Critics' Opinion:
Readers' rating:
Published Aug 2009
352 pages
Genre: Thrillers
Publication Information
Danny Chaisson's latest case is bid-rigging. But as his investigation proceeds, a gathering storm named Katrina blasts his world apart.
Surrounded by death and the destruction of the city he loves, Danny searches for one man who'd trusted Chaisson to guard his identity when he agreed to testify before a federal grand jury investigating corruption in the city’s construction industry. But someone has leaked the identity of this crucial witness, and as the city begins to empty before the approaching storm, Danny learns that a pair of corrupt policemen hired by the wealthy defendants in the case have begun stalking his client.
Cut off from escape, and unsure whom he can trust, Chaisson's client has gone into hiding in the city's Ninth Ward, where he grew up. Now Danny must race against time, a pair of relentless professional killers, and the rising flood waters to save the man who’d counted on him.
But can Danny save one man as a whole city dies?
"Starred Review. Brilliantly executed, Abel's exploration of decency and grace in the face of human brutality and natural disaster testifies to mutual respect, the only thing, Danny knows, that keeps the knife from your throat." - Publishers Weekly
"Starred Review. Abel's latest is both a gripping crime thriller about human greed and a tribute to the people of New Orleans." - Library Journal
"Bleak through and through, of course, but it's one of those stories begging to be told, and Abel puts you there." - Kirkus Reviews
"... routinely plotted but rescued by carefully defined characters and a wonderful rendering of the panic on the streets in a New Orleans battered by Katrina." - Booklist
This information about Down in the Flood 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.
Kenneth Abel is also the author of the novels Bait and The BlueWall. He lives in Columbus, Ohio.
The House on Biscayne Bay
by Chanel Cleeton
As death stalks a gothic mansion in Miami, the lives of two women intertwine as the past and present collide.
The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson
From the new Fannie Flagg of the Ozarks, a richly-woven story of family, forgiveness, and reinvention.
The Funeral Cryer by Wenyan Lu
Debut novelist Wenyan Lu brings us this witty yet profound story about one woman's midlife reawakening in contemporary rural China.
Your guide toexceptional books
BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.
