Night Life, David C. Taylor
Night Life, David C. Taylor
List: $19.95 | Sale: $13.97
Club: $9.97

Night Life

Author: David C. Taylor

Narrator: Keith Szarabajka

Unabridged: 11 hr 1 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/17/2015

Synopsis

With a pulse-pounding murder plot and a protagonist caught between police and Mafia ties, Night Life is the first in a transporting historical crime fiction series set in 1950s New York City.New York City, 1954. The Cold War is heating up, Senator Joe McCarthy is running a witch hunt for communists in America, the newly formed CIA is fighting a turf battle with the FBI to see who will be the primary United States intelligence agency, and the bodies of murdered young men are turning up all over the city.Michael Cassidy has an unusual background for a New York cop. His father, a refugee from Eastern Europe, is a successful Broadway producer. His godfather is Frank Costello, a Mafia boss. Cassidy also has an unusual way of going about the business of being a cop—maybe that’s why he threw a fellow officer out a third story window of the Cortland Hotel.Cassidy is assigned to the case of Alexander Ingram, a Broadway chorus dancer found tortured and dead in his apartment in Hell’s Kitchen. Complications grow as other young men are murdered one after the other. And why are the FBI, the CIA, and the Mafia interested in the death of a Broadway gypsy?Meanwhile, a mysterious, beautiful woman moves into Cassidy’s building in Greenwich Village. Is Dylan McCue a lover or an enemy? Cassidy is plagued by nightmares—dreams that sometimes become reality. And he has been dreaming that someone is coming to kill him.

About David C. Taylor

David C. Taylor was born and raised in New York City. He spent twenty years in Los Angeles writing for television and the movies. He has published short stories and magazine articles and produced an off-Broadway musical in New York.

About Keith Szarabajka

Keith Szarabajka has appeared in many films, including The Dark Knight, Missing, and A Perfect World, and on such television shows as The Equalizer, Angel, Cold Case, Golden Years, and Profit. Szarabajka has also appeared in several episodes of Selected Shorts for National Public Radio. He won the 2001 Audie Award for Unabridged Fiction for his reading of Tom Robbins’s Fierce Invalids Home from Hot Climates and has won several Earphones Awards.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Mark on August 01, 2016

I have a soft spot in my head for Noir, and I read a lot of classic as well neo. But it's hard to find something fresh and innovative. That's what made Taylor's book such a pleasant surprise. First of all, it's a spinoff sub-genre, more along the lines of retro-noir (is that even a category?) Set in......more

Goodreads review by Deborah on February 15, 2016

If this book were a film I would describe this as Film Noir. Is there such a term as Book Noir? I don’t know, but Noir is the best way for me to describe the feeling of how this book was written. The setting is post World Wars, when the government played on the fear of its citizens going on communis......more

Goodreads review by Jim on October 12, 2018

None of my GR friends have read this book! You should. It was really good. Well written & gritty. That's what I was looking for, but I wasn't sure until I'd read through some of the community reviews. The deciding factor was a 1 star review that didn't like the casual racism & sexism. Of course it ha......more

Goodreads review by Laura on February 11, 2016

Crackling dialogue, fantastic attention to period detail, beautifully written, constructed and with superb pacing. This is a book to read, enjoy, and if you're a writer, to study.......more

Goodreads review by Ronald on June 08, 2016

The first Michael Cassidy adventure by David C. Taylor is like a throwback to the thrillers of the 50s and 60s. And that's a good thing. Taylor evokes the New York of the 50s with a clarity that seems like a travelogue. The smoke, the jazz, the rigors of the streets are all brought alive in this cri......more

Quotes

“A hair-raising, heart-stopping bullet train of a novel with action and atmosphere to burn.” Douglas Preston, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“Smart, capable, honest, and all cop NYPD detective Michael Cassidy is a cross between Jack Reacher and Philip Marlowe, only tougher.” Stephen Coonts, New York Times bestselling author

“The suspense mounts with the body count. Readers will want to see more of the distinctive Cassidy, whose wealthy background as the son of a Broadway producer puts him at odds with his fellow cops.” Publishers Weekly

“Keith Szarabajka ferries listeners back to McCarthy-era New York City with such authenticity that they may start seeing their surroundings in black and white. This richly atmospheric crime novel is enhanced by Szarabajka’s range of meticulous accents, which reflect the diversity of the period. He subtly teases out the harsh ugliness of a nation in fear and leaders who profit from it. Delivering Taylor’s stellar dialogue, he projects a gritty grace befitting hardened cops and dirty politicians while never missing a beat of the deadpan humor that serves as the icing on this delectable performance. A delightful pairing of narrator and story makes Night Life a superb audiobook. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.” AudioFile

“It’s hard to beat postwar New York for noir atmosphere with a touch of glamour behind the menace. Cigarettes, booze, lots of neon, jazz on 52nd Street, celebs at Toots Shor’s, a spy or two, dead bodies turning up between drinks: even if you don’t fancy living there (but why not?), at least you want to read about it…Taylor unspools the plot reel by reel, and if there’s a little predictability to it, we don’t really mind. This one’s all about mood, and Taylor brings it.” Booklist

“This debut novel’s atmosphere is suffused with paranoia and bitterness. With a strong opening and definite sense of place, Taylor has much to offer as a writer.” Library Journal

“Mixing fictional and reality-based characters (J. Edgar Hoover makes an appearance), and providing a wealth of period detail, Taylor works in what has become time-honored fashion since Ragtime. But he works exceptionally well within that convention and that of noir fiction, illuminating his characters and the times they’re living through in a lively, light-on-its-feet, agreeably no-nonsense fashion. Taylor, a seasoned writer for TV and film, makes a strong debut with the first in a series of novels featuring a hard-edged but properly vulnerable detective.” Kirkus Reviews

Awards

  • AudioFile Earphones Award
  • AudioFile Best Audiobook of the Year
  • Edgar Allan Poe Award
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