Flood

What is it about revenge that makes it such a vicariously satisfying experience? While most people would never act on their impulses for it, the desire for vengeance can be an overwhelming pleasure. To read about, or see, characters who follow their baser emotions can make for a thrilling ride.
Enter Andrew Vachss. A lawyer who has specialized in crimes against children, Vachss has condensed and distilled all his rage on the subject, and has created a revenge fantasy that may be one of the nastiest stories put to page.
FLOOD, Vachss' first novel, introduces the reader to Burke, an anti-hero like no other. Not necessarily a hitman, Burke is more of an avenging angel for hire, if he can be convinced the cause is worthy, and his Neopolitan mastiff Pansy doesn't rip a prospective client to shreds. His existence consists of an odd assortment of hookers, restaurant owners, gambling, and Max the Silent, his spiritual brother, and possibly the most dangerous man on Earth.
Into this world enters Flood, a woman with a dilemma. She wants Burke to find a man. When he is found, she will kill him. Burke doesn't immediately jump at the opportunity, but the man Flood wants is, among other things, a pedophile. For reasons that are his own, Burke has a particular intense hatred for child molesters. Soon enough, he agrees to help, for a price.
Vachss' novels (this is the first of many Burke novels) are as hard-boiled as they come. The characters can be seen as ridiculous in the light of day, but in Vachss' hands, they take on an eerie nobility. I say eerie, because in most circumstances, you would never sit next to any of his characters on a bus. It's quite a feat to write novels based on people you'd be afraid to even glance at, and still make them entertaining. But Vachss has a genuine empathy for his characters. His novels are not disposable. They are far too well-written to be dismissed as mere 'entertainment'.
There are some who might gripe about the uneasy moral tones of the novel. The idea of taking the law into your own hands is a repugnant quality in most aspects of our lives. But almost all literary heroes can be defined as loners who work outside of convention. Is Burke different than any number of fictional characters who do what we cannot, or dare not? Burke himself realizes that his universe is not for everyone. He did not create the world, he only does what he can to survive within it.
Burke's world is fictional, to an extent. The underbelly of society he inhabits may be seductive in its way, but it is a heightened reality that is hard to swallow sometimes. But Vachss is an able tourguide. And he understands what makes revenge such an irresistible emotion, and a dangerous one as well.

So, first of all, this book came out in the eighties. And it's still in print, which means it must be selling reasonably well. I can't figure out the appeal. I was intrigued by the free sample on Barnes and Noble's web site, so I bought the book. Intrigue quickly turned to disappointment, which turned to an almost-hatred as I forced myself to continue reading despite the fact that the book really had no point whatsoever.

The novel follows the trials and tribulations of "Burke," the main character. Like Cher and Madonna, he only has one name. Unlike the musicians, however, I can't figure out where his lasting appeal might be. The start of the novel has an attention-getting hardboiled, noirish narration style that I really liked. That mostly fizzles over the course of the book, however. The hardboiled style gives way in very short order to plain old lazy writing. Nothing is described beyond the obvious details, and even these are sort of insultingly thrown at the reader, as if we should just accept that the sparse detail and simple words are cool and Chandler-esque. Only they aren't. They lack any of the poetry of Chandler and serve no purpose, really, except to ensure that a fourth-grader would have no trouble understanding what's going on. Similes are repeated over and over and over again, each time with the implication that they're as clever the third or fourth time as they were the first (example: a meditating woman is "like a battery recharging." This must have been repeated at least three times). The occasional attempts at humor are never subtle winks, always hand buzzers and whoopee cushions. For example, Burke has a dog named Pansy. This is funny because the dog is really mean. GET IT?!? In case you don't, the author reminds you of why this is humorous over and over and over and over again.

