Rating: 
Summary: Getting Real
Review: Like all of Andrew Vachss' books, Choice of Evil is disturbing. Thus, it's no surprise that on occasion, his work tends to brings disturbed people out of the woodwork. I am a forensic psychologist, who has had the unfortunate duty to evaluate many of the bad guys about whom Vachss writes so powerfully -- and realistically. I can see why most people would find these accounts of evil hard to swallow. Until you've stared in the face of some of these humans, and listened to their unfeeling and dehumanizing descriptions of their crimes and victims, it is hard to imagine. So why write about such disturbing images? Because it is important for people to understand just how dangerous such predators are, and maybe even to be motivated to fight back -- as one example, by supporting CareAct (see careact.com if you want to help.)
Rating:
Summary: A NEW BURKE MASTERPIECE - WONDERFUL!!
Review: Much more of a "Horror" novel than Andrew Vachss' previous books, "CHOICE OF EVIL" is no less entertaining and no less important.Revenge, vigilanteism, "crime as art," and the return(?) of Wesley, the underworld's most feared assassin combine to make this new "Burke" adventure a difficult book to put down once it has been opened. As with all of Mr. Vachss' work issues are examined. Central in "CHOICE OF EVIL" is the differentiation between homosexuals and pedophiles. The reader is also treated to detailed information on topics as disparate and fascinating as Leopold and Loeb, tribalism, and the uses and abuses of computer technology. The book also contains one of the most original and hilarious "jailbreak" sequences ever written. A wonderful and important book. NOT TO BE MISSED!
Rating: 
Summary: Choice of Evil--a damn good read
Review: No one does rage like Andrew Vachss. While I don't consider this the "best" Burke novel, it is still a damn good read that had me racing for the last page. Burke continues to be one of the most interesting fiction characters created in years and Vachss's subject (and his treatment of that subject) is fascinating and hard-hitting. As an aside, if you like the Burke novels, make sure that you read Vachss' novel 'Ghost,' perhaps his most interesting and chilling novel.
Rating:
Summary: the best medicine for the deluded
Review: Rather than a tedium-laden reiteration of Vachss' latest entry in his Burke series books, this is more a testament to the author's ability to fashion that unique melding of hard reality with poignant and poetic verbiage. Picking up a Vachss novel is much like attempting to climb a 14,000 foot mountain for the first time--you initially take that first step, and its exhilarating, but your fright takes hold, and you want to back down. But, in the final analysis, you simply cannot do that. For, to do that would be to deny the reality of that mountain and its grip on you and, not least, your conscience. Having worked in the reality-born trenches against abuse, all sorts of abuse, from child sexual abuse to domestic violence to gay-bashing (as in the latest entry *Choice of Evil*), Vachss plummets the reader like a fast-falling elevator, into a frightening abyss--this one filled with a supernatural and mystical aura, albeit fraught with blue truth. The reader is pinioned to the seat of horror we call our world, a world that has existed for multiple eons. Abuse, in all its concomitant manifestations, cannot be denied--whether it be spousal and/or domestic abuse, child sexual abuse, gay/gender abuse and harassment, child-to-child violence (as witnessed so recently at Columbine in Colorado), the world of reality opens up like a poisonous flower when Vachss is penning the words. The seeds that spring forth the poison found their beginnings well before we had such lightning-fast communication as the Internet, or cellular phones, or modems, or any of that. What Vachss so capably manages in his unique twist and turn of the pen is a rare commingling of hard-bitten, raw reality with astonishing and tender beauty--he relinquishes fantasy to truth when it comes to writing about women--something many present-day authors could learn a great deal from. Instead of writing about the sensuality and sexuality of women gussied up in ludicrous language and even more ridiculous bedroom nonsense, Vachss' women come equipped with an inner and external beauty that bespeaks strength, intelligence, fortitude, loyalty, and tenacity. Vachss is a veteran of war..., only his war is the only one worth fighting . . . it concerns the degradation of children, and how those children sprout into the predatory beasts we encounter daily, or somewhere down the road. One can only praise and admire this brand of writing; it may not be each and every individual's cup of tea, for it lashes out scratching the reader with its bloody truths, but it brandishes a weapon that cannot be ignored--for anyone interested in planting their mark (be it a minor footprint, or an abundant legacy) on this junkyard plant in an attempt at civilizing an uncivilized world, reading Vachss' work can only aid and abet in that endeavor. The wisdom and enlightened value of his works will go on well after we have all annihilated ourselves via abuse of one form or another, something only mankind does above all other species, and something only mankind can repair. Andrew Vachss certainly does not stand in the line of fire alone in the fight against abuse, but his figure stands a little bit taller than most; and his voice rings a bit louder and, for good reason--he speaks the truth, no matter how many want to look away. Read Choice of Evil (and all his other works)to discover the demystification of why we continue to produce, in record numbers, children who grow into adults rife with violence. You can only learn from Vachss' work, and that can't be all bad.
