Flood

A Novel (Burke, Book 1)

By: Andrew Vachss

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

Length: 12 hrs and 7 mins

Publisher's summary

Burke's newest client is a woman named Flood, who has the face of an angel, the body of a high-priced stripper, and the skills of a professional executioner. She wants Burke to find a monster for her - so she can kill him with her bare hands.

In this thriller, Andrew Vachss's renegade private eye teams up with a lethally gifted avenger to follow a child's murderer through the catacombs of New York, where every alley is blind and the penthouses are as dangerous as the basements.
Fearfully knowing, crackling with narrative tension, and written in prose as forceful as a hollow-point slug, Flood is Burke at his deadliest - and Vachss at the peak of his form.

More mayhem? Listen to another Burke thriller.

©2009 Andrew Vachss (P)2009 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Noir!

Think "Sin City." (If you have not yet seen the remarkable 2005 movie, "Sin City," see if you can rent it or borrow it. If you like "Sin City," you will like "Flood.") Imagine Clive Owen playing Burke. Somebody (Quentin Tarantino or Robert Rodriguez) should film this book. Talk about New York's 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙢𝙮 𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙗𝙚𝙡𝙡𝙮! "Flood" combines the hard-boiled detective fiction of the '40s and '50s (think Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler on steroids) -- including all the smoking (OMG, Burke, will you quit smoking before you kill yourself?) with "Sin City"'s over-the-top noir -- including the (unintentionally?) funny male sexual fantasies. Our protagonist, Burke (just one name, thank you very much ... how cool is 𝙩𝙝𝙖𝙩?) has had a hard life, which has made him tough and cynical. He now mixes with the dregs of society -- the hookers (with hearts of gold, of course), the thieves, the con artists, the convicts, the rejects, the bottom-feeders, and the low-lifes. But wait: Burke has 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙖𝙧𝙙𝙨! You will enjoy watching him take out the trash. What you need to know about author Andrew Vachss is that he is a practicing attorney who devotes himself to protecting abused children; and his protagonist in the Burke series had been abused in childhood. Now Burke deals out revenge to all abusers. I rank narrator Christopher Lane as one of my favorite voice actors: He has a beautiful voice 𝙖𝙣𝙙 chops. I liked "Flood" so much that, before I had even finished listening to it, I went ahead and purchased the next audiobook in the series, "Strega," to which I have almost finished listening now. I recommend "Flood" to any aficionado of old-fashioned, hard-boiled noir.

Beautifully written and completely compelling.

This is apparently the first series. The author tells an intense and compelling story in a tight and visually beautiful style. The performance is also perfect. I absolutely recommend this book.

Not Your Normal Private Eye Who-Done-It, But...

This story is not about who done it but how they will get even with those who they know did it. Well written intertwining of the chase for 3 villains that Burke and Flood need to find. Much of the dialog is in the form of Burke's thoughts, reminiscent of the 1940s style PI and Christopher Lane does a great job of capturing this. All of the characters are well developed and the story flows seamlessly, maintaining a good level of suspense.

Definately worth a listen.

Great Great Narrator

Christopher Lane sets the tone excellently. None of the following narrators compare or live up to Vachss writing.

found a new series

I loved this book and I can't wait to listen to the rest. I am sad to know that the series ended in 09 but I hope it went out on top

Exceptional, exciting read 📖!!

Vachss is the top dog when it comes to fiction work, you will totally be lost in Burkes world 🌍 when you pick up any of the books 📚 in this series...

Not quite noir, not quite Bond, not quite 4 stars

Well... I actually kind of liked it. It's not quite noir (but is pretty close) and not quite James Bond (but also pretty close). The main character is resourceful and creative and dangerous and human all at once. Not to mention the fact that he had an "in" with everyone in the story (prostitutes, newspapers, police, genius - heck, he even had an "in" with the guard dogs).

There is a bit of dated-ness to the story (boomboxes, etc) and a bit of 80s stereotypes (pimps, etc) and an overuse of the term "freaks" for pretty much everyone in the story other than the main character and his buddies. Not saying that there aren't a lot of freaks, but... it was a bit excessive that Burke would run into so many in the course of his activities.

The story had the resolution you'd expect it to have and the plot moved enough that you're never bored waiting for something to happen, and the author kept his personal politics to a minimum...

The narrator was pretty good - he did different "accents" which were, for the most part, pretty good and all the characters voices were distinct so you always knew who was talking.

Pretty good - I will try some more of the series.

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I like the various mix of characters and hope to see more of them. Didn't really like the standard (in too many series) description of the amazing martial artist that apparently live only to assist the main character - also pretty predictable group of bad guys - but remember this was written before so many used the same computer (confused also with telecom) genius living deep in the ground. And the poor dog never got any exercise so how could he stay in shape. But what the heck this is fiction and once I got into the first few chapters I didn't stop till it was done. So I liked it a lot, warts and all.

What about Christopher Lane???s performance did you like?

I loved the change in voice for mama! Sounds like a lot of my friends from years gone by. good voices changes without making me forget the story.

Was Flood worth the listening time?

Yes - most likely will listen to it again in a few years.

WELL DONE STORY NARRATION EXCELLENT

Would you consider the audio edition of Flood to be better than the print version?

UNKNOWN

What other book might you compare Flood to and why?

SEEMS TO BE SIMILAR TO BOSCH BY CONNELLY, TOUGH GRITTY ETC.

Which character – as performed by Christopher Lane – was your favorite?

FLOOD

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

NO IT WAS VERY ENJOYABLE IF SOME TIME IS TAKEN OVER SEVERAL DAYS

Any additional comments?

WILL DEFINITELY LOOK AT NEXT IN SERIES

Great story. Not for the faint of heart.

Where does Flood rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It's a good listen but I didn't feel the "depth" in this book that I have in many others. Still...it was a good story.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

It moved along well.

Any additional comments?

Interesting author with his own story.