Disturbed Earth

Artie Cohen #5

by Reggie Nadelson

The first novel in an exciting crime trilogy starring Russian-Jewish cop Artie Cohen (“the detective every women would like to find in her bed.” — Guardian )

Reggie Nadelson’s new Artie Cohen mystery begins when a jogger finds a kid’s clothes drenched in blood and buried in the half frozen earth near Brooklyn’s Brighton Beach. The action in the story takes place in south Manhattan where Artie lives, an area still traumatized by the loss of the Twin Towers, and coastal Brooklyn — Brighton Beach, all boardwalk, beach and Russians; Coney Island with its wrecked amusement park; and Sheepshead Bay with its inlets and fishing boats.

The plot revolves around the killing of one child and the abduction of another, and the subsequent outbreak of fear. Fear is the real story here. The fear that explodes when two children are involved and still others seem to go missing. The way the city is still locked in the terror that’s never gone away since 9/11. The constant presence of barricades and barriers and soldiers with AKs is part of the New York domestic landscape. It’s also about Artie’s relationship with the Russian community in Brooklyn; the way the story reels him back over and over, the way he can never really escape.


From the Hardcover edition.

Genres: Mystery, Fiction, Ebooks, Mystery Thriller, Crime

320 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published July 27, 2004

About the author

Reggie Nadelson is a New Yorker who also makes her home in London. She is a journalist and documentary film-maker. She is the author of the critically acclaimed series featuring Artie Cohen, Moscow-born New Yorker and the first great post-Cold War cop.

Series:
* Artie Cohen

Reviews

[Denise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sometimes I just have no recollection whatsoever of how a book ended up on my Kindle and, by extension, my TBR. This is one such case. Where did this come from? Fuck knows.
A gritty mystery set in post-9/11 New York, it does a good job evoking the bleak, paranoid, xenophobic atmosphere of its setting but the story itself felt a little too drawn out and meandering.

[Marlene · Rating 2 out of 5]

This mystery is chock full of local color from the New York city area, but the ending is such an improbable cop-out it negates all that went before.

[Neville · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a Artie Cohen story and the first book by this author. Set in 2003, there is a big snow storm coming to New York which will cripple the city as the blizzard hits.

Much of it based in the Russian community in and around Brooklyn and Artie becomes involved in investigating the death of a child and also trying to find Billy, a young boy he is close to.

The story talks a bit about the impact of 9/11 on people in the city and the fear in the people of all things related to foreign groups.

There is a twist at the end that was a bit of a surprise, but you will have to read it to find out what it is about.

[Tolkien InMySleep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Compelling post-9/11 drama

[Maggie Shanley · Rating 2 out of 5]

A story of innocence lost, a hyper-vigilant NYC after 9/11 and Russian immigrants finding a place in America.

[Deb Goff · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting

Lots of turns and mystery. You think one thing then bam the story turns. One that makes you think what’s next.

[Huy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unideal, it was difficult to read tbh.

[Rogue Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've read another Reggie Nadelson and recall being absorbed and entralled with the sense of belonging and identity that the work evoked. She knows the city, its haunts and habits, the fears and longings of those who live there. I don't know how she does it. I'll read the next Arie Cohen now, won't wait, won't let the mist gather.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Despite all the great reviews for this one, I found it somewhat disappointing. It's probably both brave and stupid to take on a book that's more or less about 9/11, despite having a traditional plot wandering through it; no matter how well one addresses the topic, people are always going to find something that's not quite right, or find a reason to be offended. For me, the problem with the book is that it's too on the nose at times -- telling us how screwed up Artie has been since 9/11 is a lot less interesting than just letting him act, and allowing readers to draw their own conclusions from the way he behaves, and Nadelson is a good enough writer to have taken on the latter approach. Unfortunately, she does both, and the telling is sometimes so obvious and heavy-handed that it makes you cringe.

That said, the plot is well-drawn, and several minor characters from previous volumes move to the forefront in this one, imbued with tremendous complexity and sharing Artie's confusion about his life and his world.

[Anita · Rating 1 out of 5]

The positive reviews from literary sources for this book, as printed on the cover, is not to be believed. It does not make you "hold on tight" because it is certainly not a "roller-coaster plot". "Superlative storytelling" (from the 'Literary Review')? Puh-leeze!

To me, it is the story of a middle-aged detective (certainly not "exciting" as proclaimed by the 'Daily Mirror'), struggling with severing his Russian roots but in this story is reluctantly drawn in to confront issues that he was adamant in walking away from. The underlying current of the story is the distrust of Russian immigrants (to America) of the authorities. A crime has taken place, no one is forthcoming with evidence, parties involved manipulate for their own purposes -- well, it's still all well and good, BUT, the storyline never seems to move beyond this ethos and pathos: two steps forward, one step back -- making this an 'OK, let's get a move on it' kind of read -- which till the end, does not really happen and concludes with a fizzle.

[Ian Mapp · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was brought to my attention in the Daily Mail, where they had identified the top summer reads.

This book is number four in a series. Lets say I won't be going after the others.

This book is about a russian detective in New York that gets involved with a case that has blood stained childrens clothes found by the river. There was a similar, unsolved, murder quite recently and then his own godson disappers.

