First-time author Sean Chercover has hit one out of the park on his first try with BIG CITY, BAD BLOOD. As of right now, I can safely say this title will be one of my top 10 books of 2007, and the year just started. Trust me.

Chercover gives the crime genre a much-needed kick in the ass with – finally – a totally hard-boiled detective in the vein of the masters of the past, be they James M. Cain, Cornell Woolrich or even Mickey Spillane. His name is Ray Dudgeon, a former reporter turned private investigator, hired for a bodyguard assignment by a movie production company after location manger Bob Loniski sees something he shouldn’t have and is going to testify.

This leads into a dark, gritty foray into the Chicago underworld that further leads into a far-reaching blackmail plot. Dudgeon could be called a modern-day Mike Hammer – but not as bullheaded – with maybe a little Columbo thrown into the mix. He’s not some sort of super PI that can’t be hurt or is without his own demons, but even when things turn really ugly, Dudgeon will figure a way out of it. In his protagonist, Chercover gives us a well-defined character that will be read in years to come.

There’s a torture sequence in this book that puts all others to shame. Think CASINO ROYALE amped up to 11. Chercover, a former PI himself, writes with such passion, you feel like this can’t really be just his first book. The plot is so dense and packed that crime fans will be chomping at the bit for Dudgeon’s next story. So again, I’m going on record in saying Chercover has set the bar really high for this coming year. I, for one, don’t think it will be topped. –Bruce Grossman

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