Serpents in the Cold
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A serial killer stalks the streets of 1950s Boston -- and two friends take it upon themselves to bring him down.
Post-war Boston is down on its luck and looking for change. A year after the Great Brink's Robbery -- the largest robbery in the history of the United States -- Boston is known more for its seedy underbelly than for its rich, historical past. The winter of 1951 is the worst in recent memory, and the Bruins are suffering another losing season.
Like Boston itself, lifelong residents Cal O'Brien and Dante Cooper are struggling to find their identities after World War II. Cal has built a mildly promising life for himself as an employee of a company providing private security, whether to an honorable businessman who needs a night watchman or to an Irish mafioso who needs to have someone's legs broken. Dante is everything Cal is not. A heroin addict trying and failing to stay clean, Dante feels the call to do good after he discovers that his sister-in-law was the latest victim of a serial killer targeting disadvantaged women.
Woefully unqualified, but determined to help, Cal and Dante take it upon themselves to track the killer -- but their daunting quest takes on dangerous consequences when the trail leads them to the highest ranks of city government. There are a few well-placed men who don't want Cal and Dante to solve this case.
An absorbing mixture of history and suspense, told with a meticulous eye for detail and character, Serpents in the Cold is a moving exploration about two men battling for second chances.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
O'Malley (This Magnificent Desolation) teams with debut novelist Purdy on this gritty mystery set in early 1950s Boston. Dante Cooper, a recent widower battling a heroin addiction, suffers another emotional blow when he learns that his sister-in-law, Sheila Anderson, has been murdered. Her naked body was left overnight on Tenean Beach in Dorchester, where she lived. Sheila appears to be the latest victim of a serial killer known as the Butcher. With the help of his friend Cal O'Brien, a former cop who has recurring nightmares from his tour of duty in WWII, the single-minded Dante scours Boston, from the seedy Boston Common to the shady South End, in search of clues. O'Malley and Purdy bring postwar Boston to life, making neighborhoods feel as distinct as separate countries. While the authors don't offer much suspense, they have delivered a love-letter to a Boston that's long gone.
Customer Reviews
Fantastic!
A beautiful, gripping, poetic, brutal read from start to finish. Top marks all around!