's last girlfriend. She's young and Czech and rather ordinary except that she has beautiful hands: "I am sorry I cannot shake hands. I am hand model and must protect them." Harrison views New York with a cool but compassionate eye. What distinguishes "Risk" is not its plot -- investigation, danger, resolution -- but the people, the digressions, the details along the way. In an East Side apartment building, "the tall bellman was a piece of fossilized Irish timber, and his white hair and stiff blue uniform made him look like a retired admiral." In a Lexington Avenue antique map store, Young meets a former "dentist for movie and television stars" who has lost an arm. Asked for details, he explains, "Subway-car door. My own fault. I was saved by a Japanese tourist who used her dress belt as a tourniquet. Wonderful woman." Here's part of a remarkable description of the Czech model: "She rotated her hands in space, as if each held an invisible fruit. These were ethereal fingers that touched only luxuries: diamonds, gold, watches, the smooth skin of cars that cost more than houses." And this reflection on the city: "After you've lived in New York for a while, say twenty years, you begin to see the unending conflict between the city that was and the city that will be. . . . My mother remembered when they tore down Pennsylvania Station, where Madison Square Garden is now. She used to read about New York, study the history. Canal Street was a canal. Bryant Park was a reservoir. Battery Park is called that because there was a battery of cannons out in the water to protect the harbor. Coney Island was once a real island. The city is always changing, and I find this sad and mystifying." Note also this memory of summer vacations at Cape May: "I like the town's cheesy Middle Americanness. The kids in flip-flops dragging sandy towels, the saltwater taffy, the miniature golf, the landscape of obesity roasting contentedly on the beach. I fit in just fine." Amid these elegant digressions -- I will not soon forget that "landscape of obesity" or the humanizing "I fit in just fine" that follows -- Young learns that Roger had been involved with some very hard characters, and inevitably the well-meaning lawyer falls into their clutches. Predictably, he triumphs over them; then, unpredictably, he discovers secrets that end the story on a touching note. "Risk" was originally published as a 15-part serial in the New York Times magazine. I didn't read it there because if I'm enjoying a novel I don't want to wait a week for the next installment. It's good that it's out in book form now, somewhat edited and expanded. As crime fiction goes, it's a small gem. bookworld@washpost.com
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.
From The Washington Post's Book World/washingtonpost.com Reviewed by by Patrick Anderson Colin Harrison writes sophisticated novels set in New York. They earn excellent reviews but aren't as well known as they should be. Typically in Harrison's novels, a man who operates at the city's more rarefied levels makes a mistake that puts him at the mercy of denizens of its lower depths. In "Risk," his seventh novel, his imperiled Everyman is lawyer George Young. He has a nice wife who works for a bank, a daughter in college and an apartment on the Upper West Side. He likes to come home at night, watch a Yankees game on TV and drink $14 red wine, which he calls cheap wine, proving once again that all things are relative. As the story begins, the widow of the founding partner of Young's law firm asks a favor. Her middle-aged son Roger died recently. He was hit by a truck as he left a downtown bar where he had been drinking alone for several hours. The woman is herself dying, and she wants Young to find out what her son was doing and thinking in the hours before his death. It's an impossible assignment, but she insists, and Young, who was both fond of and indebted to her late husband, accepts. The first thing he learns is that Roger, who'd once made a fortune on Wall Street, had lost his money, been divorced by his wife and was living in a cheap apartment downtown. Roger was a loser, Young decides, "but on Wall Street you can be an inflatable clown and make a lot of money if you are in the right place at the right time, like America in the eighties and nineties." Young starts digging. He talks to a private investigator who'd previously looked into the case and warns him to stay away from it. Another warning comes from the bartender who served Roger on his last night and says that a mob-type character had also been around asking questions. The super in the dead man's building demands a bribe before doling out information. Eventually, Young makes his way to Roger's last girlfriend. She's young and Czech and rather ordinary except that she has beautiful hands: "I am sorry I cannot shake hands. I am hand model and must protect them." Harrison views New York with