This is where the book categorically fails. You would think there would be some tension caused by his own godson being taken missing. But there is none, not from the cop, not from the boys family and this makes the whole book ridicoulous.

Where the book does work in great respect is the way that New York is used as a character and the general feelin of dread that is felt post 9/11. There are many, many references to this act which seep from the pages but all this is pointless when the main story is so weak and uninspiring.


Utter rubbish.

[Sue Russell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm reading the Artie Cohen series out of order but it doesn't matter. Nadelson has created a gem of a New York detective, Russian-born, multi-lingual, angst-ridden and anxious. A man who moves in a strange world populated by larger than life yet totally believable characters. Original and engrossing. At times, you want to tell Det. Cohen to cut short a conversation with someone from the old country and cut them off, so meandering are their dialogues. It's not that they're boring, it's that there are lives to be saved. And while seemingly inextricably enmeshed in one of these obtuse discussions, both he and you cant feel suffocated or mildly panicky. More objectively, I realize that this journey of his through Nadelson's richly drawn, lustrous world and its idiosyncratic characters very artfully builds the tension in the book. Artie Cohen is more than just another cop series, by a mile. Nadelson's writing is delicious.

[Melanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

jury is out. i do feel though that the books bang you over the head with stereotypical generalities of russians as chain-smoking, self/identity-hating, heavy drinking, introspective and slightly irrational human beings. and all in the book's effort to paint a picture of new york city's psychological state following 9/11: the paranoia, xenophobia fear and irrational behavior. i think it overdoes it though. added to the complex, generally unlikeable characters though is the bleak backdrop of nyc in winter (with most of the action taking place at night or early morning) and the plot of investigating the kidnapping of children by a suspected serial killer. the fact that its not particularly thrilling or suspenseful says to me that the plot isnt the point. what is?

[Martin Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Based in and around New York just after 9/11 our Russian born detective is on the scene of a kidnap, but who has been kidnapped and why? This book follows the meandering investigation with glimpses of the rich and poor sides of the New York area and the undertones of the opposing cultures found within. There's much background to 9/11, Russian culture and the private life of our Detective as he battles his past, future and the weather to solve the mystery of the kidnapping. Not the usual detective novel with the plot taking a bit of a back seat to the setting and the interactions of the people within it but very enjoyable and a book difficult to put down. I look forward to checking out more books by this author.

[Jimmy Ranieri · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the setting of post 9-11 New York, the descriptions of parts of Brooklyn, some of the characters and the basic storyline. I very much disliked the schizophrenic storytelling of the author. Either schizo or severe ADHD. In addition, the decision making of the main character was awful bizarre at times (for example and this is just one of many, he is so concerned with his nephew but instead of taking care of business decides to go sleep with his sort of girlfriend?).

this book had a chance to be great but fell far short.

[Barbara · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was real interesting. It involved Russians who live in and around Brighton Beach, but it's not about the Russian mafia. It's more like Russians who don't want to be involved with the Russian mafia. Anyway, it left me with a bad feeling which I can't put my finger on. There were many intellectual flaws, i.e., I either figured things out or questioned them well before the main character did. And I'm not a cop.

[Derk · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was looking forward to this book as there are many more in the series and I was hoping it would be good so I would have another author whose work I enjoyed. I almost quit reading it several times, but plowed through to the end thinking it's got to get better. It didn't. I just couldn't care what happened to the stupidly behaving main character. I'll not try another by this author unless I forget how little I found of merit in this sample.

[Matt &]

The story idea was a good one and the characters were good and interesting; however, I found the book a slog to read. Perhaps if I had read others in the series I could have brought myself to be drawn into the story more. I just couldn't bring myself to care about the main character, Artie. He seemed middle-aged and just punching the clock at times.

[Cynthia K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't bring myself to really like or care about Artie which made reading this book a chore. There was just too much angst and moodiness for my taste. Plus, I was frustrated that I had figured out what happened to the missing boy long before Artie did.

[Letha Curry · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book failed to live up to its early promise. Its ending left key elements unresolved with a twist that I was predicting after the book was only half-read.

[Jean · Rating 1 out of 5]

I thought this would be a good change from reading NF. After about 10 minutes, however, I knew it was not worth finishing.

[Bicefalus]

grande autrice due libri letti di due epoche diverse e non sono rimasto deluso .... adrenalinico

[Jack · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crime thriller set in New York and heavy with post 9/11 references to the event itself and the US rection to it.

[Carolyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Airplane reading. Served its purpose.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was an ok read but I was a little disappionted with how the story ended. There were some areas that were confusing and the characters were somewhat steriotypical.

[Grace · Rating 1 out of 5]

Really confusing in a lot of parts, and the ending was pretty unsatisfactory.

[Ian Wooder]

I did enjoy this book. It was a good book but not a great book, one that now that I have read it, I wouldn't read it again.

It is a mystery that involves two different cultures, American and Russian, and the immersion of one into the other.

The story leads you to believe one thing and just keeps you guessing right up to the Very last page.

If you have time and enjoy reading a good mystery, you will probably enjoy it.

Just beware, this is not even on the level as Agatha Christie, Ian Rankin, Dick Francis or Len Deighton.