Rating:
Summary: A solid, but not great, outing for Vacchs
Review: The Burke series is generally a great one. Vacchs, an attorney who represents juveniles only, and who has a professional resume that proves he knows first-hand the horror that abused children experience, always generates an aura of reality in his writing. The cruelty to children depicted in the Burke books is truly disturbing, because you know as you read it that this stuff really goes on. Burke, a hard-bitten criminal, has enough redeeming qualities to make him a great anti-hero. Among those redeeming qualities are a sense of deep loyalty to his "family" -- the close friends he has chosen (and who have chosen him), who will stick together in the face of any adversity. The other major redeeming quality is his simmering fury directed at abusers of children. The two come together in this book after Burke's girlfriend is killed at a gay rally and he goes on the vengeance trail, which of course leads him into the child abuse underworld. The primary flaw in this novel is the strained dialogue between Burke and an important secondary character, Nadine, who is a gay domninatrix with a bizarre sexual fascination with Burke. His tough-guy posturing with her is more or less in character, but it grows tiresome by the half way point, and continues unabated from there. Nevertheless, Burke is always a good read. As one of the other reviewers points out, however, it is hard to follow all the characters unless you've read the other books. I'd start with the first and read them in order. There is a linear development of the characters and plot that will make the book much more enjoyable if you know it going in.
Rating:
Summary: A solid, but not great, outing for Vacchs
Review: The Burke series is generally a great one. Vacchs, an attorney who represents juveniles only, and who has a professional resume that proves he knows first-hand the horror that abused children experience, always generates an aura of reality in his writing. The cruelty to children depicted in the Burke books is truly disturbing, because you know as you read it that this stuff really goes on. Burke, a hard-bitten criminal, has enough redeeming qualities to make him a great anti-hero. Among those redeeming qualities are a sense of deep loyalty to his "family" -- the close friends he has chosen (and who have chosen him), who will stick together in the face of any adversity. The other major redeeming quality is his simmering fury directed at abusers of children. The two come together in this book after Burke's girlfriend is killed at a gay rally and he goes on the vengeance trail, which of course leads him into the child abuse underworld. The primary flaw in this novel is the strained dialogue between Burke and an important secondary character, Nadine, who is a gay domninatrix with a bizarre sexual fascination with Burke. His tough-guy posturing with her is more or less in character, but it grows tiresome by the half way point, and continues unabated from there. Nevertheless, Burke is always a good read. As one of the other reviewers points out, however, it is hard to follow all the characters unless you've read the other books. I'd start with the first and read them in order. There is a linear development of the characters and plot that will make the book much more enjoyable if you know it going in.
