Sunrise Highway

Lourdes Robles, Book 1

By: Peter Blauner

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

Length: 10 hrs and 42 mins

Publisher's Summary

From Peter Blauner, the writer Dennis Lehane calls "one of the most consistently bracing and interesting voices in American crime literature", comes a new thriller about a lone young cop on the trail of a powerful killer determined not just to stop her but to make her pay. 

In the summer of Star Wars and Son of Sam, a Long Island schoolgirl is found gruesomely murdered. A local prosecutor turns a troubled teenager known as JT from a suspect to a star witness in the case, putting away a high school football star who claimed to be innocent. Forty years later, JT has risen to chief of police, but there's a trail of a dozen dead women that reaches from Brooklyn across Long Island, along the Sunrise Highway, and it's possible that his actions actually enabled a killer.   

That's when Lourdes Robles, a relentless young Latina detective for the NYPD, steps in to track the serial killer. She discovers a deep and sinister web of connections between the victims and some of the most powerful political figures in the region, including JT himself. Now Lourdes has to not only catch a killer but maybe dismantle an entire system that's protected him, possibly at the cost of her own life.

©2018 Slow Motion Riot Inc. (P)2018 Macmillan Audio

Critic Reviews

"Peter Blauner has created one of most the memorable psychopaths since Hannibal Lecter." (Washington Post)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book!!

I did not realize this was book #2 in a series. I have not read/listened to the first book and did not feel lost. My next purchase will be Proving Ground which is the first.
The publisher's summary pretty much sums up the plot which is fine. This book is not a Who Dunnit book. You know who's doing it just about from the beginning. You also know that the protagonist Lourdes Robles is after the antagonist. There are dead women popping up and have been for almost 40 years but even after she figures out The Who no one believes her. The story is told in a then/now format and you can see the increasing depravity of the antagonist who works himself into a position of power.
This book had me hooked! I couldn't put it down. It made me frustrated and I could just imagine the fear the abducted women felt when they realized they had put their trust in the wrong person and there was nothing they could do.
This is a superbly written book. The characters are believable and the plot is plausible.
Ari Fliakos is an outstanding narrator who adds to the enjoyment of listening to this book.
This book has my HIGHEST RECOMMENDATIONS.
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Thank You.

Unputdownable!

Peter Blauner must be subconsciously channeling Jim Thompson, Thomas Harris and John Sandford. This book has it all-the hypertrophy of evil, the electricity of a hot wire, crime writing at its best and the fascination of the finest police procedurals. I’m a mystery/ thriller junkie and I just had one hell of a fix!!!

Must Love Evil

Good $5 holiday sale. See Shelly’s review for details. Ari is a great narrator and he will be getting better author’s books to narrate. See him in Delta series. I like the Lourdes heroine but she has some traits and background weakness that don’t compel me to seek book 2 when it comes. l could barely finish this story as the story line was more than convincing and l was not entertained, but terrified. the author’s imagination is definitely not for me. I will not be seeking out more of his work. Don’t get me wrong, good writing make no mistake, but l don’t look for terror in a novel. I am not sure if this book was listed as a psychological thriller so if that’s what you like, then this is very good. This is horror for the mind if you are a law biding citizen, and believe the men in blue protect and serve. As a fan of Karin Slaughter, Will Trent series, that’s all the realistic real life horror l can take. Ok if you like Ms Slaughter, then this story is for you.
Were my comments of help?

Unanswered questions

I loved the book and how it unfolded slowly over a period of time. My only negative was I felt like the ending was to abrupt and there were so many questions unanswered like why did Jay do what he did. Ari, as usuale gave a stellar performance, you are my new best friend during my commute and I can listen to you all day.

Not Bad, But I Wanted More

I was so excited when I saw this title, as I am a native Long Islander who was planning an extended trip back to Long Island.

Unfortunately, beyond some place names, there was not much to set this on Long Island. The corruption of law enforcement that is such a big part of this book is very Long island, but that happens elsewhere. I listened to this as I was on long Island, often driving on Sunrise Highway, but the book itself did not evoke the setting at all.

What it did do was draw on stereotypes. No one who is from Long Island has redeeming qualities--even the people who are not outright criminals are easily compromised, weak-willed, actually from NYC, or otherwise horrible people. This makes the book very bleak.

I did like the various timelines in the book, although that made it difficult to keep secondary and tertiary characters straight.

The performer attempted to vary his voice for the multitude of characters, and did okay--thankfully, he did not fall into very stereotypical accents. (I do not listen to a lot of fiction, but even in nonfiction, when men try to perform in women's voices, it can be very annoying.)

The psychology of the murderer also seemed pretty basic and often used, to the point that I wish it had been left out. "Mommy and Daddy were mean" doesn't really do much as far as an explanation.

If you are looking for entertainment that involves corruption in law enforcement, strong female characters, NYC suburbs, and race/racism, go watch Seven Seconds on Netflix. I don't know if a book that captures the complexities of Long Island is out there, but it is not this one.

Great

no struggle to finish this book! I love this author, loved the story. nice to have a go to author who you know will give you a great read for a couple of days.

Suspense from the beginning

A great Long Island NY detective story. Not sure if it’s based on truth and or any correlation to the gilgo beach murders but sure comes close to sounding that way. It makes a good case of what could have happened and the spin on a corruptive cop made it very surprising. Highly recommend

My new favorite author

This is my 2nd Blauner book. Both have excellent plot lines and great narration. Thanks

Suspenseful and easy to listen to.

Great plot and awesome narration . Entertaining book, narration spot on. Glad to have bought this book.

Stunning Intro to an Engaging Protagonist

Lourdes Robles is the literary love child of Virgil Flowers and V.I. Warshawski. She's an NYPD detective in constant hot water with the brass and with her fellow Ds. Still, she persists. Liars, cheaters, traitors and killers abound, Lourdes stumbling ahead undaunted.

I anticipate the next Lourdes Robles books with excitement.

Ari Fliakos is a competent narrator I have enjoyed in the past. However, he's not quite a natural fit for this character.

#femaleprotagonist #gritty #realism #conspiracy #serialkiller #tagsgiving #sweepstakes