Status
Available
Call number
Description
It all begins when PI Gulliver Dowd is approached by Ellis Torres, a street kid, on Valentino Pier in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn. Ellis has lost his dog, and after Gulliver helps to find the dog for him, they go their separate ways. So when Ellis is discovered beaten, unconscious and left for dead not far from the pier early the following morning, Gulliver is horrified�??and suspicious. He sets out to find the attacker and learn why the boy was targeted. What Gulliver uncovers by way of bizarre clues�??amidst threats of danger to himself and his loved ones�??leads him on his most curious case yet. Undeniably, there is something amiss at Valent
Series
Collection
Publication
Rapid Reads (2013), 144 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member WhitmelB
This book is from Raven Books, an imprint of Orca Book Publishers, under the rubric “Rapid Reads”and is classed as Adult Fiction. My copy is an advanced one from uncorrected proofs.
The plot is fairly straight forward: the protagonist, PI Gulliver Dowd, kindly searches for a street urchin’s
I must be frank in that while I liked the idea of the plot I found the writing was at best weak. Upon setting out on the first chapter I thought the author was attempting to emulate Ernest Hemingway’s famous terse and understated style or perhaps that of one of the more hard boiled detectives popular many years ago. I was quickly disabused of this notion. It really was the simpler style of “See Spot, See Spot run.”
What makes this discovery all the more bizarre is the fact that the author, Reed Farrel Coleman, has seventeen published novels, is a three time recipient of the Shamus Award for Best PI Novel of the Year and, to top it off, a two-time Edgar Award nominee. Perhaps the “adult fiction” this book was listed under was meant to read “tiny tots.” At least it was a fast read.
The plot is fairly straight forward: the protagonist, PI Gulliver Dowd, kindly searches for a street urchin’s
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dog. Upon finding the dog and attempting to return it, Dowd discovers the boy badly beaten and left for dead not far from Valentino Pier. The rest of the book is the search for reasons and happenstances, a threat on Dowd’s life materializes and there are a series of strange and outlandish events that can only be called bizarre clues. I must be frank in that while I liked the idea of the plot I found the writing was at best weak. Upon setting out on the first chapter I thought the author was attempting to emulate Ernest Hemingway’s famous terse and understated style or perhaps that of one of the more hard boiled detectives popular many years ago. I was quickly disabused of this notion. It really was the simpler style of “See Spot, See Spot run.”
What makes this discovery all the more bizarre is the fact that the author, Reed Farrel Coleman, has seventeen published novels, is a three time recipient of the Shamus Award for Best PI Novel of the Year and, to top it off, a two-time Edgar Award nominee. Perhaps the “adult fiction” this book was listed under was meant to read “tiny tots.” At least it was a fast read.
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LibraryThing member readerbynight
For those readers who are unfamiliar with Raven Books' Rapid Reads, I highly recommend them for commuters, or coffee/lunch breaks. They are complete stories told in a condensed time.
PI Gulliver Dowd is not your usual protaganist. I love this character--tough, gritty with heart, his stature is
This is the second Gulliver Dowd book I've read but was quite different from the first. In this outing the character's soft side comes forward without making him any less of a threat to his suspects or villains as the case may be.
Befriending a young boy, obviously a street kid, he helps him find his well-named dog, Ugly. A bond quickly begins to form between them regardless of Gulliver's hesitancy about pets, dogs in particular; but when the boy is attacked and near death it's Gulliver and Ugly who seek the answers. I enjoyed the book once again along with the characters old and new. Well-written series by Reed Farrel Coleman.
PI Gulliver Dowd is not your usual protaganist. I love this character--tough, gritty with heart, his stature is
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short and twisted but don't underestimate him. I truly enjoy his characterization that is reminiscent of the old hard-boiled pot-boiler plots of his predecessors of the early days of pulp fiction.This is the second Gulliver Dowd book I've read but was quite different from the first. In this outing the character's soft side comes forward without making him any less of a threat to his suspects or villains as the case may be.
Befriending a young boy, obviously a street kid, he helps him find his well-named dog, Ugly. A bond quickly begins to form between them regardless of Gulliver's hesitancy about pets, dogs in particular; but when the boy is attacked and near death it's Gulliver and Ugly who seek the answers. I enjoyed the book once again along with the characters old and new. Well-written series by Reed Farrel Coleman.
