Rating: 
Summary: Thumbs up for Manhattan mystery!
Review: Manhattan is the star of Jim Fusilli's dynamic, new novel, Closing Time. The dark, nervous city comes alive as detective/protagonist Terry Orr lurches about its streets in search of murderers and answers to problems of a more metaphysical kind.
From the meatpacking distict of lower Manhattan to Harlem's notorious street corners, Fusilli describes a city in constant flux between good and evil. So too the hero, whose broken life fuels his every thought and action.
This novel is a compelling study, not only of our nation's most beloved city but also of a father's complex relationship with his daughter. The character of Bella provides a light, revealing dimension to a clouded family saga, and gives the novel a welcome lift. One yearns to find out what will happen in the girl's future.
I look forward to the sequel!!
Rating:
Summary: Great read
Review: New York history writer Terry Orr turned private sleuth is after Raymond Weisz who killed his son by pushing the young child into an oncoming train. Terry's beloved wife also died when she tried to rescue her child. Terry still grieves his loss and writes in a journal addressed to his wife. Still he believes that bringing Weisz to justice will give him closure. Because of this, Terry's twelve-year-old daughter Bella seems more like the adult at times in their relationship.
While jogging in Manhattan, Terry finds the battered corpse of cabby Aubrey Brown. When he learns the man was a loner with a tragic past, Terry feels an affinity to the victim even though he loves Bella. Terry begins to investigate who killed the African-American taxi driver. However, Terry is sidetracked when he rescues his daughter and his wife's former agent from a bomb that exploded at the latter's art gallery. He has another case to investigate because the obsessed Terry feels he must get involved.
CLOSING TIME is an engaging private investigative tale that feels more like an amateur sleuth story because Terry has no experience whatsoever in his new line of work. Terry is a maudlin character while Bella is a cheerful individual who seems much older than the preadolescent she is. The story line centers on Terry rather than on any of his three investigations, but that allows the audience a deep look inside the emotional chopped meat of the hero's soul. Jim Fusilli has written a powerful character study inside an engaging mystery novel. Harriet Klausner
Rating: 
Summary: New York, New York!
Review: Not many writers capture the atmosphere, the rhythm, and the attitude of Manhattan, particularly lower Manhattan, the way that Jim Fusilli does in Closing Time. The physical details are nearly perfect, and the complex ethnic relations that are such a large part of New York City life are candidly drawn without the typical generalizations and stereotypes. But Closing Time's biggest selling points are the strong character developments that cover the full range of human emotions. In addition, the book contains some of the most interesting adult/child interactions that I've read in a while. If there is a flaw here it would be the way that the central character, Terry Orr, arrives at certain key conclusions while pursuing his cases. He manages to zero in on the culprits seemingly without much deductive reasoning, process of elimination, or even basic forensics, relying instead on hunches and instincts that always prove correct. That aside, it's really not fair to nitpick when just about everything else in the book is done so well. I look forward to the next book in this series, which is already waiting in my pile.
Rating:
Summary: New York, New York!
Review: Not many writers capture the atmosphere, the rhythm, and the attitude of Manhattan, particularly lower Manhattan, the way that Jim Fusilli does in Closing Time. The physical details are nearly perfect, and the complex ethnic relations that are such a large part of New York City life are candidly drawn without the typical generalizations and stereotypes. But Closing Time's biggest selling points are the strong character developments that cover the full range of human emotions. In addition, the book contains some of the most interesting adult/child interactions that I've read in a while. If there is a flaw here it would be the way that the central character, Terry Orr, arrives at certain key conclusions while pursuing his cases. He manages to zero in on the culprits seemingly without much deductive reasoning, process of elimination, or even basic forensics, relying instead on hunches and instincts that always prove correct. That aside, it's really not fair to nitpick when just about everything else in the book is done so well. I look forward to the next book in this series, which is already waiting in my pile.
Rating: 
Summary: Head for the Exit
Review: Private Investigator and widower Terry Orr has it rough. He's suffering the loss of his wife and young son and trying to parent his precocious 12-year-old daughter. His suffering has led him into the world of living dangerously while attempting to bring to justice the murderer of a cab driver and the person who set a bomb at his wife's agent's art gallery. This sounds like a set up for an excellent story, but Jim Fusilli has written Closing Time with such a heavy hand as to render it mediocre. Author Jim Fusilli uses dialogue as a method of advancing the plot. Though the dialogue is fast-paced, sometimes it is so cryptic and so crucial to a plot-turn that it must be re-read three or four times. This occurs more frequently toward the end of the novel, when Terry is running around New York tying up all the lose ends of the crimes he's solving. Some of the dialogue caused me to stop and look stuff up. Example: Terry borrows money from his daughter and says he'll return it with interest at prime and "with the vig." Also, Fusilli writes inconsistent dialogue. Example: on page 3, Terry writes to his dead wife "it matters not what anyone else thinks or says." He thinks of a desk sergeant as "sloe-eyed" on page 39. But on the same page, he's talking like a gumshoe: "He was here and your guys went at it easy." Classic noir P.I. language vies with more poetic turns of phrase throughout the book, for an effect that is decidedly off-key. The prose is also cluttered with too many music references. For example, on page 46, Fusilli mentions that the Tilt-A-Whirl has the best jukebox in New York and then includes a footnote referring the reader to a list of what the jukebox was actually stocked with. Interesting detail, but it didn't add anything to the story. There are good things about this book. I loved Orr's daughter Bella, who is 12 going on 30 (but still realistically drawn as 12). Although the book as a whole lacks fluidity, some scenes flow very well. Fusilli is good at setting the scene and making the reader really see the New York neighborhood where Orr lives. The book also has heart and in spite of Orr's inconsistencies there is something likable about him. It's just not enough to make up for the sour notes that are struck once every few pages. For me, this was a difficult book to finish.
