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Detective Jack Leightner #4
The Ninth Step
Brooklyn South homicide detective Jack Leightner is at home enjoying a quiet day off when a stranger appears at his door and completely overturns his understanding of his own past. The following day, what looks like a mundane killing in a Brooklyn deli takes a bizarre turn when a crew of Homeland Security agents suddenly show up wearing anti-radiation gear. Soon Jack is embroiled in two dangerous and far-reaching investigations: a hunt for the Pakistani-American deli killer, who may be a member of a terrorist cell planning a new attack on New York, and an inquiry into his own family’s history on the Mafia-dominated waterfront of Red Hook in the 1960s.
At the same time, Jack is trying to figure out if he can forgive his former love Michelle. Throw in a couple of incredible (and true stories) that transport the reader to the Gulf of Aden in the age of modern pirates and to New York Harbor back in 1943, and you have the ingredients for a fascinating and thrilling new crime novel from Edgar Award finalist Gabriel Cohen.
At the same time, Jack is trying to figure out if he can forgive his former love Michelle. Throw in a couple of incredible (and true stories) that transport the reader to the Gulf of Aden in the age of modern pirates and to New York Harbor back in 1943, and you have the ingredients for a fascinating and thrilling new crime novel from Edgar Award finalist Gabriel Cohen.
288 pages, Hardcover
First published May 19, 2010
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 7, 2018
I keep hoping for more Jack Leightner stories. In this one things go round and round and turn out completely different. If you are a New Yorker or was a New Yorker you're gonna love this tour of Brooklyn and Red Hook. Get out your Google Earth and check out all the locations. Right now I'm looking for a fresh knish, but I don't think I'm gonna find one up here in Montana.
I've got all four of Gabriel Cohen's Jack Leightner novels waiting for you on my online store in the Crime / Mystery / Thriller A – M section. Check it out! http://blackdogebooks.com/crime-myste...
Cheers and Happy Reading!
Jim in MT
http://adamjames.blackdogebooks.com/
I've got all four of Gabriel Cohen's Jack Leightner novels waiting for you on my online store in the Crime / Mystery / Thriller A – M section. Check it out! http://blackdogebooks.com/crime-myste...
Cheers and Happy Reading!
Jim in MT
http://adamjames.blackdogebooks.com/
November 17, 2022
A Ver Solid Series Closer
This final offering in the series has some good twists and turns, that aren’t easily predictable. It also has some great moral lessons to consider, as do all of the other books in the series. Hopefully, there will be more to come!
This final offering in the series has some good twists and turns, that aren’t easily predictable. It also has some great moral lessons to consider, as do all of the other books in the series. Hopefully, there will be more to come!
January 9, 2024
( Format : Audiobook )
"The boy who killed him."
When a man unknown to Jack Leighton knocks on his door to tell him that it was he who stabbed Jack's 13 years old little brother to death in 1965, a stabbing he had always thought to be a random act, part of a robbery, he wants to immediately investigate the why and who ordered it. Was it to do with his father? But instead he has to concentrate on another strange murder: an Asian man had bludgeoned a shopper to death with a can of baked beans and then run from the store. Neither man had spoken to each other and there seemed to be no preliminary altercation. Why had it happened?
Another fine story of crime, life, people, place and detection. This is a really excellent series set in the precinct of New York City. Narration by Chris Sorenson again fits well, adding to the enjoyment of the book, although I turned up the playback speed as it felt the delivery was little s slow. I really recommend this book and, indeed, this whole series to all who enjoy their crime a little quirky and this title comes as a free download from the Audible Plus programme.
"The boy who killed him."
When a man unknown to Jack Leighton knocks on his door to tell him that it was he who stabbed Jack's 13 years old little brother to death in 1965, a stabbing he had always thought to be a random act, part of a robbery, he wants to immediately investigate the why and who ordered it. Was it to do with his father? But instead he has to concentrate on another strange murder: an Asian man had bludgeoned a shopper to death with a can of baked beans and then run from the store. Neither man had spoken to each other and there seemed to be no preliminary altercation. Why had it happened?
Another fine story of crime, life, people, place and detection. This is a really excellent series set in the precinct of New York City. Narration by Chris Sorenson again fits well, adding to the enjoyment of the book, although I turned up the playback speed as it felt the delivery was little s slow. I really recommend this book and, indeed, this whole series to all who enjoy their crime a little quirky and this title comes as a free download from the Audible Plus programme.
