Long Time Gone

I bought this book on a whim at an Ocean State Job Lot (closeout store)and couldn't put it down. This book can be quite explicit, so if you are easily offended by sex or drugs I don't recomend it. As I'm only 21 I can only assume that this is a good representation of the 60s, but the murder mystery aspect of it is top notch!

Danny Cassidy's life is in a mess. He walked out on his wife for no good reason, his daughter doesn't want to know him, and his job is on the line due to the fact he's not getting any younger. On top of that, there's the crime he's been running from for thirty odd years, a burden grating at his skull, the root of ALL his problems. Back in the Brooklyn neighbourhood of his youth, a corrupt cop was murdered, shot repeatedly in a local park. Evidence was lacking but clues pointed strongly to Danny - out of his head on LSD at the time, and suffering from a blackout of the night ever since. As the main suspect, he took off, hit the west coast, never came back. But the mystery of that night back in the drug-drenched dead end of the 60's has preyed on him ever since, not least by the sporadic phonecalls by 'Ankles', the old Brooklyn cop who refuses to 'let this one go', promising that one day he will be hauled back and forced to face his conscience and the truth of that deadly night. The book opens with Danny receiving a random message from the unrelenting old cop, this time informing him of his estranged father's death. Danny knows his three-decade 'hideout' ends here: he has to return to the neighbourhood and bury him. And by doing so, square up to the demons of his past. It's here that Denis Hamill excells in describing a present-day Brooklyn still physically intact, yet changed beyond recognition. The dirty boulevards of Danny's youth cleaned-up, gentrified, inhabited by a different class. The neighbourhood resembles Manhattan and has lost its "film noir beauty to the bright high-gloss slickness of a Mercedes commercial". Hamill describes his part of the city with honesty and feeling. The story develops into an explorative account of the past as Danny turns Private Eye to discover the truth of his supposed guilt. He revisits the old haunts, meets an array of old faces who turn up for his father's wake and funeral, and discovers a conspiratorial web of intrigue that unfurls a world of festering corruption, greed and evil. With Danny now rocking the boat, just staying alive becomes tricky business. Hamill ensures his tale reads like an historical account of the Prospect Park area of Brooklyn - and the late 60's era in general - flashing from the past to the present, namechecking and fact-revealing along the way. The plot twists and turns - the less revealed the better, but DO expect surprises. The writing resonates with a Doors/Dylan soundtrack (never has Mr Tambourine Man sounded so haunting!). And the issue of 'Vietnam' is covered brilliantly: fathers and sons torn apart by the warring sides of patriotism and peace sloganeering, highlighting the boiling anger and violence of that contentious time. Close renderings of family relationships, first love, nostalgia and failure - along with an expansive plot - make this book so much more than a simple story that you read and forget. Like a well-written piece of investigative journalism, this book is

Even though I was born in 1964 this book made me feel, smell and taste the 60's. The main character's name is Danny Cassidy, which I kept reading as David Cassidy. Danny is now a journalist in his 50's haunted by the murder of a cop in 1969. Danny fears he may have committed this crime, however he was so strung out on drugs, he doesn't remember much of anything about the night of the murder. Basically he returns to his hometown of Brooklyn to find out the truth. The book is a real pageturner and an engrosing mystery, however some of the relationships between the male and female characters made no sense to me. For example even though Danny is aging, not in great shape and only semisuccesful, practically every female in the book seems to want nothing more than to hop into bed with him. No matter how young, attractive and successful the women were, Danny inexplicably seemed to be the man of their dreams. His relationship with his old girlfriend Erika is somewhat understandable as they were teenage sweethearts, however I don't think most of my fellow females would find Danny worth lusting after. (Myself not included-as I love all things from this era). Also the constant use of the word, "cherry," in reference to virginity became quite annoying.All in all this book is a good mystery that most readers interested in the 60's and 70's will enjoy.