OurColony.net

WINDY CITY CONFIDENTIAL

Customer Rating:
We took the kids to a local dollar store to buy our Christmas gifts and I thought I'd head off something really cheesy by grabbing a few books for them to get me. I'd never heard of Steve Monroe but the dust jacket made this one sound at least readable and it proved to be much better than that. The cover blurbs compare him to James Ellroy and that seems apt. The hero of the novel--less anti-heroic than some of Mr. Ellroy's characters--is Chicago cop Gus Carson. As a marine in WWII he was very nearly killed in a ship-sinking reminiscent of that of the USS Indianapolis and saw nearly all the men around him die in horrible ways as they floated in shark-infested waters awaiting rescue. After being orphaned he was raised by a crooked cop and became his protege, but, having survived the war, he's determined to correct at least some of the errors of his ways. So, when he's suspended from the force after a shooting in a whorehouse, he's hired to do some investigating by a wealthy and politically ambitious Republican businessman, who gets a less pliable gumshoe than he'd bargained on.

The combination of a dirty past and a relatively clean present affords Mr. Monroe a protagonist who's plenty tough but easy to root for and he serves up the tale with plenty of bark on. It's a very good modern riff on classic noir.

Post War Blues & Trouble.

Customer Rating:
This flashback takes place during a week of violence during Chicago's gangster era. Gus tries to resume his old life after serving in the Marines during WWII. In May of 1946, he is again a policeman and is bribed to get involved in an unground lottery which the gangsters control.

Like the law during those days, he visits the brothels and recruits for them. Who else but the police could entice young women into a life of crime? It happened here in Knoxville in the Fifties.

Gus is a hard drinker at his neighborhood bar, just two blocks from where he lives on the South Side, where the seedy side of life converges after dark. Drinking too much makes an old man in a young man's body. He just couldn't leave his past behind. His apartment was the typical for that area, and, in May, he wears a trench coat over his suit, as it is 50 degrees in the night air.

This story is full of corrupt politics, senseless murders and a sordid life style. Gus was responsible for many of the deaths, and has to relocate to Kansas City with 'a price on his head.' The former Marine had not settled into his old life. It's true that you can't go home again.

As he left it all behind, his thoughts were on growing up without a mother. Join the Club! It's tough. Steve tells a believable story some of which we saw in the old crime movies, of the ugly '40s. His debut novel, '57 CHICAGO, was published in 2000. He has a way with dialogue and is a former sports writer in his native Chicago -- my kind of town!

Enthralling Book

Customer Rating:
Steve Monroe sends the reader back to gritty 1946 Chicago for a pageturning who-done-it. The combination of street slang and tangible, realistic characters pulls you in won't let you go. After the plot gets moving, it moves at a pretty good pace.

'46, Chicago has a distinct feel of The Great Gatsby with a bit of Road to Perdition. The dialogue and action are consistent with what you would expect from the city streets of Chicago.

This book is an excellent read. It's neither too long nor too short -- worth every minute you spend reading it.

Estelman meets Pelecanos

Customer Rating:
If you like gritty city tough guys Chicago '46 is for you. It has the taste of inner city grime in every bite. As George Pelecanos flays D.C.'s skin open to reveal the infernal workings of the city's walking wounded, down and out junkies and brown bag alchoholics, Monroe shows us the stomach if not the heart of post-war Chicago. Monroe echoes Estelman in Gus Carson as a post military angel with skinned knuckles and part time conscience. All in all Monroe has built an extraordinary foundation for multi-volume series. Dave Robichaux and Earl Swagger watch out!

Not just another mystery thriller

Customer Rating:
This book is awesome. This just isn't another waste of time Patterson/Grisham or Balducci book. This guy has talent. It's a page turner and not predictable. As the title suggests set in Chicago shortly following the war, this book follows a rogue Chicago cop caught in a whorehouse and follows him in his chase as Chicago politcs intermingle with North Suburban money. Monroe describes it as if he were there.