June 6, 2026
This was my favorite of a truly distingusished four-part novel series that left you wanting one or two more. I do not mean to turn Gabriel Cohen into a McAuthor, turning out books at a sepll binding pace like so many do. But he has created, in Jack Leightner, an interesting charcter, worthy of police procedurals with enough unexplored background to carry some more books. OK. The death of his brother haunts him into repitive features of every book, but ther is the unresolved loss of his near fiance (we want her back,) his relationship with his son (we want him to grow up,) the short glimpse of his ex-wife (more, more,) and his numerous colleagues, partners, superiors, and guys in other law enforcement branches.
Please, Gabriel, give us more.
Oh. This book. I think you had to be a reasoning adult in the immediate post 9/11 universe to fully appreciate the background of this story. It is a good story, well told and true to the time. There was some nice plotting (sometimes overlooked in two of the other three) and a satisfyiing, if saddening ending.
Well done, good and faithful author. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
Please, Gabriel, give us more.
Oh. This book. I think you had to be a reasoning adult in the immediate post 9/11 universe to fully appreciate the background of this story. It is a good story, well told and true to the time. There was some nice plotting (sometimes overlooked in two of the other three) and a satisfyiing, if saddening ending.
Well done, good and faithful author. You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things.
August 22, 2019
This is the first crime book that i have read and i would say that it has been a great experience. The author has put in a lot of effort to search in depth and make us understand the things that happened And the culture of the community during that time and at the location. It makes me view NYC from a citizen POV instead of an outsider (im not from NY) . Wasnt aware that this book was part of a sequel of books so i would really love to read the other parts before this!
July 5, 2023
I think I like this fourth book best of the series. Jack at his best and a lot of interesting actual history incorporated into the novel. A good read!
December 8, 2016
A poignant depiction of South Brooklyn. Jack is persistent, sensitive and fair detective. Set in the post-2001 NY scenario, two detectives hunt for a terrorist suspect and uncover an ugly secret of the time. In the meantime, we get a trip down Jack's sad past and a closure (?) to a family tragedy. Classic detection and police procedural. The author's voice speaks in your head so you can easily taste and smell the ethnic food of the NY neighborhoods as only a local can! What fun, I will definitely check out the other series!
June 18, 2011
I love Cohen's Leightner series. I read the whole series and have enjoyed the character development of the main character and the Buddhist elements that show up midway through the series. Great writing and gritty without being cliched. Leightner is a rough man; but, a thinker and Cohen gets us inside his head. I recommended the series to my father who said it was one of the better series he's read in a long time.
May 31, 2013
Another winner from author Gabe Cohen, I really enjoy these Jack Leightner detective stories. If you have any connection to Brooklyn and its geography/history then these stories will keep you entertained. The Gallo brothers, Red Hook, Bay Ridge, social clubs in Carroll Gardens, The AA train and Coney Island are just a few of the landmarks that make their way into the Ninth Step. I Highly recommended this series of crime novels.
April 29, 2011
I was visualizing this as a movie while I was reading it. A homicide detective is taken back 30 years to his brother's murder that was never solved by a man who comes to his front door and confesses to it. The truth is not as it seems. Tied up in this while he is also investigating a seemingly senseless murder by a Pakistani immigrant who may have ties to Al-Quada.
August 20, 2015
Curious book about dysfunction
A dysfunctional family and a dysfunctional government in the aftermath on 9/11. This book will make you shiver at the depravity of the federal government after the attack. Maybe even reexamine the legends and myths of a family that failed. Are their any similarities between the two events?
A dysfunctional family and a dysfunctional government in the aftermath on 9/11. This book will make you shiver at the depravity of the federal government after the attack. Maybe even reexamine the legends and myths of a family that failed. Are their any similarities between the two events?
April 15, 2011
In the Alcoholics Anonymous steps, the ninth one is for the recovering alcoholic to go to someone he has harmed to confess & try to make restitution. In this book, the killer of Jack Leightner's 13-year-old brother returns 30 years later to reveal the reasons why the boy was murdered.
April 26, 2011
An ok pretty easy read featuring Detective Jack Leightner, a Brooklyn cop. Plot was not that fascinating with fairly predictable turns. Some interesting facts from history were woven into the story.
May 30, 2016
The Jack Leightner Crime Novels
These were the best books I have read this year. They had strong and consistent characterisation and plots. The evocation of both old and new New York City, especially the the borough's was superb.
These were the best books I have read this year. They had strong and consistent characterisation and plots. The evocation of both old and new New York City, especially the the borough's was superb.
September 13, 2010
Two different and totally unrelated plot lines, both were interesting but neither was well developed.
October 11, 2010
Cohen is a writer whom I urge friends and family to read,
Read
January 30, 2015a great book about New York City detective Jack Leightner and the city itself.
Read
April 28, 2014a great book about New York City detective Jack Leightner and the city itself.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews