Black Out

by Jack Gregory

New York City detectives Ceretta and Logan investigate the death of a homeless woman, only to discover that she was once a wealthy socialite and that her knowledge of the city's elite may have led to her murder

Paperback

First published April 5, 1993

Reviews

[Carl Brookins · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a novel tied to the award-winning series, “Law & Order.” The television series, seen on NBC, has won awards and is generally highly thought of. One of the problems inherent in the development of a novel based on an existing series is the set of expectations any reader familiar with the series will bring to the book. In this case, the author writes well enough and has added layers of complexity which are not possible in a one or two hour episode. However, the voices are not quite right somehow, the pacing is off, and we are left with an uneasy feeling instead of the sense of satisfaction that good novels and good television programs provide. This novel has a strong beginning and a twisty surprise ending that never quite comes off.

A homeless woman is found beaten to death in the detritus of a building being demolished in Manhattan. The first part of the book is a police procedural which follows the two detectives through their efforts to determine the identity of the victim and her murderer. So far so good. What the detective learn is that the victim, celebrated among a segment of the homeless, is a wealthy socialite, a member of the city’s upper social strata. She’s a drop-out who presumably was in possession of much inside knowledge about her former social class. But how much did she really know? As the novel moves into the courtroom phase, there’s a good deal of talk about current social and political views, relating to social planning, the release of mentally disturbed people into the general population, conflicting views of psychology and psychiatry, and even the continuing effects of the Viet Nam War on our society. All these topics can and should be fruitful considerations for the mystery novel. But unlike the television series with its necessarily more focused structure, it is difficult to maintain the pace and interest of the reader when all these topics are examined. In the end, it is as the back cover suggests, it is conspiracy, greed and violence that motivates these characters.

[Marie · Rating 2 out of 5]

A typical Law & Order story. Decent plot, decent pacing. The problem is that Gregory is a lousy author. For some reason, he felt the need to describe everything the characters are wearing. The dialogue is stilted and forced. There were times I had to read a sentence several times to make sense of it because the wording was too awkward to make the narrative flow naturally.