Rating: 
Summary: Her finest to date!
Review: As another reviewer here says, Rozan's strongest books are the ones written from the Bill Smith point of view--Concourse, No Colder Place, Stone Quarry, and Winter and Night. Bill is far more internally conflicted (i.e., dumber) than Lydia, and that leads naturally into more dramatic situations. Like some of the other great heroes/antiheros created by Raymond Chandler, Ross McDonald, and Robert Parker, Bill desperately wants things to turn out right in a world where that is not always possible.
Rozan continues to improve her formidable skills, weaving character development, dialog, plot, motivation, and current events/fears together seamlessly in Winter and Night. Her previous novels have occasionally had a flat spot or two, but this one is both thought-provoking and a real page turner--I dare you to put it down! For any of you who have read Lehane's Mystic River I would say that Winter and Night is every bit its equal. It's easy to see why this book won the Edgar, Nero, and Macavity awards.
Rozan's next book, about the aftermath of the WTC attack, is due out shortly and I can't wait to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Doesn't live up to the hype
Review: Bill Smith, is a PI working in NYC. His partner is Chinese-American, Lydia Chin. Together they are the main protagonists of the highly successful series by S.J. Rozan.
Bill Smith receives a late night call that they are holding his nephew, Gary, at the station for attempting to rob a sleeping homeless man. Bill goes to the station and agrees to take Gary home. Gary, however, refuses to tell Bill why he fled from his New Jersey home away from Bill's sister and brother-in-law who has almost a pathologic hatred of Bill. In fact, when Gary is given the opportunity, he escapes from Bill's apartment. Bill takes it upon himself to discover what Gary is up to and where he ran off to. His search takes him to the affluent suburban community and to the root of a possible cover-up of a crime that occurred decades ago the effects of which reverberate even today.
S.J. Rozan writes one of the most literate and finest series in crime fiction today. Unique is her ability to keep her series fresh by change in point of view and the locale. Some books are written with Lydia Chin as first person narrator and others, such as this one, with Bill Smith. Her characters are always interesting, yet, some can appear a bit over the edge. The plot has plenty of twists to keep any reader turning the pages late at night. Especially clever with this book is the exposition scenes at the end. She manages to avoid the cliché of the killer holding the gun on the hero just prior to killing him while divulging all for page after page. The exposition is accomplished mostly via a phone call to a news reporter. This is the Edgar Award winning best novel for 2003.
Rating:
Summary: Edgar Award Winner
Review: Bill Smith, is a PI working in NYC. His partner is Chinese-American, Lydia Chin. Together they are the main protagonists of the highly successful series by S.J. Rozan.
Bill Smith receives a late night call that they are holding his nephew, Gary, at the station for attempting to rob a sleeping homeless man. Bill goes to the station and agrees to take Gary home. Gary, however, refuses to tell Bill why he fled from his New Jersey home away from Bill's sister and brother-in-law who has almost a pathologic hatred of Bill. In fact, when Gary is given the opportunity, he escapes from Bill's apartment. Bill takes it upon himself to discover what Gary is up to and where he ran off to. His search takes him to the affluent suburban community and to the root of a possible cover-up of a crime that occurred decades ago the effects of which reverberate even today.
S.J. Rozan writes one of the most literate and finest series in crime fiction today. Unique is her ability to keep her series fresh by change in point of view and the locale. Some books are written with Lydia Chin as first person narrator and others, such as this one, with Bill Smith. Her characters are always interesting, yet, some can appear a bit over the edge. The plot has plenty of twists to keep any reader turning the pages late at night. Especially clever with this book is the exposition scenes at the end. She manages to avoid the cliché of the killer holding the gun on the hero just prior to killing him while divulging all for page after page. The exposition is accomplished mostly via a phone call to a news reporter. This is the Edgar Award winning best novel for 2003.
Rating: 
Summary: Well plotted somewhat hardboiled mystery, good read!