As I kept reading, realizing that the writing was not going to be good, I hoped the novel would redeem itself with its plot or its characters. Sadly, this was not to be. Here is the entire plot of the novel:

Burke is hired to help find a child abuser so his client, a beautiful martial arts expert, can kill him (the child abuser).
Burke has difficulty finding the child abuser.
Burke eventually finds the child abuser - I won't spoil anything for you, but he does this in a way that he could easily have done from the very beginning of the novel.
The beautiful woman kills the child abuser.
Then, for some reason, another mini-plot is thrown into the last twenty pages where Burke and his ragtag gang of misfits has to scare a pimp into leaving town. They do this.
THE END

There is never any mystery to the proceedings. There's never any suspense - at all. Burke is never in a particularly dangerous situation, and if he is, the situation is always wrapped up in a paragraph or two without any major impact on the story. Much of the novel is spent pursuing a potential source - and when Burke and his client find the source, they immediately kill him without even attempting to get any information from him. As I mentioned above, the novel's conclusion could have easily been initiated from the very beginning of the plot. Instead, you have to read about Burke and his gadgets as they wander aimlessly around New York for three hundred pages.

Did I say gadgets? Oh yes I did. Burke, it turns out, despite having almost no money and running a variety of scams just to keep his head above water (if that sounds interesting - it's not), is somehow better outfitted than Batman. Here's a list of just a few of his gadgets:

- razor sharp rims on his tires to deter car thieves
- his car's cigarette lighter, when depressed, causes the rear blinkers to start flashing "SOS"
- his car, a Plymouth, has a specially-built 40-gallon gas tank
- it also has a modified engine that allows the car to outrun any regular cop car
- his tape deck records any conversations that take place in the car
- he has a button on his desk that causes the stairs leading to his office to disappear
- his office windows are electrified to protect against intruders
- he has a "lipstick tube" that fires bullets

Yeah, so if any of this sounds ridiculous, that's because it is. And do you know what's even more ridiculous? I'll tell you. What's even more ridiculous is that he NEVER USES ANY OF THESE GADGETS AT ANY TIME IN THIS NOVEL! For some reason the author throws in references to all of these gadgets Burke has, perhaps thinking that they are cool, but none of them are ever necessary (as I pointed out above, Burke is literally never in danger at any time in this story). So Burke will just casually say stuff like, "if I depress my cigarette lighter, the rear blinkers will start flashing SOS." And you'll think, well, that's probably going to come into play later. NOPE! I'm not joking about this. I only listed about half of the gadgets Burke casually mentions that he has, and not one single gadget is at any point used in this book.

Okay, so the plot is drivel, the writing is bad, there are all these weird gadgets thrown in. Maybe the characters are at least interesting? If you are expecting that the answer to this question will be affirmative, I have disappointing news. Let's just run through the major characters:

BURKE: Private detective. Only has one name. "A survivor," as he says over and over again in the novel. I can't count the number of times he said "I survive" or "Survival is what I'm good at," or some variation of those words in this story. More than twenty, for sure. Paranoid beyond any reason. Example: all of his gadgets, which he never uses. Another example: his dog, which he has trained to attack anyone who walks into his office unless Burke specifically tells the dog not to attack. This seems like a plan that will eventually backfire. Burke has also "poison-proofed" his dog, teaching the dog not to eat food unless Burke first says "Speak!" Who is after this guy that all of these things are necessary? As far as I could tell from reading the novel cover to cover, no one.

FLOOD: The title character. Full name, Michelle Flood. A beautiful blond martial arts expert. This book's antagonist killed her best friend and raped and killed her best friend's child. Flood wants revenge. Flood meditates a lot ("like a battery recharging," or like an author repeating the same phrases three times a chapter). Flood gets into a romantic relationship with Burke, a relationship that materializes out of nowhere. So the reader won't think Burke is going soft, Burke usually yells at Flood and reminds her how naive she is shortly after each of their liaisons. He also reminds her that he, Burke, is a survivor. Survival is what he does.

MAX THE SILENT: An Asian martial arts expert, Burke's "brother" because they both did time together. He is mute (get it? That's why they call him "Max the SILENT," duh!). Burke communicates with Max via a sort of simplified sign language. Some of the book's best unintentional humor can be found in these passages, as Burke communicates elaborate, detailed messages to Max in a couple of simple hand gestures, and Max always understands perfectly.

THE MOLE: A guy who lives in a junkyard, mostly underground or in a shed or something. He is very pale, because he doesn't often see the sunlight. In case you forget that he is pale, the narrator reminds you every time that he makes an appearance. He's Jewish (his dog is named Simba-witz. GET IT?! -witz is a JEWISH SUFFIX!!! But in case you didn't get it, once again, the narrator EXPLICITLY TELLS YOU THAT THIS WHY THE DOG IS NAMED SIMBA-WITZ). He's also a gadget expert. Despite having lived away from civilization in a junkyard for a very long time, it is no challenge for The Mole to do anything you want to electrical lines, security systems, or phone lines. He is also, for some reason, good at procuring fake uniforms for various types of work.

