Street Level |
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synopsis
When we meet private detective Duncan Sloan, he's just handed back a five-thousand-dollar check meant as advance payment on a job. The wealthy prospective client, Isaac Pike, wants Sloan to find a woman with an eyeball tattooed on her bottom. All he knows is that she's very young, white, probably somewhere in or near Orlando, Florida, Sloan's hometown, and has that tattoo. Thanks but no thanks; that's not enough. When the five grand reappears in Sloan's mailbox, he uses it for a Costa Rican vacation, and never mind the job.
Pike, however, tracks him down. When he explains the assignment, Sloan finds it bizarre enough to say yes. Isaac Pike is the only son of a top-ranked tycoon. He is also gay. He genuinely wants to be a father, and has deposited sperm with a reputable clinic in anticipation of finding a suitable mother. But a paroled convict working at the clinic stole the sperm, impregnated a teenager with it, and is now blackmailing Pike--send money or we abort the child.
Although Pike's idea of a suitable mother is not quite a waif from an Orlando trailer park, he is decent enough to be genuinely concerned about both mother and child.
Sloan pursues the thief and his buddies and, he hopes, the girl, through the Florida city's sad neighborhoods and outlying cheap motels, calling on his drug-enhanced informers and a contact in the police department. Getting closer brings him to the mangled bodies of the young mother-to-be's relatives, and closer to his own danger, as well. On he goes...Duncan Sloan may be a reluctant detective, but when he's wound up, he's hard to stop.
Street Level is Bob Truluck's first novel. It was chosen as the Best First Private Eye Novel of 1999 in the contest sponsored by Private Eye Writers of America and St. Martin's Press.
reviews, awards and nominations
In addition to offering up a tasty selection of eccentric but likable characters, the book also has a nice feel for the real Florida that exists around its multitude of theme parks.
Washington Times
But if you can't accuse Truluck of literary pretensions, neither can he be denied the remarkable immediacy of his stark portrait of Florida's dirt-poor social fringes.
New York Times
With blistering dialogue, memorable-if not particularly likable-characters, and an unerring eye for the low-rent side of Florida, he has delivered a first novel whose stunning, mesmerizing power is undiminished by its straightforward plot. It's a skillful act, performed very much above street level.
St. Pete Times
...and tourists who've never ventured out of the theme parks will have their eyes yanked opened by Truluck's take on the seedier side of the City Beautiful.
Orlando Sentinel
He has an ear for dialogue that rivals Leonard, a sense of violence that challenges Dennis Lehane, and his narrative style contains the same sly humor as Robert B. Parker.
Booklist (starred)
...the book's strengths are in dialog, setting, and characterization.
Drood Review
...fast paced, action packed noir that won St. Martin's/PWA 1999 contest due in part to its anti-heroic, but memorable character.
BookBrowser Review
Blistering shards of dialogue, non-stop action and one of the neatest slices of sunburned, low-rent Florida since Charles Williford passed away...Splinter-sharp first take from a raw new voice sure to be heard from again.
Publishers Weekly (starred)
...features clipped prose, and acid-tongued Florida private eye, and a colorful diversity of supporting characters...Uncharacteristic descriptions, dry humor, and Orlando settings add more spice to the mix.
Library Journal
[A] hero tough enough to gnaw leather as he walks down Florida's mean streets.
Kirkus Reviews
Paying homage to Raymond Chandler, Dashiell Hammett, Charles Willeford and John D. McDonald, Truluck delivers a tidy mystery that keeps a keen edge...
Ft. Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel
Bob Truluck has one of the freshest voices and most original debut plots I've ever read. Street Level works on so many "levels" itself-puzzle, thriller, social commentary-that I can't imagine anyone not enjoying it, and Duncan Sloan is the kind of reluctant hero that sticks in the mind long after finishing the book...A truly stunning novel.
Jeremiah Healy
Author of Spiral and The Stalking of Shelia Quinn
Bob Truluck returns us to those thrilling days of yesteryear when private eyes were hard and tough as steak at a roadside diner. Watch out for Orlando PI Duncan Sloan-he's here to stay. Street Level is a hard-boiled gem.
Les Robert
Author of The Indian Sign
Street Level is wild, crazy, full of wonderful characters. It's a terrific first novel.
Annette Meyers
Author of Free Love
An impressive debut by a hard-boiled writer who will be around for a long time. Crisp dialog, tight plotting, and a tough, fast, and savvy hero.
Jerry Keenealy
Author of the Nick Polo series (The Conductor, The Hunted, and
The Other Eye)
Winner
St. Martin's Press/Private Eye Writers of America Best First Private Eye Novel Contest 1999
Nominated
Anthony Award for Best First Mystery Published in 2000
Nominated
Barry Award for Best First Mystery Published in 2000
Winner
Shamus Award for Best First P. I. Novel Published in 2000
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