Rating: 
Summary: Solid Entry In An Outstanding Series
Review: Andrew Vachss is a unique voice in American literature. This is another solid entry in the Burke series and provides a lot of what I have loved about reading this stuff for 16 years or so now - a great cast of characters, killer dialouge and a "feel" unlike any other noir material I know of . I admire Vachss the tireless crusader for children and I treasure Vachss the writer. If you like your reading served up nitty, gritty and no bull____ty - check this out!
Rating:
Summary: Solid Entry In An Outstanding Series
Review: Andrew Vachss is a unique voice in American literature. This is another solid entry in the Burke series and provides a lot of what I have loved about reading this stuff for 16 years or so now - a great cast of characters, killer dialouge and a "feel" unlike any other noir material I know of . I admire Vachss the tireless crusader for children and I treasure Vachss the writer. If you like your reading served up nitty, gritty and no bull____ty - check this out!
Rating: 
Summary: All In The Family
Review: Andrew Vachss' stories about Burke have covered a lot of ground since I started reading them. The early novels were deeply tortured, tales of an anti-hero scarred down to his core by a legacy of pain and abuse. Surrounding Burke are the members of his 'true' family. All children of the 'secret,' all people driven to living on the fringes of society, all finding meaning in their shared companionship. In this world Burke is both feared and loved. Loved for his fierce loyalty to those he shares a bond with, and fired by those who have made abuse a landmark in the corridors of darkness.Burke is inteliigent, but not an intellect. He has friends like the Professor and the Mole for that. But he is street smart to the nth degree. While no longer the automatically violent character of the early novels, Burke has no qualms about the use of violence when his version of justice requires it. Down Here is a novel of complex interlocking plots, but the edge is still there as he searches for a way to unravel a plot to frame Wolfe, a woman he has long admired, for shooting a serial rapist she once convicted, who has now gone free on a technicality. The more Burke digs into the accusations and the stonewalling by the district attorney's office, the clearer it becomes that there is more involved than the accusations against Wolfe. The FBI has become involved, as well as white supremacists and terrorists. Wolfe is a pawn in a deeper game. And while she fights to beat the case against her, it is not all that clear that she welcomes Burke's involvement. To me, Down Here marks Burke's real return to the city and his friends. Previously, right after he returned from his 'trip' to the West Coast, his membership in New York's underground felt awkward and stilted. The entire cycle from the attempt on his life and his revenge was never entirely satisfactory, but with this story we are completely immersed again into Burke's milieu, moving through the edges of the shadow city, meeting a caste of characters that at once familiar and strange. Vachss' writing is at a peak. We are used to a lot of action in a Burke story, and Down Here is a change of pace, focused on Burke's interior development and the intricacies of the plot development. In a way this is more like a police procedural than the pure action and suspense that Vachss often uses. With many volumes written in this series, the characters are tightly defined. While the story is completely readable on its own the newcomer will benefit from taking the time to read several of the earlier novels.
Rating:
Summary: All In The Family
Review: Andrew Vachss' stories about Burke have covered a lot of ground since I started reading them. The early novels were deeply tortured, tales of an anti-hero scarred down to his core by a legacy of pain and abuse. Surrounding Burke are the members of his 'true' family. All children of the 'secret,' all people driven to living on the fringes of society, all finding meaning in their shared companionship. In this world Burke is both feared and loved. Loved for his fierce loyalty to those he shares a bond with, and fired by those who have made abuse a landmark in the corridors of darkness. Burke is inteliigent, but not an intellect. He has friends like the Professor and the Mole for that. But he is street smart to the nth degree. While no longer the automatically violent character of the early novels, Burke has no qualms about the use of violence when his version of justice requires it. Down Here is a novel of complex interlocking plots, but the edge is still there as he searches for a way to unravel a plot to frame Wolfe, a woman he has long admired, for shooting a serial rapist she once convicted, who has now gone free on a technicality. The more Burke digs into the accusations and the stonewalling by the district attorney's office, the clearer it becomes that there is more involved than the accusations against Wolfe. The FBI has become involved, as well as white supremacists and terrorists. Wolfe is a pawn in a deeper game. And while she fights to beat the case against her, it is not all that clear that she welcomes Burke's involvement. To me, Down Here marks Burke's real return to the city and his friends. Previously, right after he returned from his 'trip' to the West Coast, his membership in New York's underground felt awkward and stilted. The entire cycle from the attempt on his life and his revenge was never entirely satisfactory, but with this story we are completely immersed again into Burke's milieu, moving through the edges of the shadow city, meeting a caste of characters that at once familiar and strange. Vachss' writing is at a peak. We are used to a lot of action in a Burke story, and Down Here is a change of pace, focused on Burke's interior development and the intricacies of the plot development. In a way this is more like a police procedural than the pure action and suspense that Vachss often uses. With many volumes written in this series, the characters are tightly defined. While the story is completely readable on its own the newcomer will benefit from taking the time to read several of the earlier novels.
