Silent City: (Pete Fernandez Book 1) (Pete Fernandez, 1)
Silent City: (Pete Fernandez Book 1) (Pete Fernandez, 1) book cover

Silent City: (Pete Fernandez Book 1) (Pete Fernandez, 1)

Paperback – March 15, 2016

Price
$11.68
Format
Paperback
Pages
304
Publisher
Polis Books
Publication Date
ISBN-13
978-1940610719
Dimensions
5.4 x 0.9 x 8.3 inches
Weight
12 ounces

Description

Outstanding praise for SILENT CITY "Murder, mayhem, Miami...and every character has their own great taste in music. Silent City knows that every city has its own dark and twisted personality. And so do its inhabitants. Take a chance and step inside." x97Brad Meltzer, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE INNER CIRCLE, as well as the bestsellers THE TENTH JUSTICE, DEAD EVEN, THE FIRST COUNSEL, THE MILLIONAIRES, THE ZERO GAME, THE BOOK OF FATE and THE BOOK OF LIES "Segura's command of tight plotting and realistic characters keeps this energetic debut on track." x97The Miami Herald "In Silent City, Segura shines a light on a Miami not often seen, one in which neon and glitz are supplanted by the hardscrabble grit of folks just trying to get by. Silent City is a coiled snake, twist after twist bringing you ever closer to its final, stinging bite." x97Chris F. Holm, bestselling author of DEAD HARVEST, THE WRONG GOODBYE and THE BIG REAP "Miami glows hot in this debut - Alex Segura is a name to watch." x97Jeff Abbott, New York Times bestselling author of DOWNFALL "Silent City screams off the page! Someone lock Alex Segura in a room until he churns out more tales of Pete Fernandez's Miami! As someone once wrote, 'Please sir, I want more.'" x97Kevin Flynn, author of NOTES ON A KILLING, LEGALLY DEAD and OUR LITTLE SECRET "Silent City is a top-notch thriller. The action is non-stop, the tension is relentless, and in Pete Fernandez, Alex Segura has created the most compelling, original, and complex multi-layered hero I've encountered in years." x97Andrew Grant, bestselling author of EVEN, DIE TWICE and RUN "Silent City is a noir page-turner I couldn't put down, a race through the Miami tourists don't see. I loved the book, and can't wait for the next one. Alex Segura is a writer to watch." x97Sara Gran, bestselling author of DOPE and CLAIRE DEWITT AND THE CITY OF THE DEAD "Silent City is a page-turner right from the get-go, fast and furious and with plenty of bite." x97Adam Christopher, bestselling author of EMPIRE STATE and THE BURNING DARK "A thrilling read that picks up speed with each page. This book was a fantastic debut in the mystery genre, and I m ecstatic that Pete Fernandez has his own series. Looking forward to more from Segura." x97Steve Weddle, acclaimed author of COUNTRY HARDBALL "A gritty murder mystery/detective story set in Miami among the ruins of the old guard media." x97The Huffington Post "Segura is off to a good start with Silent City." x97 The Sun-Sentinel One of Crimespree Magazine s Favorite Reads of 2013 "Alex Segura nails the mood his first time out with his debut novel, SILENT CITY. He takes the reader on a rough and tumble tour of his hometown of Miami, Florida. But hold on. this isn't the Miami of USA Network's Burn Notice. No one is cracking wise with a drink by the ocean; Segura's Miami is haunted by a silent killer while our hero is haunted by his failures." x97Crimespree Magazine "Both a classic and unique detective novel...a pretty powerful and exciting tale." x97CriminalElement.com "Segura pulls off an evolution of character I can t recall having seen in recent crime fiction. He also uses the dark corners and alleyways of Miami, untouched by the neon of South Beach, to create a criminal's playground that leaves in the reader's mouth a cheap beer aftertaste that blends well with the scent of stale smoke permeating the room. If trench-coat-and-Stetson-hat fiction were a genre, Silent City would be right at home in it." x97The Florida Book Review "Instead of a down-on-his-luck PI who somehow manages to be a step ahead of everything, Pete stumbles to try and keep up. Surprisingly charming and doggedly determined, he's a little bit Harry Dresden and a lot Clint Barton from Matt Fraction s Hawkeye. Segura writes some fantastic action sequences and keeps the suspense humming throughout the story. It's book you find yourself needing to finish, just so you can see if Pete manages to survive the mess he s pulled himself into." x97BookRiot.com "Forget the neon lights. Forget the glitz. Forget the bikinis and mojitos. And get ready for the other side of Miami." --- CrimeFictionLover.com"The new George Pelecanos is here...I was really impressed with this debut." -- Son of Spade"Silent City feels refreshing in large part because the characters ring true. They re motivated by recognizable emotions, and behave in believable ways when thrust into desperate situations. The story is set around a newspaper. And as a former longtime newspaper reporter myself, I can verify that Segura nailed the different personality types who haunt newsrooms." - Tom Joyce's Chamber of the Bizarre"Silent City was a quick read. I finished it in just a few days, and by the time I was reaching the climax, I was turning off the television and flying through the last twenty pages just to know what happened to Pete and his friends." --- Bookoisseur.com"Set in Miami, the city comes to life in the author s hands rich and vivid with a definite dark underbelly, it put me in mind of Miami Vice a show I used to love which visually had the same feel to it bright lights and warm nights hiding a less salubrious reality where danger lurks around every corner." - Liz Loves Books"Segura has a way with characterization and exhibits serious promise in his debut novel." -13th Dimension"Tightly plotted, Silent City is a fast, compelling read, one set to an impeccable soundtrack. Segura clearly knows his way around a vinyl collection, deftly using music to set moods as well for characterization. Pete is a likeable protagonist-the fact that he's an amateur detective gives him a kind of scrappy credibility as he bumbles along in the early stages of his investigation." - Black Heart Magazine"Alex Segura details Pete's struggles and captures his downward spiral perfectly. You really feel for him but also at the same time Alex makes you feel like most of it is his own doing." --Crime Book Club Alex Segura is a novelist, comic book writer, and musician. He’s the best-selling author of the Archie Meets Kiss storyline and SVP at Red Circle/Archie Comics. Alex also performs regularly in New York as part of the indie rock group Faulkner Detectives. He lives in New York with his wife and two cats, and is a Miami native.

