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    Mission Flats: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Mission Flats: A Novel
    Unavailable
    Mission Flats: A Novel
    Audiobook (abridged)5 hours

    Mission Flats: A Novel

    Written by William Landay

    Narrated by Ron Livingston

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    From the New York Times bestselling author of Defending Jacob

    Former D.A. William Landay explodes onto the suspense scene with an electrifying novel about the true price of crime and the hidden corners of the criminal justice system. Only an insider could so vividly capture Boston's gritty underworld of cops and criminals. And only a natural storyteller could weave this mesmerizing tale of murder and memory, a story about the hold of time past over time present-and the story of one unforgettable young policeman who ventures into the most dangerous place of all.

    By a gleaming lake in the forests of western Maine, outside a sleepy town called Versailles, the body of a man lies sprawled in a deserted cabin. The dead man was an elite D.A. from Boston, and his beat was that city's toughest neighborhood: Mission Flats.

    Now, for small-town police chief Ben Truman, investigating the murder will mean leaving his quiet, haunted home and journeying to an alien world of hard streets and hard bargains, where the fierce struggle between police and criminals is fought for the ultimate stakes.

    Ben joins a manhunt through Mission Flats, where cops are scrambling to find their number-one suspect: Harold Braxton, a ruthless predator targeted for prosecution by the murdered D.A. To the Boston police, Braxton is a marked man. But as Ben watches the shadow dance of cops and suspects, he begins to voice doubts about Braxton's guilt…especially when he uncovers a secret history of murder and retribution stretching back twenty years…back to a brutal killing now nearly forgotten. As past and present collide and a bloody mystery unfolds, only one thing remains certain: the most powerful revelations are yet to come.

    Mission Flats is at once a relentless page-turning mystery and a vivid portrait of a cop' s life. Here are the street corners, courtrooms, and stationhouses; the deal makers, thugs, and quiet heroes. An unforgettable world-and the luminous, boundary-breaking debut of a new voice in suspense fiction-Mission Flats will haunt you long after the final pages.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateAug 26, 2003
    ISBN9780739307854
    Unavailable
    Mission Flats: A Novel

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    Reviews for Mission Flats

    3.5/5

    77 ratings6 reviews

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      The beginning was slow; I stopped reading for about a week and started again just so I could finish it and move on to another book. There was information about certain characters that was withheld to create a twist that confused me when it was revealed. I thought that was misleading and didn't allow the reader to try and solve the mystery. The ending wouldn't have been as much of a surprise if he hadn't held back those pieces of information. Perhaps that was the point but I don't think that is the best way to write a mystery. I thought the book was a bit flat (pun not intended) and bland, the ending, though I felt cheated,helped make it a three star rating. I would recommend his second novel Defending Jacob, much better than this one.
    • 4/5
      When a small-town police chief from Maine discovers the body of a Boston prosecutor in a remote cabin, he gets sucked into a maze of murder and deception that twists back over 20 years.As he did in ‘Defending Jacob’, Landay creates a densely plotted tale, full of twists. There are some nice clues here, with just enough of them discernible to lull the reader into a false sense of whodunnit, but there are plenty of unexpected jogs in the path.Most of Landay’s characters are awash in moral ambiguity, and one might quibble that he has withheld some pretty vital information about his protagonist until deep into the book. Said protagonist also takes actions that make no sense in retrospect, though they do serve to carry and tangle the plot. This is the kind of sleight-of-hand writing that delights some readers and annoys others – and is the sort of thing that can be determined only in hindsight.The reader who likes mysteries to conclude with the detective explaining to all the house guests just how and why The Butler Did It, won’t much care for this work. On the other hand, the reader who’s willing to think about the underside of the American criminal justice system will find much to chew on.
    • 5/5
      Exceptional author and book. I will read anything this author writes. The character development is great. The end always has an unexpected twist.
    • 4/5
      "Mission Flats" features small town police chief Ben Truman of Versailles, Maine. His father was chief before him and Ben left grad school in Boston to return home and care for his mother who had Alzheimer's disease.As part of his job, he would check the summer cottages and on this occasion, he finds a body who has been murdered. It is of a Boston DA and the crime staged to point the finger at a notorious Boston drug dealer.As the investigation gets under way, Boston officials try to take control but Ben insists that since the crime happened in his town, he wants to be part of the group. He goes to Boston to have a more active role in finding the killer and as he does, he finds more secrets that someone doesn't want to be known.Since he is an out of towner, Ben is paired with retired Boston detective, John Kelly.The author makes the reader care what happens to Ben and the plot is well developed with a number of well placed surprises, including an ending that is unforgettable.Critics have enjoyed this book and it won the Dagger award for best debut novel.
    • 5/5
      This novel shows life as a police officer in two different places; Mission Flats in Boston and Versailles, a small town in Maine. Ben Truman, the police chief of Versailles finds the body of a D.A of Boston in a cabin on the lake. Ben Truman becomes emerged entangled in the investigation of the murder and finds that his investigation leads him back to murders that happened years ago. He finds out that the D.A's murder isn't as clear-cut as it looks.I loved getting to see the point-of-view of a police officer during an investigation. I also loved the contrast between the Boston police officers and Ben Truman the police chief of a small town. This novel was filled with suspense and turns that will leave you guessing at who has committed these murders. At one point during the book I thought I had everything figured out but I learned just how wrong I had it. I would recommend this novel to fans of crime fiction and to anyone who loves a good read.
    • 4/5
      What do you look for in your crime novels? Plot twists? Good cops doing good things and bad cops doing bad things? Good cops doing thing bad things and bad cops doing good things? The seedy underside of the criminal justice system?Then you will enjoy William Landay's Mission Flats. If you have some leftover funds from your holiday gifts, pick up a copy.The book starts off with three homicides: the ugly slaying of a beat cop in 1977, the botched drug bust that left another officer dead in 1987, and a dead assistant district attorney in the present. The last murder happens in a small town in Maine. That brings the local sheriff into the investigation of the other two murders.Before I go much further, I need to let you know that Bill (yeah, I know him as Bill) is a friend. Our sons went to the same preschool. We have been to each others' homes and countless kids' birthday parties. But you don't have to take my word for how good the book is.Mission Flats won the John Creasey Memorial Dagger literary award for first time novelists writing crime fiction in 2003.New York Times Book Review: "Tough but true: a first-time novelist has to bring something new to the table -- something like the trumps that William Landay throws down in his high-stakes police procedural."Bill is a former was an assistant district attorney before he turned to writing. He brings depth and authenticity to the characters and criminal justice system.My review may be biased, but I'm also a bit sheepish to admit that after all these years I just got around to reading his book. Now that our kids are not in school together, I wish I had read the book earlier. You can read the chapter one of Mission Flats online if you want to get a taste of the book.