MAMA WONG: Her last name is Wong. She is Chinese. She runs a Chinese restaurant. 85% of her dialogue is "You want soup?" She probably says this forty or fifty times over the course of the novel, as Burke is for some reason constantly in her restaurant.

MICHELLE: Not the same Michelle as Michelle Flood, although it's an interesting (stupid) choice to make two major characters share the same first name. THIS Michelle is a transsexual prostitute. She is funny because she used to be a man, but now she is a woman and she has ATTITUDE! Oh, do not even THINK of bothering her before she has a chance to put her face on, girlfriend! I know you did NOT expect her to go to that warehouse without her makeup case! Sadly, this is obviously the author's attempt to create a sympathetic, likeable character. She is 100% stereotypical gay man, except she's a transsexual.

THE PROPHET: A homeless black guy who speaks in rhyme. He's called the Prophet because he's thought to be very wise, or he can tell the future, or something (it's never made clear). The author uses this character to make a lot of would-be profound observations. As usual, it's mostly just the same observation repeated over and over again: "Where else but in New York can you find a prophet on a stairway?" or "The streets were cold, and the Prophet was in his park." or "I watched the Cobra pass a prophet with a shoe-shine kit." etc, etc, etc, to infinity.

THE COBRA: Yep, that is the name of the bad guy in this novel. Really, I should have stopped reading right here. I don't know why I continued. Maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. Anyway, his name is The Cobra, and he kills people and he rapes children. That's all we ever really find out about him. At the end, when they finally catch up with him, there's no big climactic discussion about his motives or confession of what he's done. He has roughly two lines that amount, roughly, to "What's going on here?" and "I have to fight HER? hahaha I will beat her easily because she is a woman and I am a man!" Then Flood beats the crap out of him and he dies, end of story. You never learn much about this villain, not at the end of the novel, not at any time prior to the end of the novel, and for that reason it's hard to really hate him. You know what he's done, and that's horrible, but it's not personal to the reader - it just feels like you've seen a dossier on the guy. The book never takes that to the next level, it fails to bring his evil up on display.

And that's it. Those are more or less all the characters. So, to summarize:
- bad writing, filled with strained metaphors that are repeated about a million times
- stereotypical, one-dimensional, just plain boring characters
- no plot to speak of. There's nothing happening here that's even slightly more complicated than a maze you see on the back of a children's menu at Shoneys.

I kept reading because I was telling myself that it just had to get better. A book can't be in print this long and be this bad. But it is. Trust me. It is. I cannot for the life of me figure out how this book ever got published in the first place, let alone how it is still in print - let alone how it kicked off a fifteen-book (?) series!

This is a bad, bad novel. I'm giving it two stars because the first two chapters sucked me in, but believe me when I say that it is all steeply downhill from there. Avoid at all costs.

...than to turn away because you don't like what you see. Vachss's work is compelling; his stories are the product of what he has seen in his long-standing and ongoing defense of children.
I've prosecuted criminal cases for eleven years. Sadly, I can tell you that Vachss's "fiction" is grounded in the real world. That means the man won't be bound by crime fiction convention, and those who live and die by formula will be disappointed. But more importantly, it also means his books are required reading for anyone interested in learning how and why we fight the War to keep our children safe. Highly recommended.

I am someone who has read the entire Burke series, and many of Mr. Vachss other unique, disturbing, and informative novels about the inter relation between Child Abuse of all kinds and Crime, of all kinds. It isn't for everyone. It's violent, sad, disturbing, and enraging work, by turns. It's also disturbingly true, as anyone who has worked in the court, criminal justice, or mental health system will instantly recoginize. It's also very compassionate towards wounded children in ways that are not an insult or false monument to their suffering. These are the thoughts and perceptions of a character and author that are all too aware of the worst human tendecies, and have some distinct, and direct ideas about how to address them. Flood is a good starting point. If you can handle the particulars of this peice, you can handle the others, as it seems Mr. Vachss work stays consistently challengeing to our society and its screwed up values. While similar to Thomas Harris' work in its technical details and clinical accuracy, Mr. Vachss lacks the formers weird sense of voyeurism and grosteque detail for it's own sensational sake. Anyone who wants some idea of why and how "senseless" crime happens, and what it ultimately costs it's particpants, victims, and society, this is a good clue. Wake up and smell the napalm....