Features & Highlights

  • "The new George Pelecanos is here." — Son of Spade
  • Pete Fernandez is a mess. He's on the brink of being fired from his middle-management newspaper job. His fiancée has up and left him. Now, after the sudden death of his father, he's back in his hometown of Miami, slowly drinking himself into oblivion. But when a co-worker he barely knows asks Pete to locate a missing daughter, Pete finds himself dragged into a tale of murder, drugs, double-crosses and memories bursting from the black heart of the Miami underworld - and, shockingly, his father's past.Making it up as he goes and stumbling as often as he succeeds, Pete's surreptitious quest becomes the wake-up call he's never wanted but has always needed - but one with deadly consequences. Welcome to Silent City, a story of redemption, broken friendships, lost loves and one man's efforts to make peace with a long-buried past to save the lives of the few friends he has left. SILENT CITY is a gritty, heartfelt debut novel that harkens back to classic P.I. tales, but infused with the Miami that only Alex Segura knows.

Customer Reviews

Rating Breakdown

★★★★★
30%
(97)
★★★★
20%
(65)
★★★
15%
(48)
★★
7%
(23)
28%
(90)

Most Helpful Reviews

✓ Verified Purchase

Work in Progress

I purchased this book based on blurbs and advertisements that were posted on various book-related web sites. There is alot to chew on with this book, which is a plus, but I found I couldn't 'click' with it. I couldn't buy that the main character Pete, a reporter with a downward spiraling career helped by his nightly drinking binges, would stumble upon a complex criminal syndicate that everyone around him has somehow missed. (This all comes in to play after Pete starts looking into a colleague's disappearance for her estranged father. ) Sometimes you can work through the holes in a story if there's other components to grab onto. But it was a challenge to warm up to Pete, even after halfway through the story.

Having said that, the writer clearly knows his subject matter, and the locales. He uses dialogue well and keeps the pace moving. Perhaps I wasn't in the right frame of mind when I picked up the book. I will try reading another book in the series to see if I gain a different perspective.
2 people found this helpful
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Strange, dissonant, but intriguing and starring a great protagonist

There was a lot of good stuff and a lot of bad stuff in that novel. What I'll say though is that it was interesting. The greatest sin of a novel is being flat and SILENT CITY definitely isn't.

The Good

I really liked Pete Fernandez, thought he was adorably messy and pigheaded. I understood why he was pursuing a crazy-dangerous investigation. He's looking for a purpose, a reason to live as his existence disintegrates around him. I loved learning about his life and his brokenness and imagined the always underrated Mark Ruffalo playing him all the time.

The Bad

The plot was really quirky in the sense that it works given that a certain type of character is cast. It is very "Cobra-ish" but Pete Fernandez is the further this from Marion Cobretti, so there is a certain dissonance between the tone and the content making it sound a tad cartoonish. Alex Segura also has a tendency to overexplain everything that rubbed me the wrong way. You know why the telephone rings, what characters are thinking, what the details in the landscape mean to everybody. Some readers might like it. I thought it was overbearing.

I'll review it in greater detail on Dead End Follies this Friday. I thought it was a promising debut for a character that is barely finding his comfort zone. It's flawed, but interestingly so. I'll be reading the sequel DOWN THE DARKEST STREET in a month or so, so keep an eye on this too.
2 people found this helpful
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gritty detective story that beautifully captures the city of Miami's dark underworld and vibrant ...

A suspenseful, gritty detective story that beautifully captures the city of Miami's dark underworld and vibrant setting. And while the mystery is engaging, it's the main character, struggling alcoholic Pete Fernandez, that pushes the story through. I kept rooting for him every step of the way. Can't wait to read its sequels.
1 people found this helpful
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Pick this book up!

This is a well written story that's hard to put down. Good character development and enough mystery and suspense to take you all the way to the end of the book wanting more. Luckily there's a second and third book. I can't wait to get my hands on them.
1 people found this helpful
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Pick this book up!

This is a well written story that's hard to put down. Good character development and enough mystery and suspense to take you all the way to the end of the book wanting more. Luckily there's a second and third book. I can't wait to get my hands on them.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Pick this book up!

This is a well written story that's hard to put down. Good character development and enough mystery and suspense to take you all the way to the end of the book wanting more. Luckily there's a second and third book. I can't wait to get my hands on them.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Pick this book up!

This is a well written story that's hard to put down. Good character development and enough mystery and suspense to take you all the way to the end of the book wanting more. Luckily there's a second and third book. I can't wait to get my hands on them.
1 people found this helpful
✓ Verified Purchase

Pick this book up!

This is a well written story that's hard to put down. Good character development and enough mystery and suspense to take you all the way to the end of the book wanting more. Luckily there's a second and third book. I can't wait to get my hands on them.
1 people found this helpful
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Four Stars

A fun, fast read with a compelling antagonist. Looking forward to more from Alex Segura.
1 people found this helpful
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Spicy Miami Noir

A fast-paced noir thriller soaked in Miami atmosphere. A definite recommendation to anyone who loves thrillers, mysteries and detective novels.
1 people found this helpful