What do you think?
Rate this book
Dark Homecoming
Croaker is trying to mind his own business when he gets caught up in the bad magic of the Bonita brothers and then falls into temptation himself when his niece takes an overdose and he needs desperately to find her a kidney for transplant.
484 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
2 people are currently reading
217 people want to read
About the author
Eric Van Lustbader
168 books1,233 followersEric Van Lustbader was born and raised in Greenwich Village. He is the author of more than twenty-five best-selling novels, including The Ninja, in which he introduced Nicholas Linnear, one of modern fiction's most beloved and enduring heroes. The Ninja was sold to 20th CenturyFox, to be made into a major motion picture. His novels have been translated into over twenty languages.
Mr. Lustbader is a graduate of Columbia College, with a degree in Sociology. Before turning to writing full time, he enjoyed highly successful careers in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education, and in the music business, where he worked for Elektra Records and CBS Records, among other companies.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ericva...
Mr. Lustbader is a graduate of Columbia College, with a degree in Sociology. Before turning to writing full time, he enjoyed highly successful careers in the New York City public school system, where he holds licenses in both elementary and early childhood education, and in the music business, where he worked for Elektra Records and CBS Records, among other companies.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/ericva...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 22, 2023
When Lew Croaker first appeared in “The Ninja” he was a deeply flawed human and policeman. In Dark Homecomings he has left Nicolas Linnair’s world and returns to his roots in Florida. He has lost his hand but has gotten a new artificial hand , runs a fishing charter and works the occasional job for the federal police services and life is as good as it gets.
When his sister returns into his life with the message that his niece needs a kidney transplant or she will die. Lew finds he is not compatible so he has little to offer but comfort.
That is until somebody reaches out and offers him a kidney if he becomes a assassin and take a persons life, this person is really a horrible creature and an heinous criminal. Croaker has to make a decision a life for a life.
At the same time Lew is getting involved in the shenanigans of Paraguayan criminals who brought their particular brand of criminal enterprise to the US and are twins and serial killers at the same time.
The story takes place during 5 days in which Croakers ingenuity and a lifetime of skills comes into play.
Certainly one of the darker novels of Lustbader whose Ninja series established Lew Croaker and gave him a book for himself which is dark and on occasion sickening. But our hero comes out being a better person.
A terrific book with great characters and can be read as a stand-alone thriller, Lustbader at his best, well worth reading.
When his sister returns into his life with the message that his niece needs a kidney transplant or she will die. Lew finds he is not compatible so he has little to offer but comfort.
That is until somebody reaches out and offers him a kidney if he becomes a assassin and take a persons life, this person is really a horrible creature and an heinous criminal. Croaker has to make a decision a life for a life.
At the same time Lew is getting involved in the shenanigans of Paraguayan criminals who brought their particular brand of criminal enterprise to the US and are twins and serial killers at the same time.
The story takes place during 5 days in which Croakers ingenuity and a lifetime of skills comes into play.
Certainly one of the darker novels of Lustbader whose Ninja series established Lew Croaker and gave him a book for himself which is dark and on occasion sickening. But our hero comes out being a better person.
A terrific book with great characters and can be read as a stand-alone thriller, Lustbader at his best, well worth reading.
February 26, 2025
Lewis ‘’Lew’’ Croaker ir ja ne gluži atvaļinājies likumsargs un specmisiju eksperts, tad noteikti tāds, kurš ir no sirds pildījis darba pienākumus un nopelnījis pietiekoši, lai komfortabli varētu izbaudīt dzīvi un, piemēram, paša izklaides pēc vēl piepelnīties, palīdzot citiem turīgiem ļaudīm noķert kādu lielāku zivi. Tā lasītājs arī pirmoreiz sastop galveno tēlu Luisu kopā ar klientu un vismaz romāna sākumā ar par draugu sacaumo Beniju
https://poseidons99.com/2025/02/26/er...
https://poseidons99.com/2025/02/26/er...
January 22, 2019
Would you murder someone to save the life of a member of your family? What if the murder you had to commit to save your family member meant the death of a particularly evil drug lord kind of person. Would you do it? Could you do it?
Lew Croaker used to be a New York-based cop until the job just got the better of him. He gave up police work in favor of being a south Florida fisherman who caught his share and shared his boat and navigational talent with friends who wanted to do a little fishing, too. He even figured he'd make a living that way.