Rating: 
Summary: A lesser entry
Review: Anticlimatic to a fault. The dialogue is smooth and the reading flows easily, but the ending is a serious let down. Much ado about nothing.
Rating:
Summary: A kindlier, gentler Burke?
Review: Burke is lost without his dog Pansy. But he is doing better.
If you would like to see how he has changed, go back to Hard Candy or Blossom. The other reviews give you a plot summary.
I just want to say that Vachss does an excellent job of telling a believable tale of a violent, criminal culture with its own view of reality and morality.
Rating:
Summary: A kindlier, gentler Burke?
Review: Burke is lost without his dog Pansy. But he is doing better.
If you would like to see how he has changed, go back to Hard Candy or Blossom. The other reviews give you a plot summary.
I just want to say that Vachss does an excellent job of telling a believable tale of a violent, criminal culture with its own view of reality and morality.
Rating:
Summary: great noir
Review: Burke must exonerate his long-time colleague Wolfe from a wrongful charge of murder in this thrilling thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent, but the ending was weak
Review: Burke, as always, is a fascinating character. This book kept me turning the pages but the ending was hard to swallow. It did make sense but was just a little too pat, almost coincidental. I also did not like the way the Wolfe connection just petered out. But all that being said, I'm looking forward to the next one and I suppose that's a pretty good summation of my feelings.
Rating:
Summary: A Sure Winner --- I Could Not Put This One Down!
Review: DOWN HERE starts off like a winning horse out of the gate at the Sweepstakes Race. Andrew Vachss really knows how to set the hook. Consider this opening: "Somebody down here, boss. Asking for you." Gateman's voice, prison-whispering to me up the intercom. ... "You get a name?" I asked.
"Pepper, right?" I heard him say to the visitor.
"Short girl, pretty, dark hair, kilowatt smile?" I asked.
"All but the last, boss," Gateman said. "And she's got company."
"What's he --?"
"It's a dog, boss. Big-ass Rottweiler."
That's when I knew the wheels had come off. For several years now, Burke --- Gateman's "boss" --- has been believed dead by all but a discreet circle of people. Now his visitor, Pepper, brings him news that draws him to the surface once again. She explains that Wolfe, ex-prosecutor and long-time object of Burke's infatuation, has been arrested for attempted murder. The victim? None other than John Anson Wychek, a serial rapist Wolfe tried to put away, but whose conviction was overturned. With no time to waste, Burke springs to action, assembling his motley crew: the Prof (short for the Professor or the Prophet, depending on your viewpoint), Max the Silent, Burke's little sister Michelle, and Mama, proprietress of a restaurant that does more than double as a front for Burke's strategizing sessions. A woman of few words, Mama does a formidable job of cooking and assessing situations. Burke's entourage snaps to work interviewing Wychek's victims, looking for common threads. In addition to receiving a mysterious postcard recently, there are other similarities to their cases. In order to help Wolfe, however, Burke needs to actually find Wychek, who seems to have been spirited away by law enforcement types and is currently under tight wraps or, at the very least, is holding himself incommunicado. Burke believes his best chance is to shadow the rapist's sister in an effort to find him. Despite her wariness, he breaks through her defenses. She proves to be a good lead --- plus a captivating love interest. All the while, Burke hurtles toward the stunning climax in his old muscle car, a '69 Plymouth Roadrunner with a lion under the hood and an exterior ugly enough to ensure anonymity. It doesn't merely transport him around; it brings out the rogue in him. Vachss's mastery of dialogue moves the story along at breakneck pace. With unnumbered chapters consisting of single scenes, the book's rhythm transfixes its readers with a spellbinding compulsion. If I hadn't had a houseful of guests to cook for on the evening I picked up DOWN HERE, I would have finished it before dessert. --- Reviewed by Kate Ayers
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