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LibraryThing member aumbre
I would call this a novelette rather than a novel. It is 137 pages, double spaced, largish letters. I enjoyed it. It was relatively fast paced. The author did not constantly throw in what every single person was eating at every single meal, which seems to be the in thing to do these days. The hero
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of the story is quite unusual in his physical makeup. And within his deformity, is a streak of gentleness and compassion. A street urchin and his dog figure prominently and, of course, it is obvious that the story is going to end well. Which it does. Show Less
LibraryThing member bayleaf
The author's name sounded familiar and when I looked back on a spreadsheet I keep of "Books Read," I found that in 2008 I'd read the first three Moe Prager mysteries and rated them 3,5, and 4 accordingly.
First, the title. I know Ellis Torres was attacked close to Valentino Pier, but did really that
On the back cover of the book Reed Farrel Coleman was called a "hard-boiled poet" and "the noir poet laureate." If a reader is looking for a noir mystery with a hard-boiled detective, I think s/he would be disappointed with Gulliver Dowd. If he is meant to be, it certainly doesn't come across in this book.
The writing also bothered me. The first half of the novel seemed to mimic the cadence of the old detective stories with short staccato sentences, more like a movie script than a book. After awhile I became annoyed with the incomplete sentences and started editing some of them. The last part of book read differently, with more connected sentences and thoughts, less annoying.
All in all, I felt kind of hollow after I read the book. I think it could have been much better, more fleshed out.
First, the title. I know Ellis Torres was attacked close to Valentino Pier, but did really that
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much action take place on that particular pier to name a book after it? I don't recall finding many references to it. I'm assuming this is to be the first in a series because there were so many loose ends left untied...Keisha and Detective Patrick, Nina, what she did to Gulliver, and what happened with the missing daughter? She's still missing! Are we going to forget about her?On the back cover of the book Reed Farrel Coleman was called a "hard-boiled poet" and "the noir poet laureate." If a reader is looking for a noir mystery with a hard-boiled detective, I think s/he would be disappointed with Gulliver Dowd. If he is meant to be, it certainly doesn't come across in this book.
The writing also bothered me. The first half of the novel seemed to mimic the cadence of the old detective stories with short staccato sentences, more like a movie script than a book. After awhile I became annoyed with the incomplete sentences and started editing some of them. The last part of book read differently, with more connected sentences and thoughts, less annoying.
All in all, I felt kind of hollow after I read the book. I think it could have been much better, more fleshed out.
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LibraryThing member Grandy
An interesting quick read, we worth the time.
LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
Reed Farrel Coleman describes Gulliver Dowd as follows: “Gulliver was so short that his reflection filled up only the bottom half of a mirror. Gulliver looked as if he had been built from mismatched body parts. His arms and legs were too small, even for his squat body. His hands were too big for
DirtyWorkThe two best months of Dowd’s life were the two months at the end of high school when he was dating the gorgeous Nina Morton. She made him forget what a cruel joke he was, until she dumped him on graduation day. Now, in Dirty Work, seventeen years have passed (for all seventeen years he’s been dreaming about her), and she comes to him asking him to help locate her (and his) missing daughter, Anka, a daughter he never knew he had. With the help of his friend, and former Navy SEAL, Ahmed Foster, Dowd visits the prestigious Wilton Academy which Anka attended, snoops around and comes up with an answer I didn’t see coming.
In Valentino Pier, Nina has called him again, but he’s ignored her call.ValentinoPier Instead, he takes a walk along Valentino Pier in Red Hook and is approached by a young homeless boy, Ellis Torres, who starts talking to him. Torres has seen Dowd in the neighborhood and trusts him…somewhat. Torres asks Dowd to find his dog, Ugly, who has disappeared and Dowd agrees. He even goes so far as to give Torres $20 for food for both him and the dog, when it is returned. When Torres is found beaten up early the next morning and hospitalized, Dowd vows to find out what happened. Dowd always sides with the underdog, as that’s how he sees himself. Dowd and Ugly, with limited help from Ahmed Foster, crack the case.
TheBoardwalkSam Patrick is a cop Dowd met in Valentino Pier. Patrick worked at the same precinct as Keisha, the 75th. Patrick knew her and respected her, which is more than Dowd could say about many of the cops. Patrick and Dowd became friends and when Patrick calls him to request that they meet…in some isolated place…later that night to talk about Keisha’s murder, Dowd readily agrees. Patrick never shows up and Dowd driving home, is rammed three times by a van, that last hit overturning Dowd’s car. At the hospital, Dowd overhears that a cop was shot by accident and died. When he finds out it’s Patrick, Dowd doesn’t believe it was an accident and tries to find out what really happened.
What’s nice about these books for struggling readers, is that Coleman doesn’t talk down to the reader. He keeps a high interest level, has created interesting characters and believable plots…as far as any mystery can be believable. In approximately 130 pages, Coleman tells an entire story. If he wanted to expand Dowd to full length novels, he could do it without changing the character. All he has to do is extend the story line. There’s action enough to keep readers interested. I highly recommend these books for struggling readers who want a good story.
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his arms. His fingers, too small for his hands. His head, too big for his height. But the cruelest thing God had done was to give Gulliver a handsome face.” Dowd was adopted as a child along with a young Black girl, Keisha, who he considered his sister. They both overcame the odds, he becoming a private investigator and she becoming a police officer. Since her on-the-job death seven years ago, he’s been mourning her and has vowed to find her killer. He’s gone so far as to move into her Red Hook loft, to feel ‘closer’ to her.DirtyWorkThe two best months of Dowd’s life were the two months at the end of high school when he was dating the gorgeous Nina Morton. She made him forget what a cruel joke he was, until she dumped him on graduation day. Now, in Dirty Work, seventeen years have passed (for all seventeen years he’s been dreaming about her), and she comes to him asking him to help locate her (and his) missing daughter, Anka, a daughter he never knew he had. With the help of his friend, and former Navy SEAL, Ahmed Foster, Dowd visits the prestigious Wilton Academy which Anka attended, snoops around and comes up with an answer I didn’t see coming.
In Valentino Pier, Nina has called him again, but he’s ignored her call.ValentinoPier Instead, he takes a walk along Valentino Pier in Red Hook and is approached by a young homeless boy, Ellis Torres, who starts talking to him. Torres has seen Dowd in the neighborhood and trusts him…somewhat. Torres asks Dowd to find his dog, Ugly, who has disappeared and Dowd agrees. He even goes so far as to give Torres $20 for food for both him and the dog, when it is returned. When Torres is found beaten up early the next morning and hospitalized, Dowd vows to find out what happened. Dowd always sides with the underdog, as that’s how he sees himself. Dowd and Ugly, with limited help from Ahmed Foster, crack the case.
TheBoardwalkSam Patrick is a cop Dowd met in Valentino Pier. Patrick worked at the same precinct as Keisha, the 75th. Patrick knew her and respected her, which is more than Dowd could say about many of the cops. Patrick and Dowd became friends and when Patrick calls him to request that they meet…in some isolated place…later that night to talk about Keisha’s murder, Dowd readily agrees. Patrick never shows up and Dowd driving home, is rammed three times by a van, that last hit overturning Dowd’s car. At the hospital, Dowd overhears that a cop was shot by accident and died. When he finds out it’s Patrick, Dowd doesn’t believe it was an accident and tries to find out what really happened.
What’s nice about these books for struggling readers, is that Coleman doesn’t talk down to the reader. He keeps a high interest level, has created interesting characters and believable plots…as far as any mystery can be believable. In approximately 130 pages, Coleman tells an entire story. If he wanted to expand Dowd to full length novels, he could do it without changing the character. All he has to do is extend the story line. There’s action enough to keep readers interested. I highly recommend these books for struggling readers who want a good story.
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LibraryThing member kmajort
This was intriguing. I picked this up because I've only just discovered Reed Farrel Coleman. Our library had this (I'd not heard of Rapid Reads before either)and it was a decent little story. Gulliver Dowd is an interesting character, I enjoy PI/noir-ish stories.
And it will be nice, having some
And it will be nice, having some
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titles for Readers Advisory that are for challenged readers. I'll look into more of these for the library. Show Less
Language
Original language
English
Physical description
7.25 inches
ISBN
1459802098 / 9781459802094
Other editions
Valentino Pier by Reed Farrel Coleman (Paperback)
Valentino Pier by Reed Farrel Coleman (Paperback)