This was Andrew Vachss' first Burke series crime novel, and it is something of a gem. The book is now in its bazillionth reprint and you can usually find it on your bookstore shelves (or in the local library) even though its initial publication was back in 1985. 20 years! Many books fall off the face of the Earth after 20 years, but this is one of those that's persevered.

So who is this Burke guy? Well, he's a tough little S.O. B. who knows the streets of New York and utilizes them to his advantage. He's not above taking on a job that results in the death of a scumbag (no trial needed here), nor does he have any qualms about not paying any bills (like rent or telephone. He "borrows" his neighbor's phone without their knowledge). He lives in a small office space with his pet dog, Pansy. A loveable but ultimately frightening creature who guards Burke's possessions.

One day, a woman contacts Burke and asks to meet with him. Her name is Flood and she has a problem: a friend of hers was killed by someone named "The Cobra" and she wants revenge. She's been training in Japan under the tutelage of a master Karate instructor in preparation for the day she meets The Cobra, too.

Burke has to pool all of his resources in order to find out about The Cobra. I mean, he wouldn't mind getting rid of a true slime, but he wants to be sure that he's on the right side. So Burke deploys his "team" of New York misfits, hoping to find out more about The Cobra. Among this gathering are Burke's long time friend (and adopted brother), Max the Silent. He's a martial arts expert with the grace of Gene Kelley and the powerhouse body of Arnold Schwarzenegger during his Mr. Universe days. Then there's Michelle, the beautiful prostitute with a heart of gold and the plumbing of a man! She's Burkes' ears on the street. The Mole is Burkes' geek-in-residence who lives in a junkyard and has the IQ of Albert Einstein. He's the man you call when you need anything mechanical or electronic manipulated . . . or blown up.

Burke also uses some pull that he has with various political figures within the city and with someone named The Prophet, a man who lives on the streets of New York City but has the pulse of the Big Apple wrapped inside himself. An amazing character.

With the help of his "team", Burke finds The Cobra, and the final scene between Flood and her enemy comes to a head. Who will win? Can revenges' thirst be quenched so easily?

What drew me into this story was the author's abilities. His narrative prose bulldozed by without ever slowing down. I was amazed to see that, during my first sitting with the book, I'd read over 50 pages. That's how fast this book reads. Also, the characters are so memorable that you never have to look back and see who is who. You KNOW these people. They're flawed and terrible and great and bad.

I also found it interesting that Mr. Vacchs incorporated a lot of the sexual underworld in the book. Pornography, child abuse, prostitution, all make their ugly appearances but without smacking the reader in the face with their obvious unpleasantness.

The fact that this book was entitled FLOOD also made me smile. A "flood" is a natural occurring phenomenon, a natural disaster that you can't control. I found that to be very appropriate for the title.

I am a fan of James Lee Burke, Alan Furst, Robert Parker, John Sandeford, etc., and I really hoped to like this novel by Andrew Vachss. It's a lot of fun to discover a new series of books you know you are going to like?
Sad to say, I couldn't finish this novel. I found the tone confusing. Sometimes the writer seemed to be making fun of the main character, and sometimes he seemed to be taking him seriously.
There were irrelevant asides, such as the story about the lawyer defending the dog. The story seem forced, and not nerely as funny as the author wanted it to be. I had the feeling the writer was trying too hard to make me laugh.
And what's with all the impossible and implausable gadgets, the alarms all over the office, the secret entrances? All of this kind of stuff seemed Mickey Mouse, as though Vachss had been reading too many comic books.
There are lots of excellent, beautifully written novels in the mystery/detective genre. This is not one of them. I got the feeling the writer doesn't take writing seriously.

"Flood" is the first novel featuring the anti-hero Burke, and the best place to get to know him and his crew. Especially since later novels build one on top of the other more than is usual for a "detective" series. Burke is not a happy man. He survives despite the vast emptiness he feels inside. Emptiness that he calls "The Zero." Abandoned as a child, he grew up hard in the system. Only now as he approaches middle age has he developed any sort of wisdom. When the femme fatale "Flood" comes into his life with her own tragic background, she does the worst to Burke, she begins to make him feel. In addition to being the first Burke novel, this is also one of the best.

