The Dog Killer Of Utica: An Eliot Conte Mystery

Description

After the events of The Accidental Pallbearer, Eliot Conte decides to leave the private eye game and return to his great love: teaching American literature. He has also embarked on a relationship with Catherine Cruz, the policewoman he met while unravelling the story of his father's involvement with a major Mob hit in the 70s. But the peace doesn't last long: one of Eliot's students, a Bosnian Muslim, disappears, leaving a trail of texts and emails that suggest a terrorism plot Meanwhile, the tightknit community is disturbed by a series of brutal murders of pet dogs.

FRANK LENTRICCHIA was raised in Utica, New York, to working class, first generation Italian-American parents. A chaired professor of literature at Duke University, he is the author of several highly acclaimed and often controversial critical studies; novels, including Johnny Critelli and The Knifemen; and a memoir, The Edge of Night.

"Idiosyncratic yet gripping." -Wall Street Journal "I have never read a book in a day...until I read this! The final page had my skin rippled in goosebumps... Fresh and compelling." -Promoting Crime Fiction "The Dog Killer of Utica - the second to feature Eliot - may hold particular appeal to those who like Chandler and Spillane, who have a dark sense of humour and a liking for the tough guy school of American fiction." -Crime Review "Fast-paced... Terse, screenplaylike prose propels the action through Utica's mean streets." -Publishers Weekly "The pages sizzle with intensity in this gritty, operatic, and wholly engaging tale. No matter if readers are new to the characters (introduced in The Accidental Pallbearer), Lentricchia's crystal-clear prose spells it out. Reckless and passionate, his protagonist demands attention." -Library Journal, starred review "The story, which is told in the present tense for maximum suspense, is dark and tragic, and it's nearly impossible to turn away from it. A terrific crime novel." -Booklist, starred review "Lentricchia...writes great scenes and sentences, and several of the characters-especially a tough-girl bodyguard, a right-wing radio ranter and Conte's precocious 13-year-old neighbor-are keepers." -Kirkus Reviews Praise for Frank Lentricchia and The Accidental Pallbearer "Frank Lentricchia's new novel ranks as entertainment of a high order-funny, fast-moving, and hot-blooded. It's also the kind of novel that will appeal to readers who like their fiction to carry depth and range." -Don DeLillo "Bravissimo!" -Lisa Scottoline, author of Accused "The Accidental Pallbearer is a brilliant piece of fiction, and a page-turner to boot, able to stand shoulder to shoulder with the best writing in America today." -Jay Parini "The Accidental Pallbearer deserves to be read alongside the best literary detective fiction of our time. Lentricchia's protagonist is the antihero par excellence-you can't put him down, either physically or emotionally." -John R. MacArthur, publisher, Harper's "Gripping, complex . . . Utica here functions much as the Swedish town Ystad does for Henning Mankell in his books about Wallander . . . An excellent start for these Eliot Conte books. Can't wait for the next one-and the cable-TV series." -The Philadelphia Inquirer "Full of bits and pieces of authentic Utica history, altered and molded into a totally fictional story that is fast-paced and thrilling, scene after scene. It has the hard-bitten diction and action of 'Film Noir.' " -The Utica Observer-Dispatch "There's a Quentin Tarantino masculinity to this story of a private investigator known for solving knotty problems in not-quite-lawful ways." -The Charlotte Observer "If you like your crime very noir, very hard-boiled and very American, then this is the novel for you." -The Telegraph (London) "Lentricchia captures the feel of upstate New York (Richard Russo territory) and of Italian American culture within a familiar genre, with predictable grit and wit." -Booklist "The terrific writing, clever plots, bleak humor, and colorful characters recommend this to fans of gritty noir crime fiction." -Library Journal (starred review)