Lew and his younger sister, Matty, haven’t spoken in years. She married a slime ball who is already dead as the book opens, and Lew simply couldn’t be around either of them. He missed the delightful little girl who was the product of that marriage, and he thought of Rachel often over the years, wondering where and how she was.
It is while living his laid-back life that Lew learns that his niece is hospitalized and is about to die. He travels to the hospital only to find that, if Rachel doesn’t get a kidney within four days, she will die. Sadly, Rachel had gotten caught up in the drug culture and the cocaine and other substances she had used had destroyed her one good kidney; the other hadn’t functioned from birth.
This is a compelling book about one man’s efforts to save a teenage girl and damn himself by committing a murder.
There is evil in this book in the form of a set of twins who use the kind of South American Latin woo-woo black magic to work spells on people—spells that seem to be more efficacious than you might initially think possible.
As Lew winds and grinds his way deeper into the darkness through which he must pass if the girl is to live, he uncovers twisted deceptions whose tentacles extend into the halls of government.
I found the weird south-of-the-border voodoo stuff largely off-putting. I understand that it had to be there to electrically charge the book, but I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to get caught up in it the way the author probably would have wanted me to. That said, I was spellbound by Lew Croaker’s dilemma. Do you let a young girl whom you love die? Or do you destroy your own soul in a very real way by committing a murder? And if you agree to commit the murder, will there be others who will betray you—people whom you believed were your friends?
I spent an entire Sunday engrossed in this, begrudging every second I had to put it down to experience normal life.
Lew Croaker used to be a New York-based cop until the job just got the better of him. He gave up police work in favor of being a south Florida fisherman who caught his share and shared his boat and navigational talent with friends who wanted to do a little fishing, too. He even figured he'd make a living that way.
Lew and his younger sister, Matty, haven’t spoken in years. She married a slime ball who is already dead as the book opens, and Lew simply couldn’t be around either of them. He missed the delightful little girl who was the product of that marriage, and he thought of Rachel often over the years, wondering where and how she was.
It is while living his laid-back life that Lew learns that his niece is hospitalized and is about to die. He travels to the hospital only to find that, if Rachel doesn’t get a kidney within four days, she will die. Sadly, Rachel had gotten caught up in the drug culture and the cocaine and other substances she had used had destroyed her one good kidney; the other hadn’t functioned from birth.
This is a compelling book about one man’s efforts to save a teenage girl and damn himself by committing a murder.
There is evil in this book in the form of a set of twins who use the kind of South American Latin woo-woo black magic to work spells on people—spells that seem to be more efficacious than you might initially think possible.
As Lew winds and grinds his way deeper into the darkness through which he must pass if the girl is to live, he uncovers twisted deceptions whose tentacles extend into the halls of government.
I found the weird south-of-the-border voodoo stuff largely off-putting. I understand that it had to be there to electrically charge the book, but I couldn’t suspend disbelief enough to get caught up in it the way the author probably would have wanted me to. That said, I was spellbound by Lew Croaker’s dilemma. Do you let a young girl whom you love die? Or do you destroy your own soul in a very real way by committing a murder? And if you agree to commit the murder, will there be others who will betray you—people whom you believed were your friends?
I spent an entire Sunday engrossed in this, begrudging every second I had to put it down to experience normal life.
April 24, 2016
This is a really good book, with a brilliantly woven together storyline. I couldn't wait to finish it and now I'm sorry I have. There were constant surprises and although there are many characters, it is not difficult to remember what goes where.
December 3, 2010
LOVED the Nick Linnear novels, but this Lew Croaker novel is by far, IMO, Lustbaders best work. Exciting from start to finish.
Read
May 1, 2016Didn't like. Donated to Kapahulu Public Library
March 21, 2020
So very DARK, I expect that my trust in my fellow humans diminished somewhat while reading this work. I had to drastically suspend most of my disbelief just to get through the plot as there are numerous holes and assumptions that have no actual evidence to reality as we know it. Much blood and gore, be prepared!
December 28, 2020
Kept me guessing
September 4, 2022
As much as I've liked the author's previous writings, this title I could not get into beyond the first chapter.
July 23, 2020
Interesting story, but very convoluted - Almost too much so, coincidences popping up constantly. This was extreme in too many ways - kinky sex, gory violence, and too much mysticism from too many angles...(hard enough to just follow one!) He can do better.
Want to read
April 2, 2012I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11012322
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/11012322
September 21, 2014
I enjoyed this book, which is one of the "Lew Croaker" series. Lustbader as a great way of writing action/mystery stories.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews