Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Wonderful New York City Police Thriller, 10 Dec 2001
The book starts out with the discovery of a body. A little girl dead in Central Park. The case comes to Julia Brennan, who starts calling the girl, Little Girl Blue. Julia is a Lieutenant, a Detective who is hoping to move up. And the more she finds out while tracking down who is responsible, the less she seems to care about moving up. It becomes a personal quest. One that take her into a dark area of humanity. Pedophiles. She is given the name of a cop who can help her. But the cost of his help is unknown, as is most things about him. And as Brennan and Foley go after the people responsible for the initial homicide, bodies start to follow their investigation. Cray writes with a tight and relentless grip on the reader. Instantly drawing you in and not letting go. The book moves like a carnival ride not letting you guess what's coming next. The characters are well written and believable. And the procedural part of the police work involved rings true. The villains are not over the top and are in fact all to real. This was a wonderful book, one I could not put down till it was done. And then I was disappointed that there was no more left to read. I'm going to pick up Cray's first two novels, and plan to buy what ever else he may write. Jon Jordan
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chilling story of unspeakable crimes., 5 Dec 2001
By David Montgomery - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Little Girl Blue (Hardcover)
The small, nude body of a young girl is found one wintry night in New York City's Central Park. Her feet are cut and bloody and she is curled in a fetal position. It looks as if she ran as far as she could before collapsing in exhaustion, finally giving in to the bitter cold. Any cop would be troubled by Little Girl Blue, but Lieutenant Julia Brennan is moved as a mother, as well as an enforcer of the law. She has a young daughter of her own and cannot escape from the haunting image that pierces her mind. The subtitle of "Little Girl Blue" is "a novel of crime," a very apt description. At the heart of this suspenseful, at times painful book are the most despicable of crimes, those committed against children. Lieutenant Brennan uncovers a child pornography and prostitution ring that lies hidden in the upper reaches of Manhattan society, sheltered for years by the wealth of those who participate in it. As soon as Brennan gets the scent of these perverted criminals, though, their days are at an end. Although it features troubling subject matter, "Little Girl Blue" is written with such empathy and tactful restraint that it never strays into offense, something authors who have tackled similar stories have failed to do. It is appropriately tense, especially during the last twenty pages, but the mystery here tacks a backseat to the characters. The author explores his characters as people who think and feel in realistic ways, not as the cookie cutter puppets lesser writers use to populate their stories.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Full-Tilt Boogie, 29 Dec 2001
By Sherrie Martin "sherchez" - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Little Girl Blue (Hardcover)
Lt. Julia Brennan is a hardened NYPD homicide detective who's seen it all when she catches the case of a small, naked girl found dead in Central Park. The sight of the tiny corpse, blue with cold, affects Julia like no other has, and she vows to find the killer, no matter what. Working with Peter Foley, an undercover cop with the Sex Crimes Unit, Julia is appalled at the breadth and depth of perversity she discovers is flourishing in her city. Peter not only poses as a pedophile, but maintains a Web site designed to attract these bottom-feeders. Julia finds herself attracted to Peter, but wonders how wallowing in the dark sewers of depravity as he does could fail to affect him in ways she doesn't want to contemplate. As the investigation leads to foreign adoption agencies selling children into slavery, many of the potential suspects turn up dead. And Peter knew who and where each of them was. Can Julia trust him? This is a chilling novel dealing intelligently with an ugly subject, tautly written with crisp dialogue and dazzling continuity flowing along at full-tilt boogie speed, absolutely compelling reading. I haven't figured out who David Cray is a pseudonym for, though I have a couple of guesses, but what a master of the crime novel.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Tight, Tense, and Gritty....., 19 Jan 2002
By Roz Levine - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Little Girl Blue (Hardcover)
NYPD Homicide Detective, Lieutenant Julia Brennan, thought she was hardened and unshakable. She had seen it all, the very worst elements of society, and the carnage they so often left behind. But this crime scene was different, and it had a profound effect on her. A little girl, no more than eight or nine, naked, and frozen, lying in Central Park. Her tiny blue body was curled in a fetal position, and her bare feet cut and scraped from running. Who was this "Little Girl Blue", where had she come from, and why had no one reported seeing a naked child fleeing down the streets of the upper east side? Against all her better judgement and police training, this case becomes personal, and Lieutenant Brennan finds herself investigating a part of New York City's underground that she didn't know even existed...the lucrative world of pedophiles, child pornography, and slavery. As the case progresses, she finds herself drawn into this world, and willing to risk everything to get to the truth, and bring Little Girl Blue's killers to justice..... David Cray is back with a dark police procedural that's tense, compelling, and full of riveting, suspenseful, and gritty scenes. His writing is engaging, crisp, and intelligent with a great ear for dialogue, and his well drawn characters are original and believable. But it's Mr Cray's atmospheric portrait of New York and its underbelly that makes this novel stand out, and his indepth research and attention to detail adds real credibility to the plot, and brings the story and characters to life. Little Girl Blue is a disturbing and realistic, fast paced, page turner that grabs you from page one, and doesn't let go. David Cray never disappoints. This is a novel that should definitely be at the very top of every mystery/thriller fan's "must read" list.
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