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A Novel
by Allison LaMothe
An electrifying new voice in crime fiction: Allison LaMothe's debut is a gritty, fast-paced mystery about a reporter running down two huge stories at once.
New York City, 1992―Meet Parker Snow, the most tenacious reporter for a tabloid paper that thrives on juicy gossip over hard-hitting news, the New York Street. She also has a big black mark on her record from her last street crime story―and a habit of taking a few too many pills to erase the memory.
Since the fall of the USSR, a new crop of Russian criminals have been arriving in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. It's now Parker's job to cover them. But her old beat keeps calling to her, especially when she learns of a murdered woman whose case the cops want to ignore.
Trying to run down two stories at once―a simmering mafia turf war, and a homicide that leads to two more with no clear link between them―Parker must also fight the pull of her pills and the arrogant men who get in her way at every turn. Despite it all, she's determined to find truth and redemption for herself, the victims, and a city in chaos―if her demons don't get to her first.
"LaMothe's language is electric, crackling with energy...A bold debut befitting its bold heroine." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"This novel has a real chance of contending for a debut Edgar or Anthony Prize. Confident but not cocky, mouthy but not sassy, it will be on a lot of TBR lists." ―Library Journal
"Solid debut thriller... LaMothe hits the beats of a satisfying neo-noir―a deliciously dark atmosphere, a wounded hero, a corrupt urban underbelly―with ease." ―Publishers Weekly
"Dirty Metal is one of the boldest debut novels I've read in years. Allison LaMothe is a wildly talented writer with an exacting eye for detail and her tenacious tabloid reporter, Parker Snow, is gutsy, whip-smart, and the perfect tour guide through pre-Giuliani New York City. I absolutely loved this book." ―Julia Dahl, author of I Dreamed of Falling and Invisible City
"A rough and tumble debut that crackles with voice and style, Allison LaMothe's Dirty Metal will ring in your head long after you've turned the last page. Boasting all the ingredients of a must-read thriller―a plucky and complicated protagonist, mesmerizing setting, and gripping mystery―Dirty Metal is a poised and poignant story that feels more like a tenth novel than a first." ―Alex Segura, bestselling and award-winning author of Secret Identity and Alter Ego
This information about Dirty Metal was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Allison LaMothe is a writer based in Miami by way of New York. After studying French and English with a concentration in poetry writing at the University of Virginia, she spent a year in Russia before moving on to New York City. When not writing or reading three books at a time she can generally be found in the dance studio, in the kitchen, or under water. Dirty Metal is her first novel.
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