Bag Men: A Novel

By Mark Costello and John Flood

Book Overview

The authenticity of George V. Higgins and the hipness of Carl Hiassen combine to galvanic effect in this debut police thriller of Boston in the sixties. An urban police thriller and first novel with a differenceliterary smarts and the real inside skinny on big-city politics and crime fighting. New Year's Day, 1965. The body of Father George Sedgewick is discovered on a snow-covered runway of Logan Airport, brutally murdered. No leads. Missing: four thousand hosts, blessed by the Pope, meant to be given out to the faithful at the first English-language mass in America later that year. Assigned to the case: Ray Dunn, rising young assistant district attorney, son of a corrupt cop. In another part of the city, legendary narcotics detective Manny Manning begins a desperate search for the shadowy source of deadly new heroin hitting the streets. This time Manny is determined to reach the top, but his adversary is cunning, brutaland branching out into a strange new drug called "acid". . . These quests for a killer and a dealer will intersect, unleashing the ghosts of the past and unlocking the secrets of Boston's most powerful institutions. Authentic, knowing, bracingly cynical, Bag Men immediately launches John Flood into the first rank of America's crime writers.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0393039986
• ISBN13: 9780393039986
• Release Date: January 1997
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 1.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.6" x 1.0" x 6.5"

Customer Reviews

Very strong debut

I decided to read this debut by Mark Costello after enjoying his second novel Big If. A compelling period piece detailing crime and corruption in 1965 Boston, Bag Men is an impressive first novel by just about anyone's standard. While I wasn't entirely satisfied with how the story played out, there were more than enough compelling passages to keep me interested. Worth a look for fans of the genre.

A Gripping Read

Mark Costello's debut met with vast amounts of critical acclaim, which naturally set up a high level of expecatation for his next work. Fortunately he doesn't dissapoint as he delivers the truly gripping and well conceived story of Ray Dunn, a gifted assistant DA, and Manny Manning, an overly effective narcotics officer. The story opens when Father George Sedgwick is found murdered on an airport runway. As assitant DA Ray Dunn works to solve this grisly death, his investigation begins to intertwine with narcotics officer Manny Mannings growing battle against a new wave of powerful drugs just beginning to hit the streets. As the characters troubled backgrounds are revealed, and the plot races towards it's thrilling conclusion, you can't help sitting up late into the night to finish this great story. Highly recommended for anyone who likes crime novels, but is looking for something more intelligent and original. Not your typical cookie-cutter story of murder and drugs, but a great work from one of our times up and coming great authors.