a cool but compassionate eye. What distinguishes "Risk" is not its plot -- investigation, danger, resolution -- but the people, the digressions, the details along the way. In an East Side apartment building, "the tall bellman was a piece of fossilized Irish timber, and his white hair and stiff blue uniform made him look like a retired admiral." In a Lexington Avenue antique map store, Young meets a former "dentist for movie and television stars" who has lost an arm. Asked for details, he explains, "Subway-car door. My own fault. I was saved by a Japanese tourist who used her dress belt as a tourniquet. Wonderful woman." Here's part of a remarkable description of the Czech model: "She rotated her hands in space, as if each held an invisible fruit. These were ethereal fingers that touched only luxuries: diamonds, gold, watches, the smooth skin of cars that cost more than houses." And this reflection on the city: "After you've lived in New York for a while, say twenty years, you begin to see the unending conflict between the city that was and the city that will be. . . . My mother remembered when they tore down Pennsylvania Station, where Madison Square Garden is now. She used to read about New York, study the history. Canal Street was a canal. Bryant Park was a reservoir. Battery Park is called that because there was a battery of cannons out in the water to protect the harbor. Coney Island was once a real island. The city is always changing, and I find this sad and mystifying." Note also this memory of summer vacations at Cape May: "I like the town's cheesy Middle Americanness. The kids in flip-flops dragging sandy towels, the saltwater taffy, the miniature golf, the landscape of obesity roasting contentedly on the beach. I fit in just fine." Amid these elegant digressions -- I will not soon forget that "landscape of obesity" or the humanizing "I fit in just fine" that follows -- Young learns that Roger had been involved with some very hard characters, and inevitably the well-meaning lawyer falls into their clutches. Predictably, he triumphs over them; then, unpredictably, he discovers secrets that end the story on a touching note. "Risk" was originally published as a 15-part serial in the New York Times magazine. I didn't read it there because if I'm enjoying a novel I don't want to wait a week for the next installment. It's good that it's out in book form now, somewhat edited and expanded. As crime fiction goes, it's a small gem. bookworld@washpost.com
Copyright 2009, The Washington Post. All Rights Reserved.
December 4, 2009
I finished this book. It's a short book, but now what I would call quick. I wasn't interested in the book enough to be quick. It actually took me much longer than it should have to read.
It's not poorly written, doesn't involve blood, gore or other things that would immediatly turn a reader off, but I just wasn't into it. I wasn't connected to any of the characters. In fact, I can't remember the names of them without opening the book, or looking in the summary. The author really tries to create an image of a secondary character, the girl-friend of the dead guy, but she's not even a big part, yet I remember more about her than anyone else in the book!
The fact that this old woman contacts a young lawyer who worked for her late husband in order for him to do some investigavie work seems a bit out of place. Granted, the ending kind of tries to put that piece together, but I still think it was odd.
Basically it boils down to this: The lawyer figures out what happened the night that the son of the rich woman died. I knew he would solve it before I was half-way through the book. I couldn't predict the exact outcome, so a couple of points there. Otherwise, this book didn't make my top 100 list for the year! But, don't take my word for it! It might appeal to you!
It's not poorly written, doesn't involve blood, gore or other things that would immediatly turn a reader off, but I just wasn't into it. I wasn't connected to any of the characters. In fact, I can't remember the names of them without opening the book, or looking in the summary. The author really tries to create an image of a secondary character, the girl-friend of the dead guy, but she's not even a big part, yet I remember more about her than anyone else in the book!
The fact that this old woman contacts a young lawyer who worked for her late husband in order for him to do some investigavie work seems a bit out of place. Granted, the ending kind of tries to put that piece together, but I still think it was odd.
Basically it boils down to this: The lawyer figures out what happened the night that the son of the rich woman died. I knew he would solve it before I was half-way through the book. I couldn't predict the exact outcome, so a couple of points there. Otherwise, this book didn't make my top 100 list for the year! But, don't take my word for it! It might appeal to you!
