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The Gypsy Twist
Max looked carefully at the dead boy, reminding himself that most murder victims looked very young and surprised when their bodies were found, as if life had suddenly rushed up and taken them unawares. - Shattered after a gang attack in Central Park, misfit NYPD Officer Max Royster accepts a free-lance assignment to track down a serial killer preying upon wealthy private school students. In the course of his cross-country investigation, Max discovers that not all predators are born alike.
198 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2012
About the author
Frank Hickey
21 books10 followers Frank has recently returned from three years overseas, working with refugees from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Being not Ukranian, 68 years old, with a heart condition and bad knees, knowing nobody in Ukraine, he decided to go there just the same.
His book 'Ukraine, Whaddya Gonna Do? or Sunshine, SALO and Sirens' tells the true story of those years. Written during rocket attacks and blackouts, he writes true vignettes of laughter, suffering and love throughout this genocidal war.
Throughout his early years, Frank Hickey worked the Harlem streets as a private eye. He lived for months undercover in the Cajun bayous of Louisiana, hunting a killer. His adventures have taken him around the world. Living outdoors or in crude huts, he learned local languages and culture.
Carrying the gold shield of a Detective-Investigator/Police Officer, he served in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on an international serial killer case. Using the Sicilian language, he also went undercover against the New York Mafia.
As a corporal in the Savannah, Georgia Police Department, he learned about
the South. Later, as an LAPD officer, he initiated one-person foot patrols in high-crime areas amid gang wars and drive-by shootings.
37 years of crime adventures from the jungles of Thailand to southern swamps to the streets of New York form his life.
Besides his Max Royster series, Frank also co-wrote Spy, the Movie starring Vincent Pastore [The Sopranos].
His book 'Ukraine, Whaddya Gonna Do? or Sunshine, SALO and Sirens' tells the true story of those years. Written during rocket attacks and blackouts, he writes true vignettes of laughter, suffering and love throughout this genocidal war.
Throughout his early years, Frank Hickey worked the Harlem streets as a private eye. He lived for months undercover in the Cajun bayous of Louisiana, hunting a killer. His adventures have taken him around the world. Living outdoors or in crude huts, he learned local languages and culture.
Carrying the gold shield of a Detective-Investigator/Police Officer, he served in the Manhattan District Attorney's Office on an international serial killer case. Using the Sicilian language, he also went undercover against the New York Mafia.
As a corporal in the Savannah, Georgia Police Department, he learned about
the South. Later, as an LAPD officer, he initiated one-person foot patrols in high-crime areas amid gang wars and drive-by shootings.
37 years of crime adventures from the jungles of Thailand to southern swamps to the streets of New York form his life.
Besides his Max Royster series, Frank also co-wrote Spy, the Movie starring Vincent Pastore [The Sopranos].
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
April 25, 2020
It’s always a delight to discover a mystery series that somehow you'd never come across before. I love sui generis books of all kinds, and THE GYPSY TWIST by debut author Frank Hickey definitely falls into this category.
His protagonist, Max Royster (called “Dancing Max Royster” in subsequent novels), comes across as character built from the inside out rather than from a checklist of quirky PI traits imposed from without.
Reading this novel, chockablock with snappy dialogue and gritty insights and asides from Hickey’s decades-long law enforcement career, doesn’t really remind me of any character or writer in contemporary police procedurals / mysteries. The closest nod I can feel is to the glory days of noir, of Humphrey Bogart in MALTESE FALCON or IN A LONELY PLACE (not a cop in the latter, but a screenwriter - is there a synthesis in THE GYPSY TWIST here?)
In the first outing of the series, Max is a NY cop, investigating the murder of a kid in Central Park along with detective Sergeant Al Lipkin, Manhattan Homicide North.
The kid is the scion of a wealthy Upper East Side family.
With a wry and sardonic familiarity, Hickey’s calls this cosseted area the Playpen: “…because it is so well protected. Safe enough for children to play in. You could live and die in the neighborhood without ever having to see the real, the dirty side of life. If you stagger home dead drunk, a doorman will catch you before you fall flat on the sidewalk.”
When thugs cripple Lipkin during a street attack, Royster turns to his “Playpen Irregulars” - an inveterate drunk, a female martial arts instructor, etc. to provide him the leads he needs.
His investigation will take him New Orleans to visit the crush of his life, the elusive DAILY NEWS REPORTER, Diana Calia.
Not only is Max a vividly unique character, so is every lesser character. Ben a stranger he meets in a NOLa bar: “…one of the original hippies. His Irish face made him look like a mischievous fairy-sprite in the twilight.” “Maria was a blonde, fresh-faced girl from Minnesota, long-waisted and graceful in the Mexican peasant dress…She had the knack of finding the cheerful part of whatever happened.”
Hickey sprinkles clues to the to the killer throughout, who remains a surprise when Max finally puts the puzzle together.
An always enjoyable read.
His protagonist, Max Royster (called “Dancing Max Royster” in subsequent novels), comes across as character built from the inside out rather than from a checklist of quirky PI traits imposed from without.
Reading this novel, chockablock with snappy dialogue and gritty insights and asides from Hickey’s decades-long law enforcement career, doesn’t really remind me of any character or writer in contemporary police procedurals / mysteries. The closest nod I can feel is to the glory days of noir, of Humphrey Bogart in MALTESE FALCON or IN A LONELY PLACE (not a cop in the latter, but a screenwriter - is there a synthesis in THE GYPSY TWIST here?)
In the first outing of the series, Max is a NY cop, investigating the murder of a kid in Central Park along with detective Sergeant Al Lipkin, Manhattan Homicide North.
The kid is the scion of a wealthy Upper East Side family.
With a wry and sardonic familiarity, Hickey’s calls this cosseted area the Playpen: “…because it is so well protected. Safe enough for children to play in. You could live and die in the neighborhood without ever having to see the real, the dirty side of life. If you stagger home dead drunk, a doorman will catch you before you fall flat on the sidewalk.”
When thugs cripple Lipkin during a street attack, Royster turns to his “Playpen Irregulars” - an inveterate drunk, a female martial arts instructor, etc. to provide him the leads he needs.
His investigation will take him New Orleans to visit the crush of his life, the elusive DAILY NEWS REPORTER, Diana Calia.
Not only is Max a vividly unique character, so is every lesser character. Ben a stranger he meets in a NOLa bar: “…one of the original hippies. His Irish face made him look like a mischievous fairy-sprite in the twilight.” “Maria was a blonde, fresh-faced girl from Minnesota, long-waisted and graceful in the Mexican peasant dress…She had the knack of finding the cheerful part of whatever happened.”
Hickey sprinkles clues to the to the killer throughout, who remains a surprise when Max finally puts the puzzle together.
An always enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review