Rating:
Summary: Those who Teach
Review: The old adage "those who can do, those who can't teach" might be a fairly applicable estimation of Vachss' work, save for one missing element from this equation. The two are not mutually exclusive, as the cliche would have us believe--in fact, if looked upon in an artistic way, those who can,do both--and quite eloquently. Vachss is one of those rare species of writer that teaches while entertaining. There are those few detractors out there who would have us all believe that his stories are filled with comic-book caricatures, balloon-like exploits so hyped that they couldn't possibly exist in the "Real World," but then, those who are in the know, know as well that *perception is reality.* The series of books conjured by Vachss are meant as what they, in fact, are, teaching tools camouflaged under the enhancement of their entertainment quotient . . . although, one needs to do a little work to get to the underlayer that will give immeasurable knowledge about the very evils of which he speaks better than any crime writer today, no matter what the venue, be it journalistic or crime fiction or . . . you name it. Child abuse is as serious as it gets, and anyone who has grown up in New York City, as have I, knows the truth---growing up in the 1960s there were myriads of evil-doing monstrosities lurking; but not, certainly, limited to a New York City or a San Francisco, or a Chicago--if the truth *had* been afforded the possibility of being told back then, all the towns, all the little suburban villages, *all* the cities were rife with it, just as they are today--it simply was not being reported. To have people of any ilk detract from the message of Vachss' writing merely to trash the man and his formidable works, most importantly as an attorney exclusively representing children of abuse and sexual child abuse, is a pathetic, limpid attempt by those that would be threatened, and deeply so, by his ability to shine the light on such grave issues and, in so doing, further shine that light on those that do the evil deeds--when one reads a Vachss' novel, whether it be their particular cup of tea or not, they are entering a world they, no doubt, are perhaps not familiar with, either proximally or through the media--that being the entire point of these works of "fiction"--to educate, simultaneously allowing the reader to be amused, bemused, interested, excited, challenged, yes, even threatened, but all with the sole purpose of getting some otherwise inert objects to once and finally, do something, anything, about a force of evil that takes the very breath and life out of our future--our children. My advice to anyone who would believe the pabulum that is at times presented on the review pages of Amazon, or any other venue, by customers who have the obvious ill-intentions of besmirching an author, as opposed to justifiable literary review of that author's works, is to simply read the works themselves, judge for themselves--they will find themselves not only entranced by the *reality* of what they read, but by the fact that it is a genuine call to arms to get up off that couch and make a choice, as do those who choose evil daily, they *can* make a choice to *do something, anything* to make right the world for children. Or, conversely, they can do *nothing* allowing the chasm between safety and evil harm to grow ever wider for those children. The mean streets of reality beckon, but only the brave need go there. The rest can hide their heads under their cloak of cowardice and, yes, ignorance--I'd rather be enlightened.
Rating: 
Summary: A good story in an ugly world
Review: The story and plot are compelling as Burke faces his own demons, past nemesis, and present challenges to find the killer of gay-bashers. The only problem with the book is that it is as extreme as the extremism Burke complains about through the entire novel. NO ONE is this book has a normal name, job, or style of talking. Scene after scene of long-winded discussions where characters spend more time flinging cheap insults at each other than doing anything. I have always liked Vachhs books, but sadly, as we get farther into Burke's world we get farther and farther from the real world. Although the moral dilemma and climax had moments that were compelling - the whole book made me ready for a reality check -- and a bowl of Moma's Sweet and Sour Soup.
Rating:
Summary: Nobody does sex-and-violence like Vachss!
Review: There isn't another writer out there who could write a book featuring a serial killer pursued by a lesbian dominatrix and stay for real ... and right on target ... while doing it. When it comes to the ultra-dark, Vachss is The Man.
Rating: 
Summary: Too many moving parts...
Review: This book is a big mess.More akin to Yes and Emerson,Lake and Palmer then to the2:58 blues the author loves so much.It doesn't have the Rhythm of his best works Sacrifice and Belle.The rumormill has this pegged as the first Burke movie. Unless Phoebe Cates plays Strega and Jennifer Lopez plays Nadine and they are willing to risk an X. I hope not . It seems to be the end of a story most people don,t know yet.I'm giving both of my stars to the side order story about a Uber kidnapper and the young girl he kidnaps.
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