Publisher: Carroll & Graf Edition: Hardcover, 224 pages Average Rating:
BleekerBooks.com Review
The Nameless Detective is back in his best book since Sentinels (1996). In the intervening years he's gotten married to beautiful ad exec Kerry Wade, and adopted a daughter, Emily, left orphaned at the conclusion of his last case. Emily needs lots of time and love as she recovers from the loss of her mother and father, but Nameless isn't ready to retire yet. He is his job.
His latest assignment: delivery boy. Architect Jay Colahan is being blackmailed for $75,000, and he needs someone to make the delivery. The detective makes the drop, then unsuccessfully tries to follow the blackmailer. That's okay, though, as he has an inside line: Colahan and his girlfriend cooked up the scheme themselves. The money belongs to Colahan's wife.
When Nameless arrives at Carolyn Colahan's house to deliver her money, he finds her dead and himself on the wrong end of a gun. Only a misfire saves him from her fate, and starts him thinking: maybe it's time to hang it up. But first, there's a killer he's got to find.
Both Nameless and author Pronzini wax reflective, looking back over thirty-plus years of work, thinking about their past cases and the impact they've had. It's a testament to Pronzini's skill that these ruminations don't slow the pace of this well-plotted novel. If this really is the end of the series, Pronzini should be satisfied with what he's created. And Bleeders, from the heartfelt dedication to the bittersweet last page, brings things to a fitting close.
Customer Reviews:
Twist comes early. Rating: As a devotee of Bill Pronzini's nameless detective series, I have a few expectations when I first read one of the entries. I expect narrative sequences describing the local of San Francisco and other northern California climes. I expect plenty of pathos, emotion, and grit as nameless unravels the case, or as the case sometimes unrattles our pulp loving protagonist. I also expect at least one major jarring plot twist to keep me on my toes.
Bleeders met all my expectations and gave me one I wasn't expecting: The major plot twists came very early in the story. There were two major surprises one that nameless was aware of and one that he and I discovered at the same time.
These changes made Bleeders in many ways different to me than the twenty or so series entries that I had read previously. I like that Mr. Pronzini has used this and other devices to keep the series fresh for his fans while still utilizing the elements that I expect from this master of detective fiction.
only 4 stars might be a little hard on this great book Rating: This is a very fine detective novel. It's a bit of a throw back in that it is in essence an old time gumshoe private eye tracking down an elusive quarry. The manner in which Pronzini unfolds his plot here is unexpected in a very satisfying way, while at the same time sophisticated in its delivery. The author that comes to mind most similar in style to this book is Lawrence Block and his Matthew Scudder series before it started to fall apart. Both Pronzini and Block have the gift of being able to create a scenario that is bigger in scope than your run of the mill end of the world contemporary thriller. These authors do this while presenting the reader with a simple elegant story. Bleeders is very satisfying indeed.
What amazes me most about Bleeders is that this is the twenty-something book in the series. It is obvious that Pronzini has complete control of his medium here. He is not selling you a half-hearted effort based on past success. I don't think that I have picked up one of his nameless detective novels before. I plan on reading them all now. Unlike every other author of a mystery series I have yet to come across one that has sustained such a firm grasp on excellence as Pronzini has with Bleeders. Maybe you could say that about Ed McBain and his 87th precinct books. Most authors fall into predictable story lines that would pale in comparison to the earlier work. If Pronzini has fallen from his high horse, if even a little, his first nameless detective novels must be something else.
Hey, pick up this book, you will enjoy it.
Something Special Rating: Pronzini is always strong, but this one is special. It starts as a good, solid read, with the nameless detective outsmarting some lowlifes who fully deserve their fate, but then takes a darker, more emotional turn that is pitch-perfect and completely convincing. Too often in this genre such changes are overdone, turning the story into something sentimental and self-indulgent -- but Pronzini gets it right. He has a very subtle touch everywhere, from the hero's interactions with his child to his own night terrors. And the suprising ending that one of the other reviewers hated (probably because it does not provide a spasm of cleansing violence) succeeds fully.
Isn't it time that Pronzini is "rediscovered"?
Acting on Epiphanies Rating: Although Bleeders is a standalone story, you will enjoy the book more if you have also read Hoodwink, Shackles, Hardcase and Crazybone. Few will rate this as more than a three-star book unless they have read at least Crazybone. Bleeders can be considered to be the second book in a new section of the Nameless Detective series. If you enjoy Bleeders, be sure to also read Spook which is the next book.
The title is one of Mr. Pronzini's best. He refers to literal bleeders, those who have been injured or killed in violent ways. He also means to refer to people who drain others in illegal ways such as blackmailers. Finally, he sees bleeders as those whose hearts are open to the troubles of others and empathize with them. The Nameless Detective falls in the last category. He has a hard time turning down those in need . . . even if he is not being paid.
One of the book's more ingenious references is in the dedication: "For Bill Pronzini Without whom this series would never have been written."
This series is clearly autobiographical in many ways as a note in Casefile indicates. That symmetry reaches an apex in Bleeders as both Mr. Pronzini and Nameless reach 60.
Each book in the series hooks up with a different type of social problem and a different part of northern California. It was inevitable that one book would address illegal drugs and the harm that they do. Bleeders is that book.
More than anything else, though, Bleeders is a study in psychology. Nameless has been reluctant to change anything about his life. Even after marrying, he retained his old apartment and sometimes stays there alone when he's on a case. Long after other detectives were using electronic surveillance equipment and on-line searches, Nameless was pounding the pavement to get his answers. In recent stories, he's been accommodating those areas more and more by asking others to help him. That leaves the tough guy parts of detection for him. But how much tough guy work can a man of 60 expect to do?
Early in the book, Nameless has the kind of epiphany that few people have except those who have survived a long illness. How will it change his life? At first, he looks into doing what he always has done . . . tracking down the bad guys. Later, he realizes that more fundamental changes are called for.
Although Nameless has married now and adopted a child, Emily, he hasn't really settled into family life. Can you imagine Sam Spade with a wife and child? He would have been much different. Mr. Pronzini is venturing into uncharted territory as he adopts noir mystery fiction to modern day family life. I find the work to be interesting and rewarding to consider, and look forward to the series continuing for many years to come.
The mystery in this one isn't very mysterious. Nameless is being asked to drop off a blackmail payment for a client. Where a sophisticated detective would have dropped a tracking bug into the cash, Nameless stakes himself out and plans to trail whoever picks up the money. It's a great reference back to the first book in the series, The Snatch, in which Nameless is to make a kidnapping payoff. Nameless suspects that the reasons for blackmail relate back to drugs, and thinks he has it all scoped out. Soon, though, he realizes he has miscalculated when he puts both Emily and himself in the gravest danger.
The action in the mystery goes downhill from there. As Nameless struggles with his experiences, his critical epiphany is late in coming. In the meantime, he takes you into the mean streets of San Francisco where you meet the scum of the earth.
Most people will be disappointed with the ending to this story. That's why I graded it down one star.
As I finished the book, I began to think about how dedicated professionals in whatever line of work can make more room for their families and those they love. Where can we all get the help we need?
Author must be as tired as main character Rating: Mr. Pronzini sure let his fans down with this one...thin plot, and an ending that is downright lousy. If I had written this book, I would want to be nameless!