Review: Having won the Edgar Award for best novel, I decided to give this mystery a try. It keeps you turning the pages because you want to unravel the puzzle. It never reaches the violence (or the beauty) of a Dennis Lehane story, but she gets you involved with the characters right away. There is little downtime in this book (Despite numerous trips to eat and get drinks or caffiene) It is a perfect mystery for the beach or a rainy evening. I would give it 5 stars except for some bias I have to the story. It's hard for a women author to get into the thinking of a male. Throughout the book I thought, I can't imagine a guy thinking this way. She also builds Bill Smith up as a hard smoking, heavy drinking and coffee gulping superhero. Despite his age, lack of sleep and perpetual drinking can get the best of any fight. (I must admit though, in this story it is fun and it works.) Also, It plays on the bias of pampered atheletes a bit too hard. This town seems to be held hostage by its worship of football. As a football fan, I found it hard to deal with, but good literature is supposed to comfort the distressed and distress the comfortable. I will be purchasing other books by this author, she certainly can spin an entertaining tale.
Rating:
Summary: exciting private investigative tale
Review: His phone ringing late at night awakens private detective Bill Smith. A police officer tells him to come down to the police station because they are holding his fifteen-year-old nephew. Bill has no idea what his nephew is doing in the city since he hasn't kept in touch with his sister and her family for years. When he retrieves Gary Russell, the teen refuses to tell him why he's in the city.
Gary escapes from Bill's custody and the private detective puts in motion several steps to try and locate him. Looking for answers, he travels with his partner Lydia Chin to Gary's home in Warrenstown, NJ to see if he can find out why the lad was so desperate to get away. What he finds in that little town is a cesspool of lies and cover-ups from a crime that took place twenty-three years ago and is still affecting the townspeople of today.
Any one who reads the newspapers will have no trouble believing the events that take place in WINTER AND NIGHT can actually happen. S.J. Rozan is a brilliant writer who creates compelling crime fiction tales that are impossible to put down until the reader knows how the story line will end. Bill Smith and Lydia China are one of the best crime-fighting pair in fiction today. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: Rozan can't write male characters
Review: I invite Ms. Rozan not to write male characters in the first person in the future. Bill Smith (inventive name) is supposed to be a hard-boiled PI--yet he listens to classical music??? and makes fine, persnickety comments about the recordings??? And we are to believe he uses words like "sock" (in the sense to punch) and "throw pillows?" There is not a straight man in this country who uses the term "throw pillow." And no one has used the term "sock" to described punching someone, probably since the 50's. Furthermore, I'm sorry to see her resort to stereotypical descriptions of high school football--apparently, everyone (or only guys, in her view) involved in high school sports are drunken, idiotic thugs, and the coaches are merciless, hypercompetitive bullies. Well, guess what, some high school football players in New Jersey can actually read and go on to Princeton and other elite schools. And not all coaches are as portrayed by Ms. Rozan--and those that are, believe it or not, are often "loved" by their players (gasp)! I could go on, but these comments fairly well sum up the book as a whole.
Rating:
Summary: A treat
Review: I'm a newcomer to S.J. Rozan, having just stumbled onto this book while killing time in Borders waiting for an appointment nearby. What a treat! Rozan can write. The plot is complex and well crafted, but the writing is the real joy, done with style and grace. Now I have the treat of backtracking through the earlier offerings in this series.
Rating:
Summary: Doesn't live up to the hype
Review: Is this what wins Edgars these days? The book isn't bad, but I'm surprised about all the fanfare it's gotten. How interesting can a book that more or less centers on high school footbal be?
Rating:
Summary: I Can't Get Enough of Them!
