City of the Sun: Summary and book reviews of City of the Sun by David Levien, plus links to an excerpt from City of the Sun and a biography of David Levien.
City of the Sun
by David Levien
Hardcover: Feb 2008,
320 pages.
Paperback: Feb 2009,
432 pages.
Riveting suspense in the tradition of Dennis Lehane and Michael Connelly, City of the Sun introduces retired detective Frank Behr—an imposing, charismatic former cop who agrees to take the case of a boy who’s been missing
for over a year.
Jamie Gabriel gets on his bike before dawn to deliver newspapers in his
suburban Indianapolis neighborhood. He is twelve years old. Somewhere en route,
as the October sky lightens, he vanishes without a trace.
Fourteen months later, Paul and Carol Gabriel are on the verge of abandoning all
hope. Crushed by frustrating dead ends and exhausted by a police force that
cannot (or will not) find their son, the Gabriels finally find a ray of hope:
the name of an elusive private investigator who may represent their last chance.
Frank Behr is an enigmatic mountain of a man, a former cop who wants to help—but
knows better than to give the Gabriels any hope of a happy ending. He has worked
this kind of case too often. But Paul’s plea stirs up old personal demons that
Behr can no longer ignore. Going against everything he fears, Behr enters into
an uneasy partnership with Paul on a quest for the truth that is, in turn,
dangerous … and haunting.
Richly textured and crackling with suspense on every page, City of the Sun
weaves a moody narrative that hinges on the bond between a damaged detective and
a lost father. From the antiseptic comforts of suburban Indianapolis to the
city’s seamy underworld, David Levien introduces a private investigator as
complex, idiosyncratic, and sympathetic as any in modern crime fiction. Levien
is a gifted storyteller who will keep readers guessing right up until the final,
explosive scene.
Paul and Frank's search takes them far from the suburbs of Midwest America to a frightening and bizarre underground world. The reader is given no clues as to whether Jamie's abductors will be found, nor are we given any hope that Jamie has survived. Their search is an emotional journey as well as a physical one and this too gives the novel more depth. The emotional journey is perhaps what causes people to read a book of this nature. If we read to understand an experience we haven't had (and in this case hope to never have) then the author has achieved his purpose. As for characters we'd like to spend more time with, it's safe to assume Levien plans more outings with former cop Frank Behr, and I for one would welcome another journey with him. (Reviewed by Vy Armour).
Entertainment Weekly - Jennifer Reese
As Behr roars out of Indy in his burgundy Toronado, all of the novel's hard-won credibility goes flying out the window. B
USA Today - Carol Memmott
This is a nerve-jangling novel that places average people in extraordinary situations in which, maybe for the first time, they assume the role of hero and master of their fate.
Kirkus Reviews
Despite some pivotal plot twists that are more emotionally wrenching than plausible, the novel is a remarkably assured exercise in grabbing you by the throat and shaking you until the very end.
Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. Screenwriter Levien's debut crackles with raw intensity as it hurtles from a placid Indianapolis suburb to a dingy Mexican outpost.
Library Journal - Stacy Alesi
Levien captures the hopelessness of the situation well, the pacing is relentless, and the story gripping and altogether disturbing. Highly recommended for all fiction collections.
The AMBER
Alert Program is a voluntary partnership between law-enforcement agencies,
broadcasters, transportation agencies, and the wireless industry, to activate an
urgent bulletin in the most serious child-abduction cases. The goal of an AMBER
Alert is to instantly galvanize the entire community to assist in the search for
and the safe recovery of the child.
Named for 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was abducted and
murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996, it is also an acronym for "America's
Missing: Broadcasting Emergency Response".
In 2001, only
two children were recovered due to AMBER Alert. In 2006, 69 children were
recovered because of an AMBER Alert. To date, the program has helped save the
lives of over 430 children nationwide. Over 90% of those recoveries have occurred since October 2002
when President Bush called for the appointment of an AMBER Alert Coordinator at
the first-ever White House Conference on Missing, Exploited and Runaway
Children. It has been shown that some...
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(1273 words).
Entertainment Weekly - Jennifer Reese
Kirkus Reviews
