Vengeance

By: Stuart M. Kaminsky

Narrated by: Scott Brick

After the death of his wife, a grieving Lew Fonesca drives from Chicago until his car gives out in the parking lot of a Sarasota, Florida, Dairy Queen. Trying to avoid his emotions and rebuild his life, he takes up work as a freelance process server. One of the attorneys he works for gives him his first case: A local entrepreneur’s trophy wife has gone missing, and Fonesca must locate her. At the same time, a mother comes to him for help locating her runaway underage daughter, whom she fears has been sold into vice. Both cases are more complex than they seem, and Fonesca is kept in plenty of danger. Nonetheless, with a colorful bunch of secondary characters to help him, he'll solve both of them.

“Staked with vivid characters and plenty of local color.”—New York Times©1999 Double Tiger Productions, Inc.; (P)2001 Books on Tape, Inc.

Unexpectional!

Uh-Huh.... That's not a misspelling up there. There's nothing here I expected. Which I should have expected since I'm a fan boy of 5 of 6 of Kaminsky's Abe Lieberman's books (all of the first six except Lieberman's Thief - see my review to understand my pique)... And since there are no more Liebermans here at Audible, well I'm poking into his other stuff with 'Vengeance'.

And it was unexceptional. Which I should have expected since Kaminsky's such a talent. But who could expect Lou Fonesca? And I won't tell you why, since then you will expect what I've told you and well, that'd ruin a very good listen. And you'd expect the pace, tone, and glimmers in the construction of this plot. Or plots.

What was most unexpected for me though was Scott Brick. I did not notice he was the reader when I bought this book, else I'd have passed. Surprisingly Brick didn't impose himself into the book with his signature pomposities. Instead, they're gone leaving behind the man's undeniable talent for creating mood and characterizations. Maybe I'll try another .... but only if it's with an author I trust like Kaminsky.

While not a great book, nor on par with the Lieberman novels, I'll still follow Fonseca's growth in this series. Because Kaminsky's unexceptionally good.

The melancholy server

The trouble with Lou Fonesca stories is that they end. This is the fourth I've listened to but actually the first in the series.
I love the local colour, personality development and reasonably good story lines.
This is my favorite audible detective series.
My favorite read detective series is still Ross MacDonald's Lew Archer.
I won't cross gendres and read Fonesca or listen to Archer as I wouldn't want to choose.
There are similarities. Warm climates, urban deterioration often in the midst of affluence, islands of decent humanity in sea of human corruption, good guys that can be brave and tough without vulgarity.
For this audible listener Fonesca is the winner

Very Good

this book was written in the 90s which I mentioned for no other reason that it's interesting to know. It does not affect the novel at all.

oddly this book or rather it's plot shouldn't work, but it really does. some very clever twists and turns make it an extremely enjoyable read.

Scott Brick does an excellent job, probably one of his best.

It's most assuredly worth a credit. has a wonderful ending.

love lew

really like all the Lew books. this one is very good. I have read them all.

Meh

Ok. Not in the same league with the Lieberman series. It felt flat sometimes and sort of forced in different places.