What Goes Around Comes Around

Brian McNulty #2

by Con Lehane

What Goes Around Comes Around follows the adventures of Brian McNulty, the red-diaper-baby bartender who (abetted by his father and son) attempts to keep Manhattan's crime solved and cocktail glasses brimming. Filling in for a friend at the fancy East Side saloon and eatery called The Ocean Club, McNulty finds more than he bargained for: a body floating in the East River.

Combining complex characters with strikingly offbeat perspectives on left versus right, old versus new, and the good guys versus the bad guys, What Goes Around Comes Around is the stunning follow-up to Lehane's series debut.

Genres: Mystery, Murder Mystery

304 pages, Hardcover

First published February 15, 2005

About the author

aka Cornelius Lehane.

Con Lehane grew up in the suburbs of New York City and currently writes from just outside of Washington, DC. Once a college professor, union organizer, bartender, and editor at the National Education Association, he now writes full time and teaches at The Writer's Center. He holds a Master of Fine Arts degree in fiction writing from Columbia University School of the Arts. Death at the Old Hotel is his third novel in the Bartender Brian McNulty mystery series. His newest offering, the first book in a new series, is due from Minotaur-Thomas Dunne Books in 2014.

Series:
* Brian McNulty Mystery

Reviews

[Jamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some flaws in the plot at times, but overall I really enjoyed it.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

McNulty, bartender from the NYPL series; is featured in this book. He has been harassed by his current employer when a new manager (an old friend) is brought in. McNulty is offered a new job in a different bar as manager, by his friend... and then people are murdered, McNulty is targeted, his old friends are acting very suspiciously & he is targeted.

I had given up reading Lehane's NYPL mysteries as boring, convoluted, meandering narrative, & awful characters; but I had liked McNulty the Bartender.

That being said, I mistakenly thought that I'd like a series featuring McNulty.... NOPE!

Just as poorly written; being equally boring, convoluted, meandering narrative, & awful characters.

No salvation for this author.

[Carolyn (in SC) C234D · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a mystery set in NYC, featuring bartender Brian McNulty. I was disappointed in this book, as I thought the main character was not very admirable, was just drifting around, although likeable. The story wasn’t tightly written. I gave it a 6 out of 10, which just gets it a three star rating ( after all, I did finish it).

[Chandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think this series is not for me. It was okay but way too long and I wasn’t invested.

[Christine Ingles · Rating 5 out of 5]

New york bartender cun detective... Actually kinda different but worth it

[Kara Jorges · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian McNulty would like to be an actor, but since no jobs ever come his way he has settled on being a bartender in New York City. Brian’s laid-back life suddenly takes a turn when some old friends from his Atlantic City days, Big John Wolinski and Greg Phillips, come calling. They want him to start working at the upscale Ocean Club, but on his first night there, the body of another old acquaintance is found in the water off the pier, and Greg goes missing. Brian decides the best way to find Greg is to look in their old Atlantic City haunts, so he returns to his old stomping grounds and begins overturning the rocks of his past. Instead of answers, however, he seems to only turn up more mysteries, plus he’s got guys trying to kill him and winds up tangling with some Chilean revolutionaries. By the time it’s all said and done, Brian realizes almost nothing in his life is as it once seemed, and some of the people he knows have several identities.

I really wanted to like this book, but couldn’t quite manage it. I simply couldn’t care about any of the characters. Low-level hoods and second-rate bartenders just aren’t all that interesting. I’m not exactly fascinated by a guy whose golden moment consists of pouring the perfect drink and handing it off to a chesty female customer. Plus, the plot went nowhere. Everything of any import that happened occurred before the story got rolling, and the entire book consisted of Brian’s ruminations and speculation about days gone by in the distant past. Yet, no matter how much he thought about everything, he never seemed to come any closer to figuring out what was going on. Nobody he questioned ever gave him any useful information. Then suddenly, at the end, he managed to put all the pieces together. Unfortunately, the conclusion was just as sloppy and contrived as the rest of the novel, and it felt like the author pulled the villain out of a hat. Several things also fell out of place at the last minute for our intrepid hero, which just left me with a vague feeling of relief that the book was finally over and I could get away from him. Brian McNulty’s bartending adventures will have to continue without me.

[melydia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Brian McNulty is a bartender in New York City, pushing forty, generally coasting through life. Then a bunch of old friends suddenly show up in his life again and people start dying. Most of the rest of the story is spent with Brian being confused and people not telling him things. Perhaps the most unfortunate part of this book is that Brian is the least interesting character, and yet he's the narrator. There is the occasional funny line tossed off here and there, but by and large it's a pretty lackluster story, with a plot I found difficult to follow and too apathetic about to care. Perhaps I would feel differently had I read its predecessor first, but I kind of doubt it. I got the impression that this story couldn't decide if it wanted to be funny or serious, realistic or ridiculous. And what was up with the constantly crying women? I will say, however, that in general this was not a poorly-written book. I did not have trouble finishing it or anything. It just made the mistake of trying to be a character-driven story about an uninteresting character.

[Karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know why I did not like this as well as book one.

It had a great plot, and likeable characters.

The writing was professional.

Guess I did not like the Atlantic City aspect.
Can't think of any other reason I was not anxious to get back
to it when I had reading time.

I borrowed a copy from the library.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

I picked this up by mistake, but quite enjoyed it. The hero is flawed, which made him interesting. The mystery was good, as well.