Rating:
Summary: Head for the Exit
Review: Private Investigator and widower Terry Orr has it rough. He's suffering the loss of his wife and young son and trying to parent his precocious 12-year-old daughter. His suffering has led him into the world of living dangerously while attempting to bring to justice the murderer of a cab driver and the person who set a bomb at his wife's agent's art gallery. This sounds like a set up for an excellent story, but Jim Fusilli has written Closing Time with such a heavy hand as to render it mediocre. Author Jim Fusilli uses dialogue as a method of advancing the plot. Though the dialogue is fast-paced, sometimes it is so cryptic and so crucial to a plot-turn that it must be re-read three or four times. This occurs more frequently toward the end of the novel, when Terry is running around New York tying up all the lose ends of the crimes he's solving. Some of the dialogue caused me to stop and look stuff up. Example: Terry borrows money from his daughter and says he'll return it with interest at prime and "with the vig." Also, Fusilli writes inconsistent dialogue. Example: on page 3, Terry writes to his dead wife "it matters not what anyone else thinks or says." He thinks of a desk sergeant as "sloe-eyed" on page 39. But on the same page, he's talking like a gumshoe: "He was here and your guys went at it easy." Classic noir P.I. language vies with more poetic turns of phrase throughout the book, for an effect that is decidedly off-key. The prose is also cluttered with too many music references. For example, on page 46, Fusilli mentions that the Tilt-A-Whirl has the best jukebox in New York and then includes a footnote referring the reader to a list of what the jukebox was actually stocked with. Interesting detail, but it didn't add anything to the story. There are good things about this book. I loved Orr's daughter Bella, who is 12 going on 30 (but still realistically drawn as 12). Although the book as a whole lacks fluidity, some scenes flow very well. Fusilli is good at setting the scene and making the reader really see the New York neighborhood where Orr lives. The book also has heart and in spite of Orr's inconsistencies there is something likable about him. It's just not enough to make up for the sour notes that are struck once every few pages. For me, this was a difficult book to finish.
Rating: 
Summary: Avoiding life in New York
Review: Terry Orr has tried to abandon his life ever since his wife and son were killed at a subway stop. He has stopped writing (his earlier career) and become a private investigator who doesn't charge for his services. His daughter, Bella, and friends try to get him to resume his life, but he simply will not do so. Orr comes across a murdered taxi driver and signs himself up to find the killer. At the same time, he attends an art show where a bomb goes off--and he investigates this as well. The two murders are unconnected except in tone. Both involve father/son relationships that went horribly wrong. Orr does what he can to correct these families in ways that he could not correct his own. Author Jim Fusilli's writing is dense but Orr's daughter, Bella, shines through. At 12 years old, Bella has been forced to come to terms with life because no one can protect her from what happened. Certainly her father's abandonment of life makes her the parent figure in their relationship although she is definitely a child.
Rating:
Summary: Thumbs up for Manhattan mystery!
Review: The gritty landscape of Manhattan is the real star of this compelling new novel by Jim Fusilli. As the hero, detective Terry Orr, frantically careens through the colorful streets and neighborhoods of America's most beloved city, he searches for more than real and imagined murderers. He seeks a balm for personal torments and finds distraction in the city's fickle and violent nature. The character of Orr's daughter,Bella, and her precious but tenuous relationship with her father provides ballast as well as light-hearted warmth to the darkness surrounding the hero and his story. This is a fast-paced, erudite novel. When you are finished with it you will want to kiss your kids and then hop on a train into the city. Can't wait for the sequel!
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: THis book was one of the best , well rounded books I have read in a long time. The relationships in the book are complex but real, there are no elaborate story lines , no deciet by the author , just a great story with some action and believable characters. It is a refreshing change of pace from all the witty banter that takes place in most other murder mysteries. The characters are not superhuman , they are just people.It describes NYC very well, the streets and the nuances.
The highest praise I can give it is well rounded and realistic , it may not seem like praise but it is.
Rating:
Summary: Closing Time Wonderfully Intriguing!!
Review: This first novel by Jim Fusilli is riveting all the way. The characters of Terry Orr and his daughter Bella are totally human and riveting in all aspects. I don't want to give away the ingenious plot, but it'll keep you glued to this book!This is a great read!No doubt about it ! The cliche of Run, don't walk to your nearest bookstore has never been more applicable. In a word, terrific!
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