November 27, 2009
George Young is an attorney for a New York insurance firm. His work involves analysis of suspicious insurance claims.
One day he's called to the come of Mrs. Corbett, widow of the firm's founder. She's in poor health and wants George to look into what her son, Roger, was doing prior to the time he walked into the path on an oncoming truck and was killed.
In a story that "The Washington Post' compares to "The Bonfire of Vanities," George does some research and finds that Roger was in a bar with a girlfriend prior to his accident.Eliska Sedlacek, a Czeck had a relationship with a Russian and carried items into the country for him. In his last trip, he asked her to carry a larger amount. The man is later killed and Eliska is informed that the man took something that didn't belong to him and they want it back. She had stored the items, which were in the shape of ornaments, in Roger's apartment.
Through the investigation, George lears things about himself that are significant. The author has written a nice story that was a fun read.
One day he's called to the come of Mrs. Corbett, widow of the firm's founder. She's in poor health and wants George to look into what her son, Roger, was doing prior to the time he walked into the path on an oncoming truck and was killed.
In a story that "The Washington Post' compares to "The Bonfire of Vanities," George does some research and finds that Roger was in a bar with a girlfriend prior to his accident.Eliska Sedlacek, a Czeck had a relationship with a Russian and carried items into the country for him. In his last trip, he asked her to carry a larger amount. The man is later killed and Eliska is informed that the man took something that didn't belong to him and they want it back. She had stored the items, which were in the shape of ornaments, in Roger's apartment.
Through the investigation, George lears things about himself that are significant. The author has written a nice story that was a fun read.
November 1, 2015
George Young, a middle-level attorney for a law firm that services one client—a large insurance company—is asked to investigate the death of his mentor's son. The son, a failed hedge fund plunger, walked into the path of a truck while preoccupied with something. The cause of death being obvious, George is asked to find out what the somet hing was. Early in the investigation, George's wife cautions him to not upset their comfortabe life by engaging in a quixotic chase into the ruins of a failedlife. George goes ahead, even when the dead man's connection to a criminal enterprise via his exotic Eastern European girlfriend becomes obvious.
"Risk" is a novella that moves briskly and is well written, save for George remaining something of a cipher himself. His career having plateaued, though comfortaby, George continues to pay off an old sense of debt even when it is apparent that trouble lies at the end of the quest. Why does he carry on That's the unexplored mystery of the book
"Risk" is a novella that moves briskly and is well written, save for George remaining something of a cipher himself. His career having plateaued, though comfortaby, George continues to pay off an old sense of debt even when it is apparent that trouble lies at the end of the quest. Why does he carry on That's the unexplored mystery of the book
February 22, 2016
What is is it Colin Harrison? I read The Finder and The Havana Room, two complex, rich and taut stories in vividly painted worlds. On that strength, I read Bodies Electric, a miserable slog that shattered all the good will that lead me to it. I said then that it'd be a while until I tried Harrison again. This one is somewhere in the middle despite my star rating matching Bodies Electric. This is actually a novella, which I didn't realize and is probably the excuse for so little happening. The set-up is intriguing and like all of Harrison's work, upper class Manhattan is well rendered. However, this story seems to be straining for the literary (read: dull) and a whole chapter is someone just data dumping. So, Harrison is batting about 500 and it's gonna be a real long time to see which way the steak goes. Again, what is it with this guy?
January 4, 2010
I won this book as a giveaway from Goodreads. When I received it, I was surprised to see that it was very short - only about 180 pages. Unfortunately, it felt too short.
The story was good, and the book had a nice and fast pace to it which kept me reading, but it didn't get me attached or invested in any way. The characters were underdeveloped, which made the ending feel less impacting than it should have, which was a shame because there was a ton of potential for the characters to be extremely interesting.
That being said, it did only take me about 5 hours to read, the concept was interesting and the writing was fast-paced - so if you're looking for a quick and relatively entertaining read (maybe for a flight) I'd recommend this book.
The story was good, and the book had a nice and fast pace to it which kept me reading, but it didn't get me attached or invested in any way. The characters were underdeveloped, which made the ending feel less impacting than it should have, which was a shame because there was a ton of potential for the characters to be extremely interesting.
That being said, it did only take me about 5 hours to read, the concept was interesting and the writing was fast-paced - so if you're looking for a quick and relatively entertaining read (maybe for a flight) I'd recommend this book.
March 10, 2010
I have decided, irony-oblivious that I usually am, that this book must be a parody. Unlike the previous Harrison book I read, which depicted suffocation by excrement and a whole lot of gore, this one includes characters such as the dentist whose arm was cut off by a subway door, saved from bleeding to death by a Japanese tourist wielding the belt from her dress. The inside cover says it all: "An honest lawyer, a Czech hand model, and a box of mysterious Christmas ornaments."
This book was originally written as a serial for a magazine and at less than 200 pages, it's probably best treated as a novella. If you're up for a fairly gentle urban mystery with a soap opera ending, here's your treat.
This book was originally written as a serial for a magazine and at less than 200 pages, it's probably best treated as a novella. If you're up for a fairly gentle urban mystery with a soap opera ending, here's your treat.
December 22, 2009
I read Colin Harrison's previous novel, the Finder and really enjoyed it (although I noticed that not a lot of Goodreads readers were fans). This book was assigned as a book club selection and I was looking forward to another Harrison read. This book is short, only 176 pages and it only took me two days to read. The length helps, as does the story. The book is about an accidental death that a lawyer is asked to solve. The story has many turns, and the author doesn't dilly-dally, but moves fast. The ending is filled with a lot of turns, which you may or may not predict by the end of story (I was surprised). I would recommend this book.
November 11, 2009
This is a fine novella by a talented writer. It is simple but well constructed and can be read in a few hours. I stretched it out over several days simply for lack of time. The narrator, George Young, is fulfilling the dying wish of the widow of his former employer. In the process, he reveals himself to the reader and meets some very interesting characters. Nothing new here but very well written and the plot is believable. Highly recommended for those who prefer an intelligent thriller to the "save the world" type.
June 10, 2011
Colin Harrison is among my favorite authors. All of his works take place in New York City. This book involves George Young an attorney working for a firm of lawyers which represents various insurance companies. George functions as an investigator for suspicious claims. In Risk, he is asked by the firm's founder's widow to investigate the circumstances of her son's violent death. This novel is well plotted and the characters are well drawn. It was originally intended as a seriesl in a magazine. Not the best Harrisin, perhaps, but still worth reading.
November 24, 2012
I had really enjoyed "The Finder", which was the first book I read by Harrison. This time, although I liked reading "Risk" as well, I was a bit disappointed when I could see where the book was headed before the narrator did. I think it was supposed to come as a surprise to the reader, yet some elements were planted early on that made me see it coming too early.
I would also say that the central part of the book feels totally disconnected to the "finale", shifting gears and mood much too abruptly.
I would also say that the central part of the book feels totally disconnected to the "finale", shifting gears and mood much too abruptly.
October 30, 2009
I'm a Colin Harrison fan. I thought that his novel Afterburn, was one of the best, cheesiest, over the top books that I have ever read. The ending of that novel was a masterpiece. I've read a few books in the past 40 plus years. I can't say that I recommend his writing, because it's not for everyone. But when I think about it, I'm not a big fan of the everyman (everyperson?) anyway. Let the sheep eat their grass - I'll munch on strange plants and bitter herbs, thank you very much.
November 16, 2009
An Attorney, George Young, is asked a favor by an old friend. Mrs. Collins is dying and wants to know what her son was so occupied with when he was hit by a truck. I felt this was a bare-bones novel with sketchy character details. Basicly a good read but at the end you are left with unanswered questions. The story had a feel of nostalgia like "Draget" with Joe Friday narrating, "Just the facts ma'am"
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews