Neptune Avenue

Detective Jack Leightner #3

by Gabriel Cohen

“If we took it all personally,” Brooklyn South homicide detective Jack Leightner tells his rookie NYPD partner, “there’s no way we could do the job.”

Very soon, though, that notion gets shot to hell, as the deeply principled cop hears about the murder of an old Russian friend on Neptune Avenue---and then is disturbed to find himself increasingly drawn to the man’s stunning widow, Eugenia. She informs Jack of her husband’s troubles with Semyon Balakutis, a local nightclub operator and extortionist. Meanwhile, a mysterious stranger in central Brooklyn is killing young women and posing them as suicides.

From the Russian emigré community of Brighton Beach to the racially charged neighborhood of Crown Heights, from the crimes of World War II to the harshness of his own father, Jack’s latest cases plunge him deep into the roots of why men act in anger---and into the eternal mystery of love.

Gabriel Cohen stuns in this riveting third addition to the Brooklyn-set series.

Genres: Procedural, Mystery, Fiction

272 pages, Hardcover

First published April 28, 2009

About the author

Gabriel Cohen’s debut novel Red Hook was nominated for the Edgar award for Best First Novel, and he is also the author of The Ninth Step, The Graving Dock, Boombox, Neptune Avenue, and the nonfiction book Storms Can’t Hurt the Sky: A Buddhist Path Through Divorce. He has written for The New York Times, Poets & Writers, Gourmet.com, Shambhala Sun, the New York Post magazine, and Time Out New York. He teaches in the Writing Program at the Pratt Institute; has taught writing at New York University; and lectures extensively.

Reviews

[Marjorie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a sad book. The setting, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York is not what it once was. I remember Coney Island from my childhood and it was once a fun place. Brooklyn is a real melting pot of nationalities. Hasidic Jews have had an enclave there for many, many years. In more recent times Russian immigrants have settled there. The main characters in this book are Russian immigrants. Jack Leightner is Jewish and he reconnects with his uncle who shares old stories with Jack. To me these are really the only not so sad parts of the book. This is the first one I read and I doubt I will read any more.

[Randy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good one!

I fell in love with Gabriel Cohen's Jack Leightner when the first book in the series came out. Such a complex and interesting character. This continues to be a wonderfully written series and I continue to thoroughly enjoy these books. I look forward to the next one with great anticipation.

[Tim McLean · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect!

I literally wish this story would never end! One of the best fiction books I have ever read! Gabriel Cohen did it again!

[Donna Woodard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first two. Too much romance in this one made Jack seem silly. I will read no. 4.

[dannymac · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a good cliche ridden mystery crime novel; nothing new here. The grizzled protagonist is one of those cops who revels in the identity of being a cop, at least he's a detective and a wise old sage. Of course, he has his flaws. The interesting angle with this book is the location, brooklyn. And not the hipster riddled offbeat avenues of williamsburg or the rarified boulevards of conspicuous consumption that make up the neighborhoods of brooklyn heights, park slope, dumbo or cobble hill. No, his beat is the borsht belt of brighton beach, where the soviet union is still a fresh memory. Other than that, there's nothing all that interesting though Gabriel Cohen uses a nice plot twist at the end that a more attentive reader might spot a mile away.

[DROPPING OUT · Rating 2 out of 5]

I am not a native New Yorker, by any stretch, my working daily in Manhattan for more than 35 years notwithstanding. And as well as I do not know Manhattan, Brooklyn is really "terra incognita."

Perhaps a native Brooklynite might find this book "atmospheric."

I read it mechanically, hoping for something, anything to happen. But the secondary plot was too predictable, and the primary simply did not capture my interest or attention.

[Kristina Coop-a-Loop · Rating 1 out of 5]

I've read the two earlier books in this series and they were very good. I don't know what happened with this book because it was simply awful. The writing was terrible and the plot was non-existant. To sum up this book: Jack Leightner falls in love with the wrong woman. That's basically the whole story. The ending is way over the top and ridiculous. I don't think I will be able to read any more in this series (if Cohen manages to get published again).

[Lisa Trager · Rating 3 out of 5]

A surprisingly good page turner. Loved all the Brighton Beach and Russian mob references.

[Howard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as the first two in the series......