Footsteps of the Hawk

Burke, Book 8

By: Andrew Vachss

Narrated by: Phil Gigante

Length: 8 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

A pulse-quickening new crime novel featuring Burke, ex-con, private investigator, and rumored hit man who harbors a pathological hatred for those who prey on children.

In Footsteps of the Hawk Burke himself is in danger of becoming a victim. Two rogue cops are stalking him. The coolly seductive Belinda Roberts wants him to free a man charged with a grisly string of rape-murders. The brutal and half-crazy Detective Jorge Morales may be trying to frame Burke for the same crimes. What ensues is a novel of high-wire suspense and nightmarish authenticity informed by an insider’s knowledge of the city where everything – from flesh to other people’s cellular phone numbers – is up for sale.

©2010 Andrew Vachss (P)2010 Brilliance Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

“Vachss waves a powerful light across a city landscape that few writers go near and none portray so convincingly.” ( Los Angeles Times)

Phil Gigante is amazing!

I’m a longtime Vachss admirer, both his prose and his activism, but hadn’t read on audible, so Gigante’s genius has been a revelation.

X-Rated Family

In Burke's world, the word "family" means something different from what most of us think of as family. See, Burke never had a biological family -- his mother threw him away at birth, his father was unknown, and the State of New York (its orphanages, foster homes, and prison system) raised him -- so he had to grow a soul-family: fellow convicts, prostitutes, con artists, chiselers, and other bottom-feeders. I am just listening to Vachss' amazing Burke series for the first time in sequential order; and I am watching several penetrating qualities emerge, in the process. First: The Burke series is dark, savage, violent, not easy to listen to, and not for everybody. Second: The Burke series is all about 𝙛𝙖𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙮, according to Burke's definition. Third: Andrew Vachss is a brilliant, talented, sex-obsessed, angry, misogynistic author. Fourth (and this is what keeps me listening): Phil Gigante is a brilliant, immensely talented narrator; and the Vachss/Gigante team was made in heaven. Fifth: The Burke series really, 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙮 needs to be listened to in sequence. Don't start here, with "Footsteps of the Hawk" (the eighth book in the series). It is not the best entry in the series, and you will miss a lot of character development. (The "family" members in this long-running saga -- and the ways in which they each get adopted into the "family" -- play an important role in the Burke series.) If you want to dive in, start at the beginning, with "Flood," and brace yourself for the chill.

Still enjoying the series

I’m not sure if I can call Burke a P.I., not in the traditional sense like Sam Spade, Atticus Pund, or Phillip Marlowe. He seems more of a grifter mixed with a thug & add a dash of cynicism. In this book the child abuse is pushed in the background as Burke is being hunted by 2 cops for very different reasons. All of your favourites of Burke’s family makes an appearance & even adds a new member to his “family”, Frankie a kid the Prof is schooling to be a boxer.

Vachess’ writing in this book doesn’t seem quite as good as in the previous books, but still this story is enjoyable. I still plan on hanging out with Burke for a few more books.