Night Work

Michael Cassidy, Book 2

By: David C. Taylor

Narrated by: Keith Szarabajka

Length: 11 hrs and 1 min

Publisher's Summary

The second book in David C. Taylor's transporting historical crime-fiction series.

Michael Cassidy, a New York cop plagued by dreams that sometimes come true, escorts a prisoner accused of murder to Havana on the cusp of Fidel Castro's successful revolution against the Batista dictatorship. After delivering the man to La Cabaña prison and rescuing his former lover - Dylan McCue, now a Russian KGB agent - from her scheduled execution, Cassidy returns to New York and retreats into the comforts of alcohol and sex.

The arrival of Fidel Castro in New York three months later complicates the cop's life once more. Cassidy's investigation of a young man's murder in Central Park is interrupted when he is assigned to Castro's protective detail.

Castro has many enemies. American mobsters who have been run out of Havana, businessmen who worry about their investments in Cuba, and members of Batista's secret police all want him dead. Cassidy is already investigating one murder. Can he prevent another?

©2016 David C. Taylor (P)2016 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic Reviews

"Returning for Taylor's second Michael Cassidy crime novel, Keith Szarabajka delivers another stellar performance.... From his subtle indications of frustration or amusement to his pitch-perfect array of accents, Szarabajka is completely in control. His husky voice fills the bar rooms with smoke and the mobsters with venom. This series is pure audio perfection." (AudioFile)

Taylor Dunnit Again! Better than Chandler.

David Taylor's once again dropped his NYC detective into a swirl of historical characters to perfectly prowl the 1950s' nights. DON'T BUY THIS BOOK FIRST! Taylor's working on a Michael Cassidy epic and while the first in this series, "Night Life" stands on its own bottom, "Night Work's" improved a lot if you've experienced the earlier book.

Michael Cassidy's a major talent in the tradition of Raymond Chandler. In fact, he's not only learned from Chandler-The-Master of hard-boiled-detective fiction, he exceeds him having learned so much about techniques of pace and place that have evolved since Phillip Marlow was born.

Keith Szarabajka is perfect in his imagining Michael Cassidy and the recurring cast. Pity that Bogey and Bacall are no longer available, but Szarabajka channels them through both "Night Life" and "Night Work."

Oh BTW, Taylor's screenwriting talents trigger warp paced cinematic sets, wardrobe, and grit. I'll preorder the next Cassidy book.

Both of these books are excellent.

What did you love best about Night Work?

These questions make me tired. Kind of like asking actors "What was it like working with X?" Both of the books, which I will review together, fit into a genre: rogue detectives, often of the NYPD, often sad guys who drink to drown their manifold sorrows, go off the tracks and recklessly pursue their vision of justice. And they always, I mean always, get in trouble with their superiors, who are forever telling them to settle down, take a few days off, etc. Having said that, this book is very well written and very well narrated, the latter by a man I've never heard before, Keith, I'll just say, Sz.

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

Not on the edge of my seat, which might be risky at my tender age, but it held my interest for sure. Michael is confronted by the FBI, double-crossed by his partner whom he very generously forgives in the end. Michael also has a peripatetic relationship with a woman named Dylan McCue, whose allegiance is truly a malleable thing. Of course she is stunning, and of course they have thrilling sex. And she is a crackerjack shot, and a KGB agent to boot. David Taylor, whom I also have not read before, runs his plot all over the place, from New York to Cuba and back, including in the Cuban section the famous gangsters, including Meyer Lansky et. al., the guys who ran the casinos before Castro took over. And, there is another femme fatale, Alice, who...I won't tell you, but it is a great twist.

What about Keith Szarabajka’s performance did you like?

Just about everything. He is clearly well trained and very skillful. There are a lot of voices to be mastered in these books, and he does them all justice. Also an interesting and unusual twist is Michael's family. His father is a Broadway impresario, as they say, whose life is full of drama (no, really) and beautiful young characters. The one thing that surprises me here is that these books, which seem to be contemporary, are nonetheless set in post-WWII NYC, and Everybody Smokes their faces off. I mean Everybody. This takes up a lot of time, believe it or don't, and you can easily see the similarities to movies of that era, in which cigarettes give the actors the opportunity to do lots of shtick with their hands, faces, meaningful looks, passions smoldering right with the cigs, etc. Imagine Bogie or Cagney or Cary Grant or anybody without some cigarette being lit, or dangling from their fingers, or the smoke dramatically moving across the gorgeous pusses.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No.

