Product Description

There is no stronger argument for the death penalty than Nicholas Balagula, the bloodthirsty West Coast crime boss who has been charged with sixty-three counts of homicide, many of them children. And now reclusive rogue journalist Frank Corso -- the only non-participant invited to observe the closed court proceedings -- stands uncomfortably in the center of the most crazed media circus to hit Seattle in years . . . until a personal tragedy diverts his attention. When photojournalist Meg Dougherty -- once Corso's lover and still his dearest friend -- comes face-to-face with a pair of cold-blooded executioners and ends up clinging weakly to life in the I.C.U., the angry lone-wolf reporter vows to make all the guilty parties pay, by his own hand if necessary. But the black river of lies, secrets, corruption, and murder surrounding both the Balagula trial and Meg's "accident" is much deeper and more dangerous than even Frank Corso anticipated. And if he wades in over his head, the undertow could drag him to his death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #545361 in Books
• Published on: 2003-07-01
• Released on: 2003-06-24
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• 384 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780380816217
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Amazon.com Review
Mobster Nicholas Balagula cut so many corners when he built a new children's hospital that 63 people died when it collapsed. Now he's up on murder charges, and Seattle true-crime writer Frank Corso, who watched Balagula's first two trials end disastrously when witnesses disappeared and jurors were bought off, is back in court for the third one, which looks like a slam dunk for the prosecution. Then Frank's former girlfriend, photojournalist Meg Dougherty, is brutally attacked after stumbling on a connection between a story she's following and the one Frank's hoping to turn into another bestseller. Corso, making his second appearance here (after Fury), is a quirky, engaging protagonist who grows on the reader, much like Leo Waterman, the laid-back hero of G.M. Ford's other series. Ford is a deft stylist whose characters are usually more interesting and less predictable than his plots; maybe he'll give Corso more to work with next time around. --Jane Adams

From Publishers Weekly
After six books about Leo Waterman, a Seattle PI with an eccentric fondness for drunks and deadbeats, Ford created in Fury (2001) a very different kind of antihero-Frank Corso, an ace investigative journalist fired by the New York Times for fabricating a story. Fury was well received, but Corso himself often seemed a work in progress. This second time out, Corso lives, breathes and walks on his own solid legs through the Seattle streets Ford knows so well. He's making big bucks writing true crime books, living on board his boat berthed on Lake Union with a terrific view of the skyline (the description of Bill Gates's Mercer Island mega-mansion as seen from the water is dead on: "At first it looked like a park. Then maybe a trendy waterfront shopping center. Very Northwest. Lots of environmentally conscious exposed rock and wood"). Corso is the only journalist allowed to cover the federal trial of a nasty Russian hoodlum accused of causing the collapse of a Los Angeles hospital; his Fury lady friend-photographer Meg Dougherty, whose body was covered in hideous tattoos by a berserk former lover-winds up in the hospital after stumbling on two of the Russian's hired killers. Those killers, a pair of convincingly scary Cubans; a touchingly fallible female federal prosecutor with a slight drinking problem; a Cambodian apartment manager; a young medical student trying to understand his missing father-are all made so real so quickly that you might miss the considerable artistry involved. Welcome back, Mr. Corso-and Mr. Ford.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Ford's second Frank Corso mystery involves the disgraced journalist-turned-crime writer in the trial of one of the genre's sleaziest slimeballs, Nico Balagula, who is about to get off scot-free from a building-fraud rap (thanks to the disappearance of everyone who has the goods on him). When Balagula's goons nearly succeed in taking out one of Corso's few friends, photojournalist Meg Dougherty, Corso takes an active role in trying to prove the crime lord's guilt, which, of course, puts his own life in jeopardy. Ford serves up great dollops of intrigue, danger, and edge-of-the-seat suspense, and-- though the curmudgeonly Corso would be chagrined to hear it--he gives us a flawed but thoroughly likable protagonist to root for. What more could a mystery fan want? Devotees of Ford's highly entertaining Leo Waterman mysteries will find his new series, which began with last year's Fury [BKL Mr 15 01], at least as addictive. Dennis Dodge
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

I like Frank Corso, warts and all...

I read a lot of books. I wish there were more writers like G. M. Ford, who take real people and put them into ambiguous situations and let them struggle with the consequences of their decisions and behavior.

Frank Corso is one of those flawed characters who finds himself in the middle of a huge jigsaw puzzle involving corrupt contractors, inspectors, jurors and more than enough bad guys to fill out the mix.

Corso's a Seattle-based writer with some mistakes in his past, a huge financial settlement in his bank account, and a reclusive lifestyle.

