City of Woe by Christopher Ryan

Book Trailer:

What if Paul Farrington, a veteran fixer for a shady corporation, found himself targeted for elimination just as he was trying to finance his daughter’s Ivy League education? How far would he go to provide for his family and keep them safe?

What if detectives Frank Mallory and Alberto "Gunner" Gennaro were forced to play catch up with a killer who may or may not be a demon and who leaves trails of Dantesque murders, each one occurring further south in Manhattan and deeper into his version of The Inferno?

How could these situations be connected? How long can the detectives stick to strict police procedural facts when confronted with increasingly bizarre events, especially once they begin invading Mallory's private life? When must a detective reconsider what exists outside man's law?

I meant to start this book in the evening with the intention of picking it up the next day when I had free time, but couldn’t put it down. The police detective duo of Mallory and Gunner were believable and the element of supernatural forces only added to the surprise. After all, who doesn’t love the possibility of an exorcism or an animal-entering demon in modern day Bronx, New York? The cop drama was played out well until the end.

• Amazon: City of Woe

City of Woe is a murder mystery first and foremost and the main characters are the police force and their families. For those that enjoy these books you will not be disappointed as the play by play banter between the squad is lively, as well as between each character they are involved. The reference to Dante’s Inferno brings a spiritual quality to the cop’s work as well as the lovely references to music. I can tell the author knows his classics, books as well as music, and I was pulled in.

This was so well written I would not have believed it was Ryan’s first (I checked for more books by this author and found none). I look forward to reading more if Mallory and Gunner are still doing detective work together, as the title states it is a Mallory and Gunner Series. I don’t do stars in my reviews, preferring readers to judge for themselves but if I did, it would get 5. It surprisingly had everything I was looking for in a tight read.

Book Information:

• City of Woe: Mallory and Gunner Series (Volume 1)
• Seamus and Nunzio Productions; 2012
• ISBN13: 978-1475159233

Disclosure: This book was provided by the publisher and any opinions are my own.