'46, Chicago

We took the kids to a local dollar store to buy our Christmas gifts and I thought I'd head off something really cheesy by grabbing a few books for them to get me. I'd never heard of Steve Monroe but the dust jacket made this one sound at least readable and it proved to be much better than that. The cover blurbs compare him to James Ellroy and that seems apt. The hero of the novel--less anti-heroic than some of Mr. Ellroy's characters--is Chicago cop Gus Carson. As a marine in WWII he was very nearly killed in a ship-sinking reminiscent of that of the USS Indianapolis and saw nearly all the men around him die in horrible ways as they floated in shark-infested waters awaiting rescue. After being orphaned he was raised by a crooked cop and became his protege, but, having survived the war, he's determined to correct at least some of the errors of his ways. So, when he's suspended from the force after a shooting in a whorehouse, he's hired to do some investigating by a wealthy and politically ambitious Republican businessman, who gets a less pliable gumshoe than he'd bargained on. The combination of a dirty past and a relatively clean present affords Mr. Monroe a protagonist who's plenty tough but easy to root for and he serves up the tale with plenty of bark on. It's a very good modern riff on classic noir.

If you like gritty city tough guys Chicago '46 is for you. It has the taste of inner city grime in every bite. As George Pelecanos flays D.C.'s skin open to reveal the infernal workings of the city's walking wounded, down and out junkies and brown bag alchoholics, Monroe shows us the stomach if not the heart of post-war Chicago. Monroe echoes Estelman in Gus Carson as a post military angel with skinned knuckles and part time conscience. All in all Monroe has built an extraordinary foundation for multi-volume series. Dave Robichaux and Earl Swagger watch out!

This book is awesome. This just isn't another waste of time Patterson/Grisham or Balducci book. This guy has talent. It's a page turner and not predictable. As the title suggests set in Chicago shortly following the war, this book follows a rogue Chicago cop caught in a whorehouse and follows him in his chase as Chicago politcs intermingle with North Suburban money. Monroe describes it as if he were there.

Steve Monroe's '57 CHICAGO brought us the seamy world of late '50's Chicago. Now, '46 CHICAGO takes us back a decade, exposing the pain of post-war trauma, and the effects on a man caught in the middle. I loved this book. The words, sentences and structure fit the short, brunt, to-the-point nature of the characters of this story. Good guys, bad dames, chump or hero? We really don't know which is which or who is who until the last pages. This was a fun read.

Steve Monroe has done it again. His second book is every bit as dominant as the last. If you are an Ellroy fan or a fan of crime fiction, buy this immediately. I wish he had more books out. very soon his name will be mentioned among the best authors of this time. I expect him to become a household name among readers.