Lush Life- Richard Price

There is a concept called the "The CSI Effect" - due to the incredible success of the crime-solving tv show genre, the public at large expects that real life crimes can be solved quickly and with irrefutable evidence that has been conveniently left behind by the criminal. Forensic labs have shiny, new, expensive equipment; cops work on once case at a time; cases are solved within the week. Thank goodness for Lush Life, which shows the reader the exact opposite. There is cop bureaucracy, shoddy evidence collection, and unlikely culprits. The book is about a random act of violence, the ensuing police investigation, and the psychological and emotional fallout of everyone involved. Yet the real star of the book is the neighborhood where this all happens: the Lower East Side in Manhattan. The LES is an interesting intersection of cultures (which I won't go into here) that results in an atmosphere on the verge of conflict. The book develops the neighborhood into a character in the story - it plays that large of a role. When it's all said and done, this is a great read. I thoroughly appreciated a crime procedural that wasn't an airplane book or wrapped up in a pretty CSI bow.


4 bookworms.