First published 2004
Murray Kirk operates his private investigation business by one rule: follow the money. Justice doesn't pay the bills. When a young policeman facing bribery charges needs representation, Kirk sees no angle worth pursuing. The cop has inside knowledge of New York City police corruption, but Kirk can't identify the profit potential. Everything changes when he meets the officer's fiancee. Suddenly Kirk's clear-cut business principles blur into something messier and more personal. He plunges into New York's criminal underworld, navigating bookmakers who control street corners, gangsters who settle disputes with violence, grafters who skim from every transaction, and politicians who auction their influence to the highest bidder. In this shadow economy, destroying an honest cop's career becomes routine business. Kirk discovers that corruption operates like any other enterprise, with its own supply chains, profit margins, and quality control. The deeper he investigates, the more his professional detachment crumbles, replaced by emotions he never intended to feel.
Genres: mystery, crime, thriller, detective
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: corruption, moral-ambiguity, personal-stakes, professional-detachment
Setting: New York City
Period: 20th-century
295 pages · Paperback · Orion