I recently revisited the first book in Vachss' BURKE series -- FLOOD. This book still holds up and shows what an inventive and original writer Vachss really is. When it was originally released it was a tour de force of masterful and original crime fiction. Something that the genre was seriously lacking -- precise, hard-hitting writing combined with anger and outrage at the crimes visited upon society's innocents. Many years later the book still stands as a uniquely original and compelling piece of fiction-fact. We all know *now* the truth of what Vachss writes. To try and compare him to anyone else writing in the crime-fiction genre just isn't possible and does other authors a disservice. FLOOD is a one of a kind masterpiece and Vachss is a one of a kind writer, who writes from ground zero in the war against the predators who prey on the innocents.

This is the first in the Burke series. I read the second (didn't even know they were a series at the time) when I was a teen... you really don't need the first to read the second... Anyways, I read it, and thought "yes". Burke is a con artist, an ocasional murderer, a paranoid (but they're really after him) and a theif. He lives on the edges of the gene pool, where the scum grows thick and green. He also, incedentaly, hates loaths and despises child molesters and abusers in general. Voilla, a story is born. Flood, as the first book, is also the first of several tough sexy women, all physically different but all sharing similar charactistcs (Vachss doesn't deal in innocence much, unless it's in how it was taken away).
Andrew Vachss became somewhat of a target of controversy for writing these books; some people say he's capitalizing on child abuse, others think he should be sainted for drawing such unflattering attention to it & campaigning against it. Personaly, I give less than a smidge for the politics of my authors; if I had to research the backgrounds of everyone who writes the books I read I'd never bother to read. I generaly just judge a book on how it was written. And I really, really like these books. They crack me up (ok, so some people seem to think they're morbid and cynical. So?) and [annoys me]at the same time.
If there's one thing about this series that gets to me it's a sameness about the women as Vachss writes them. Not a physical sameness... he's good about that. And as characters, they stand out vividly in mind. But... while Vachss characterizes his main people extremely well (I love Michelle and the Mole) he doesn't give as much depth to the ones who arn't sticking around. They tell their stories and step offstage.
The stories get more complex later in the series, and better, which is why this one - as simple, prefect and sweet as it is - gets only 4 stars. I'd call it 4.5, but there's no catagory for half stars.
People with a low threshhold for the really grim stuff in life should read these in moderation.

...The novel introduces us to the toughest, take-no-[stuff]-I-dare-you-to-take-a-swing-at-me-if-you-value-your-life detectives, Burke (no first name, just that)!!! Set in what would seem to be a pre-Giuliani New York City, Vachss's narrative strikes you harder than a locomotive. The story deals a lot in the shady business of sex, prostitution, pedophilia and good old revenge. If you read the book twice, you may even get a scent of a love story in there too. The main female character, in which the book is named after, Flood, wants revenge on her friend's and her daughter's killer. She wants Burke to catch the bad guy, so that she could kill him herself. We know the killer. We know the ending. We know what's going to happen. Then what is it that makes this book such a pleasurable read? For one, it's the style of the writing. Narrated from Burke's point of view, you just can't stop feeling amazed by this man and the way he thinks. He's tough, but not into guns and killing. He's loud, but not into the screaming and shouting aspect of it. He's paranoid, but not in the freaky sense of the word. And he has the most ecelectic group of friends (and a dog) that are as mixed as a Macintosh Quality street candy box. Reading how Burke goes on with his everyday life is pure unadulterated entertainment at its best. You just can't be amazed enough at his antics and his witty narration.
Vachss cuts back on the English language, making his book accessible to many readers. The theme, however, is very real and very much mature. Looking back to his experiences with kids, Vachss knows how to punch the right buttons and pull the neecssary strings to make the reader feel his cause.
This is an excellent, in-your-face book that's high on the entertainment factor, but with a moral. Burke is one tough hombre, and with Vachss keeping his origins still a mystery, his character is unforgettable. I'm definitely going to have to read another Vachss novel (Burke all the way, baby). The style and characters have got on to me and will get on with anyone who is swept away by this gem of a book.