September 17, 2006

Books of the Week: The Burke Books by Andrew Vachss

“And now for something completely different,” as the Monty Python announcer says. I know I review a lot of paranormal books with romance elements, but I do read a lot in the mystery field, of course. Some of you, maybe lots of you, haven’t read Andrew Vachss before, but I’m a tremendous fan of his. Vachss (pronounced, to the best of my knowledge, as Vosh), a lawyer and advocate for abused children, has been writing hard-boiled crime novels for over fifteen years. And when I call them hard-boiled, I am putting it mildly. The first time I read one of Vachss’s books, I was profoundly shocked and impressed. Though he’s written a variety of stuff, I am a huge fan of his Burke novels. Burke is a guy so far underground he wouldn’t register on a seismograph. He was brought up by the State of New York in a series of foster homes, and was severely abused in most of them. He’s done time, richly-deserved time. He’s a thief. He’s a scammer.

And yet it’s impossible not to cheer Burke on. He scams the evil and wrong-minded, he is absolutely loyal to collection of misfits that constitute his family, and he is willing to go to any length to extricate a child from an abuse situation. Besides, he loves his dog. He even likes women with less-than-tiny derrieres. The most interesting thing about Burke is his enormous power of concentration. He can wait. He doesn’t force things to happen. He can spend hours thinking situations through. I don’t know of another character in fiction who is portrayed as sitting and reasoning as much as Burke does.

As with most series, it’s better to try to find one of the earliest Burke books – FLOOD, BLUE BELLE, STREGA -- to begin your Vachss reading. Try a second-hand paperback, maybe; I warn you, he’s not for everyone. His most recent book, MASK MARKET, is just as fascinating as his first. I wouldn’t miss a Burke book for anything.

Blog

For about five years, I could truthfully say that I’d never seen an episode of “Friends.” I never watched “Dallas.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen an entire soap opera. “Oprah”? Nope. I just wasn’t that much of a television watcher, and when I did watch, it was at night. I watched a few crime dramas, like “Hill Street Blues,” and of course the yet-to-be-matched “Homicide.”

A few things have happened to change this. My children have grown up, which means that not only do I have more disposable time in the daytime, but their youthful eyes and ears won’t be corrupted by the mature situations on some shows, and the sexual innuendoes on others. The most crucial factor is my eyesight. Since I’m now in my fifties (I know, I look so youthful that it’s hard to believe, huh?) I can’t read as much as I could a few years ago. And I can’t look at a computer screen as long, either. So, there’s television.

It hasn’t gotten better.

Maybe I’ve gotten more tolerant. Or maybe the shows now are more varied. For instance, we now get BBC America, and I can enjoy “Cash in the Attic,” and some of the other shows they schedule sporadically; like “Bargain Hunt” or “Homes under the Hammer.” Then there’s the one whose name escapes me, the one where the American Ann comes into a home that’s been on the market for a while and renders the home more saleable; the fun in that show is the jaw-dropping way the homes had been decorated before Ann sets one of her tasteful pumps through the doorway. I love this stuff. My family just shakes its collective head, though I see my son and daughter drawn into the drama occasionally when they wander through the room while I’m watching on my lunch break.

And I’m sampling more. You can’t get hooked on a show you’ve never watched, but now I find I’m checking more of the new stuff out. That’s how I found “House,” which I don’t miss; it’s one of the shows I watch with my daughter. The original “CSI” is another. We howl with laughter over “CSI Miami,” and “CSI New York” never caught our fancy, but we know the plot of every “CSI” Las Vegas by heart. We came into it late, but gosh, are there reruns.

Lots of shows are premiering this week and next week, and I expect quite a few of you will be hunkered in front of your television set to sample the new shows and meet your old friends in the returning shows. Just don’t forget that in an hour, that television show will be over, but your faithful book will be there waiting for you.

--Charlaine Harris