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Rouge Sur Rouge (2014)

by Edward Conlon(Favorite Author)

3.35 of 5 Votes: 1

languge

English

genre

Mystery & Thriller

publisher

Actes sud

review 1: As a police procedural, what makes this book slightly more interesting than, say, watching an episode of CSI, is the time Conlon can spend exploring the dysfunctional relationship between two detectives as they solve crimes in Manhattan. Conlon doesn't have to follow the tropes of crime drama as depicted on TV. Instead, he can plod along after Nick Meehan, a depressed, veteran investigator, as he wrestles with his decision to feed incriminating information about his charismatic partner, Esposito, to internal investigations. Together, they work a serial rape case and a couple of murder investigations, one of an illegal immigrant found dangling in a park while the other is a victim of gang violence. A marriage of opposites, Esposito prefers working the straightforward, m... moreuscle jobs of street violence while Meehan is typically more attracted to the seemingly pointless, unsolvable crimes--or at least he would be, if he weren't so burnt out. This becomes a problem for him professionally, and it also becomes a problem for the reader. The novel gets bogged down in his wallowing and wandering as he attempts to absorb loss after loss. His cynical musings are occasionally interrupted by botched police work which often lead to violent showdowns, frequently putting Meehan in as compromising a position as his partner. Even though they always manage to catch the perp, it's usually the result of a supremely dissatisfying chain of events. I imagine this realistically portrays the job for at least a few cops out there, but it's hard to stick with Meehan and stay engaged in his story. If depression often results in non-action, it puts a peculiar burden on a hero of an action-driven genre. Streamlining the story by dumping one or two of the less effective subplots would have helped Meehan shoulder that burden longer.
review 2: Muscular prose, powerful storytelling, this is a fascinating look at the lives of two New York City cops. Meehan is intellectual but a bit aloof, the puzzles interest him but he has trouble connecting with people. Esposito is sensuous, impulsive, and intuitive, he touches people quickly. With Esposito there is no middle ground. They remind me a bit of Dostoevsky’s characters, I see Ivan in Meehan, with his tortured yearning to understand. And Esposito has Dimitri’s wild, passionate nature. The plot is complex and deftly brought together. A young woman’s suicide, the gangland killing of a street tough, and a predator on the loose keep the detectives moving on the mean streets of the big city. less

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