Any additional comments?

Not really. I would like to hear another one of these. Nice work, gentlemen, and you ladies, too. Cut. It's a wrap.

Great Sequel, Great Characters

Forgive the brevity of this review, its my third attempt having lost the first two to internet hell.

This book has a great noir feel much like the movie, LA Confidential. I compare it to the movie, rather than Elroy's novel because like the movie, its much easier to follow the plot than reading anything by James Elroy. (Elroy's writing is genius, but is an acquired taste.) Its a fast and furious rde, full of grit and street justice.

Its hard to put down once you get started.

David C. Taylor is a great storyteller

What made the experience of listening to Night Work the most enjoyable?

I think the combination of Taylor's vivid characterizations and dialogue combined with the excellent narration by Keith Szaragajka whose command of different voices and accents was what made this book so enjoyable.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Of course, my favorite characters, both of them, were Michael Cassidy and the female Russian KGB spy Dylan. They were heroic but not infallible. They had regrets and heartache for the decisions they had to make. Their connection to each other was tragic and romantic all at once.

Which character – as performed by Keith Szarabajka – was your favorite?

I loved the voice Szarabajka did for the Cuban artist Robera. Just the right amount of accent and zest for life which that character seemed to relish as his role in the world of art and politics.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Not is all as it seems in the world of espionage and politics.

Any additional comments?

David C. Taylor continues to be one of my favorite authors. His skill for storytelling and character development is unparalleled. His stories are compelling and grab your attention from the first sentence. His blending of historical characters and fictional ones is seamless. One of the great crime drama authors of our generation. Keith Sarabajka does a superb job of bringing the characters to life.

Even better than the first book. Wow.

Let me say, before I forget, that Keith Szarabajka is a terrific narrator and I'll be looking for more books read by him.
I think I first noticed the two books--Night Life and Night Work--because I have a friend named David Taylor. As I said when I reviewed the first, I don't go out of my way looking for police procedurals. But Night Life was a 4 and a half, and Night Work turned out to be even better, neater.
Both are set in the the post-WWII years and are framed by actual Cold War events, but that's just scaffolding. The characters, particularly the protagonist, are modern, and what make the stories work. The hero is an outsider, but by choice. I won't give anything away, but Taylor uses the not-Irish family of Cassidy to help define him.
OK, I'll say no more. Just read the books.
One more thing--Taylor has a real talent for good dialogue.

Excellent noir

Nice to read someone who adds something new to the crowded genre. Nicely paced narrative with great atmospherics.

Almost as good as the first one

This book is definitely a worthy addition to the series. It's fairly fast paced, action-packed, and rooted in historical events which lends an extra layer of excitement (at least for me). The narration is excellent and overall I really enjoyed the novel.
The reason I am not giving it 5 stars is because I felt it got a little too convoluted with the multiple stories woven throughout the action. While this worked in the first book, it felt a little forced and boring in this one. In fact I fell asleep while listening and missed about an hour. I didn't bother rewinding. It's still a decent book, but I think it could have been a lot better with some additional editing.

Late noir with literary flourishes

Promising new series set in the "Mad Men" era... among the best of its type I've listened to. Reminiscent of Max Allan Collins' Nate Heller novels, with its period history backgrounds, but a bit more grit and a little less focus on "famous historical characters." Taylor manages to achieve some literary depth and still supply the noir action I love. Hope for more.

Fabulous Book

Cannot wait for the next in this series. Michael Cassady is one of the best cop characters ever to appear in crime fiction. Just hope I don’t get lung cancer from reading these books!

Terrific mystery; even better than Book 1!

This mystery takes place in both New York and Cuba dealing primarily with the fall of Batista and abdication at the end of 1958, the coming of Castro to power in 1959, and his visit to New York in April, 1959. The novel has him first stopping in Washington (which is true), then proceeding to New York (false?), before going on to Canada, Central and South America (true). Michael Cassidy of course is based in New York. It's a wonderful mystery, often hard to differentiate the good guys from the bad guys. His reintroduction to the love of his life, KGB agent Dylan McCue, is full of passion and pathos. If there is a weakness, it is that, all too frequently, the reader must suspend disbelief at the extraordinary coincidences and remarkable events which somehow Cassidy survives. Still, he's a likable, basically ethical detective, who believes in justice above all. I look forward to reading future books in this series.