City of the Dead

Homicide detective Franco Patrese returns in "a blood-soaked, full-throttle descent into hell and one of the best thrillers you will read this or any other year" (Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of Midnight Angels). CAN EVEN BLOOD WASH THEM CLEAN? Disillusioned and bitter, hardened Pittsburgh cop Franco Patrese leaves police work and his birth town behind him. Accepting a job in the New Orleans FBI office, he comes to a city steeped in a dark, corrupt heritage. A beautiful woman approaches Patrese with whispers of human sacrifice. Two days later, she lies dismembered in a pool of blood--surrounded by voodoo symbols. New Orleans homicide detective Selma Fawcett doesn't hide her dislike of the FBI intruding on her turf . . . or her distrust of anyone not born in the Big Easy. But a second similar murder forces them to work together . . . or fail. Their suspects range from unscrupulous politicians in high places to a ruthless woman who claims to be the reincarnation of the long-dead voodooienne Marie Laveau. Both Selma and Franco are the outsiders now, journeying into the dangerous heart of darkness, a poisonous miasma of secrecy and corruption. From the French Quarter to Natchez and the Bayou, they are now the tainted ones: two good cops, targeted by an unimaginably malevolent force. . . .

About the Author :
Daniel Blake is the pseudonym of the bestselling, acclaimed author Boris Starling, best known for New York Times bestsellers Storm and Messiah. Blake has worked for a corporation that specializes in kidnapping negotiations and confidential investigations, and he was also a reporter for England's The Sun and The Daily Telegraph. He lives in London.

Review :
""City of the Dead" is a fast-paced, blood-soaked, full-throttle descent into hell and one of the best thrillers you will read this or any other year. Daniel Blake weaves an intricate plot with the skill set of a top-tier surgeon, his dialogue rich and spot-on and his characters--both good and gut-wrenchingly evil--full-bodied and as real and fresh as morning rain. It is a novel that quite simply demands to be read. To do otherwise would be a crime." - Lorenzo Carcaterra, author of "Sleepers "and "Midnight Angels" ""City of the Dead" starts with a tsunami and ends with a hurricane, and nothing in between slows it down. A smart, scary, and relentless storm overtaking a city held hostage by greed and disaster." - Andrew Gross, "New York Times" bestselling author "Blake keeps the dialogue razor sharp and the action hammer blunt while tantalizing readers with a Sherlockian thriller that turns the modern detective story on its head. If ever there was a character ripe for transition to the big screen, Franco Patrese is it." -- Rupert Wyatt, director of "Rise of the Planet of the Apes" "Daniel Blake makes New Orleans the setting for a story that's as hot, steamy and shot through with voodoo madness as the city itself. As the victims of a ritualistic serial killer mount up, "City of the Dead" is not just a first-rate crime thriller, but also an impassioned, powerfully evocative attack on social injustice, racial prejudice and the unfettered power of the rich. Highly recommended!" - Tom Cain, author of "The Accident Man" and "Dictator" "Hugely entertaining."- Sean Black, author of the Ryan Lock series "Incendiary . . . Blake's edgy, cynical take on the Katrina tragedy blends easily with Patrese's increasingly desperate quest for justice and survival." -- "Publishers Weekly" "Stunning. A "Chinatown" for the 21st century." - Charles Cumming, "New York Times" bestselling author