Review: Ok. This woman is my favorite author. Ever. And I can say that in absolute truth. Her distinctive, yet extremely hard to describe writing style, is in a word, incredible. And that's a pretty ambiguous word, but somehow works with every aspect of her novels. Each one reveals more and more the depth and complexeties of Bill and Lydia, and they become real people to us. Especially in "Winter and Night," we are shown that the connection between Bill and Lydia goes way beyond the physical (it's like a Mulder/Scully relationship, as weird as that sounds), and also just how much Bill's experiences are going to change their relationship (ultimately strengthens it, in my opinion). On a lighter note, I think, another reason these novels are great is the extremely witty/clever dialogue. Bill and Lydia have the best lines, and when they play, they play with words, and it's just VERY amusing to read. I'm always thinking to myself, "How does Rozan DO it?" "Winter and Night," like most Bill books, are very psychological (not science-psycho, but more like emotional-psycho), and the fluid, intricate writing style reinforces the depth of Smith's character. There's also a big theme in this story about young adulthood and the pressures of society - and their consequences, good along with bad. Very important and thought-provoking theme, I think, and Rozan manages to bring that out in this book with deft skill. I would recommend reading "China Trade" first, just so you'll get to know the characters and a little about where they're coming from. Otherwise "Winter and Night" will seem too personal (as opposed to VERY personal for those who've read her other novels). "Winter and Night" is my favorite out of her, what is it, eight novels? Second fave is "Reflecting the Sky," written from Lydia's point of view. Third is "Stone Quarry," another one from Bill's POV. Oh by the way, Rozan captures the life and times of FOBs and Chinese-New York Americans perfectly, from their interactions with each other to their interactions with whites. And the fact that Bill is the epitome of Caucasion, and Lydia is a Chinese-American woman, makes for quite a few interesting conversations. But they're perfect for each other, and you can tell. When serious is serious, one's always there for the other, and that's all they need. Loyalty, trust, respect...love? Yeah, was there even a doubt? Love is there, and then some, and that's what holds these books together.
Rating:
Summary: I Can't Get Enough of Them!
Review: Ok. This woman is my favorite author. Ever. And I can say that in absolute truth. Her distinctive, yet extremely hard to describe writing style, is in a word, incredible. And that's a pretty ambiguous word, but somehow works with every aspect of her novels. Each one reveals more and more the depth and complexeties of Bill and Lydia, and they become real people to us. Especially in "Winter and Night," we are shown that the connection between Bill and Lydia goes way beyond the physical (it's like a Mulder/Scully relationship, as weird as that sounds), and also just how much Bill's experiences are going to change their relationship (ultimately strengthens it, in my opinion). On a lighter note, I think, another reason these novels are great is the extremely witty/clever dialogue. Bill and Lydia have the best lines, and when they play, they play with words, and it's just VERY amusing to read. I'm always thinking to myself, "How does Rozan DO it?" "Winter and Night," like most Bill books, are very psychological (not science-psycho, but more like emotional-psycho), and the fluid, intricate writing style reinforces the depth of Smith's character. There's also a big theme in this story about young adulthood and the pressures of society - and their consequences, good along with bad. Very important and thought-provoking theme, I think, and Rozan manages to bring that out in this book with deft skill. I would recommend reading "China Trade" first, just so you'll get to know the characters and a little about where they're coming from. Otherwise "Winter and Night" will seem too personal (as opposed to VERY personal for those who've read her other novels). "Winter and Night" is my favorite out of her, what is it, eight novels? Second fave is "Reflecting the Sky," written from Lydia's point of view. Third is "Stone Quarry," another one from Bill's POV. Oh by the way, Rozan captures the life and times of FOBs and Chinese-New York Americans perfectly, from their interactions with each other to their interactions with whites. And the fact that Bill is the epitome of Caucasion, and Lydia is a Chinese-American woman, makes for quite a few interesting conversations. But they're perfect for each other, and you can tell. When serious is serious, one's always there for the other, and that's all they need. Loyalty, trust, respect...love? Yeah, was there even a doubt? Love is there, and then some, and that's what holds these books together.
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