All Irishmen should be offended by this one ( )

This is a terrific read, with totally convincing settings, a twisty plot, and characters who are so real they cast shadows. Eddie Dunne is an NYPD cop who left the force after too many questions were raised during an IAB investigation, spent some lost years working for a Russian mobster and drinking too much, and is finally getting his life together in his hometown of Yonkers, just north of the Bronx.

The past comes back with a vengeance when his adult daughter is abducted, apparently by crooks surprised during a break-in, but Eddie knows his daughter's fate is tied up with his own past mistakes. He goes back to Brighton Beach to find out whether the Mafiya is behind the abduction. The NYPD and FBI get involved, hoping to use this kidnapping to score some points against the highly-organized crime being conducted by some highly scary people.

Eddie can play rough, too, and half the tension is in wondering how far he'll go, especially since his six-year-old granddaughter, who loves him unconditionally, stands to lose everything.

Dee handles this explosive material like a seasoned member of the bomb squad, never playing on the reader's emotions, cool and competent, leaving all the worry up to us. Apart from the author's ability to write about crime and law enforcement with utter confidence - Dee was a twenty-year veteran of the NYPD and knows his stuff - he gets the Brighton Beach setting totally right, even to contemporary Russian slang and a scene in M & I International, the best Russian deli this side of the Carpathians, that's so authentic it'll make you hungry. Highly recommended. ( )