Corso is the only invited guest to the murder trial of Nicholas Balagula, a bad-to-the-bone mobster who is responsible for the deaths of 63 people when the hospital he built collapses. This is Balagula's third trial and the prosecution is looking pretty secure. Corso is taking notes and gathering material for his new book when his world is rocked by the savage attack on his former girlfriend, a photojournalist who believes there's a link between the seemingly insignificant death of a school district's maintenance man and the Balagula trial.

After the assault, Corso's thrown into a whirlwind of plot twists, bad guys, and paper trails. There's even some Cambodian culture thrown in for good measure (maybe the beginnings of a new book?).

I like Frank Corso and found myself drawn into the plot lines, even though the tidy Hollywood-like ending was a bit too predictable.

Enjoy!

Buried in Concrete
One of the pleasures of reading Ford's books is the sheer strength of his writing. This is true whether he is being deadly serious or wryly humorous, as he was in his previous series. While he is a 'no frills' writer, he accomplishes his goal by having an unerring sense of the proper word or construct.

In this story, the sequel to Fury, we again meet up with Frank Corso, a journalist who lost his cachet when he wrote a story based on falsified evidence. Since that time he has moved to Seattle where his determination has found him a new job and let him reestablish himself as a newsman and a writer. He has been allowed to sit in on the trial of Nicholas Balagula, a ruthless crime boss who has never been brought to justice. But when photojournalist Meg Dougherty, Corso's closest friend is suddenly attacked and very nearly killed a different kind of trial emerges, with Corso sitting in the judge's seat.

A tangled web of loose connections sends Corso down the dark side of the city, tracking down hired killers, builders, and janitors to find what Meg saw that put her in a hospital. Corso isn't a genius, but a determined seeker who can eventually work his was through the toughest knot. Although this time what he doesn't know very nearly kills him.

As always, Ford's characters a gem-like. While the bad guys are 'bad,' the good guys aren't angels, and individual idiosyncrasies bring them all to life. The main characters do develop, but slowly. It has taken Corso two novels to move from his initial bitterness to a dark cynicism. For all that Meg is unconscious for most of the book, she has changed the most, which brings out the best and the worst of Corso's character.

Like a typical shallow fan, I wasn't all that comfortable when Ford switched from Leo Waterman. I had gotten used to the humorous antics of the alcoholic bums who made up Waterman's investigatory team. But Corso is a compelling character, and this new series may very well be closer to what Ford really wanted to accomplish. In any case, I think you will find Black River great entertainment.

Dark and Deep!
While better known for his Leo Waterman series, G. M. Ford has begun an interesting new series featuring the reclusive Frank Corso. First seen in Fury, Frank Corso is back and as dark as ever. Since this novel picks up approximately seven months after events depicted in Fury and refers to those events repeatedly throughout this novel, I would strongly urge prospective readers to read Fury first before reading this novel. It simply isn't possible to review this novel without giving away a few details, which would be better covered in their entirety in Fury. Having said that, I am simplifying greatly the plot and storyline to keep out as much as possible for those unfamiliar with the previous novel.

For years, the government has chased the Russian mobster Nicholas Balagula through one trial after another with no success. Balagula sees United States justice as a game-a game where he has always won by jury tampering, violent intimidation and the murder of witnesses. Now, he is on trial once again. This time, he is being tried for the deaths of 63 people who lost their lives in a hospital building collapse. The trail has been moved from California up to Seattle and extraordinary measures are being taken to protect the safety and integrity of the jury and the case.

Frank Corso is the only non-participant allowed to attend the murder trial of Balagula. His well-publicized notoriety and connections gets him unlimited access and he hopes to turn the project into another one of his true crime books. While he wants another success on his hands, he also wants the government to win. At the same time, with a grandstanding golden boy of the United States Attorney's Office in charge, Warren Klein, he has his doubts whether they can do the job. It looks like his suspicions are correct as from the beginning the trial things begin to go wrong and like most golden boys of one stripe or another, Klein blames everyone else for his mistakes.

While his suspicions concerning the case have been initially confirmed, Corso isn't really paying attention. His old flame and very special friend, Meg Dougherty, is in intensive care in the hospital. Apparently in her occupation as a photojournalist, she witnessed something so horrendous that she drove her car under a parked semi in a desperate attempt to get away that nearly resulted in her death. Corso wants to find out what she saw as well as clearing himself from the suspect list as the police seemed convinced that he had some hand in her near death.

Frank Corso is an interesting and hard to define character. This novel reveals a little more about his personality and what drives him while at the same time managing to hide a tremendous amount behind his darkly complex personae. As in his other books, a certain sense of darkness and moral decay pervades the work. Full of interesting complex characters, tight writing and multiple themes make this another good read. Once again, he provides a journey where justice is not an absolute black and white stereotype, but shades of gray. G. M. Ford's books are never simplistic stories with two-dimensional characters but complicated stories featuring multidimensional characters and shades of moral nuance. As always, this is another one of his books well worth reading.