Dope

I thought this was a fantastic book. I could not put it down. I love Gran's writing style and I had no idea what was going to happen next. I am looking forward to reading other writings by Sara Gran.

As someone who is old enough to have experienced this 'old' New York, I am amazed that young as she is, she got it so right. The plot, the ending, doesn't bother me at all. This is not a 'crime' novel. This is more of an 'atmosphere' novel. Loved it!

The year is 1950. The place is New York City long before the reign of Mayor Giuliani: seedy, dangerous, crime-ridden and corrupt. Josephine Flannigan knows this world inside and out; its drug dealers, junkies, exotic dancers and prostitutes are all well known to her, from the years she spent as a heroin addict herself. These days, though, Joe has cleaned up --- everyone she meets tells her she looks "so great" now that she's not shooting up. Even though she still does the occasional small-time crime, she's in a safe place, off the junk and on the right track. Even so, money is tight, and the occasional odd job (or afternoon of pickpocketing) isn't so profitable. So when Joe gets hooked up with the Nelsons, a suburban couple whose eighteen-year-old daughter Nadine, a student at Barnard College, has abruptly disappeared after getting involved with drugs, she is stunned by the amount of money they offer her: $1,000 up front and another $1,000 when she finishes the job. The Nelsons figure that Joe has all the connections to find her daughter and the mysterious, violent young man with whom she was last seen. Josephine embarks on an odyssey through New York's underworld. She reconnects with many of her old friends (and enemies) and must constantly resist the temptation to return to her old addiction. More than once, as she hits a dead end, Joe wonders why she's even bothering to search for a girl who had every advantage and just managed to screw up her life: "She wanted her walk on the wild side and now she was getting it. So let her see what The Life was like. Let her lose her looks from getting hit in the face too many times. Let her lose a few teeth and all of her pride and all her charm school manners. Her college education wouldn't do her any good out here." Before long, though, Joe starts to care about the absent girl in spite of herself, and she continues her quest even when it looks like she might be getting played herself. With DOPE, Sara Gran (whose previous books include a horror novel) experiments with the noir genre. Josephine, with her combination of frankness and vulnerability, brings a unique voice to the story, even if her narrative occasionally seems a little too polished to be the product of a reformed junkie with a ninth-grade education. Nevertheless, Josephine is a more than competent tour guide to a New York City that no longer exists, populated with colorful characters, tragic stories and dark secrets. Fans of Raymond Chandler and James Ellroy will relish DOPE's gritty period details and vintage atmosphere. --- Reviewed by Norah Piehl

In 1950 in Manhattan, Josephine Flannigan has stayed off the drugs for about two years while working at Tiffany's where she pilfers jewelry to sell, supplementing her income. She meets Nathaniel and Maybelline Wilson of Westchester County in the law offices of Jackson, Smith & Alexander. Nathaniel tells her that Nick "the Greek" suggested she could help them find their nineteen years old daughter Nadine, a Bernard drop-out hooked on drugs, who vanished three months ago in the city with a boyfriend Jerry McFall. They provide her with a retainer of $1000 and another $1000 if successful. Though she has never done anything like this and has no idea which Nick the Greek recommended her as that is a common street name, she accepts the case. Joe begins searching the mean streets of hell's Kitchens seeking out the pimps on the assumption that would be the only way Nadine could pay for her habit as he knows form first hand experience. However, danger lurks on every corner and with every stranger as well as the threat of returning to the environs where she first embraced drugs. Set just after World War II, DOPE is a gritty look at the underside of Manhattan where the drop-outs from the Blackboard Jungle die easily with no one to grieve them. The story line pulls no punches with its in your guts glimpse of the mean streets where drugs and prostitution are king and queen while the euphoria of victory in Europe and the Pacific is someone else's celebration. Joe is a fabulous heroine who knows the peril that walks everywhere she goes in search of the Westchester runaway as pimps and sellers do not want anyone interfering with their assets. Harriet Klausner