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    Rogue Island
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    Rogue Island
    Unavailable
    Rogue Island
    Ebook338 pages4 hours

    Rogue Island

    By Bruce DeSilva

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    2011 Edgar Award Winner for Best First Novel

    Liam Mulligan is as old school as a newspaper man gets. His beat is Providence, Rhode Island, and he knows every street and alley. He knows the priests and prostitutes, the cops and street thugs. He knows the mobsters and politicians—who are pretty much one and the same.

    Someone is systematically burning down the neighborhood Mulligan grew up in, people he knows and loves are perishing in the flames, and the public is on the verge of panic. With the whole city of Providence on his back, Mulligan must weed through a wildly colorful array of characters to find the truth.



    At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateOct 12, 2010
    ISBN9781429948876
    Unavailable
    Rogue Island
    Author

    Bruce DeSilva

    Bruce DeSilva's crime fiction has won the Edgar and Macavity Awards; has been listed as a finalist for the Shamus, Anthony, and Barry Awards; and has been published in ten foreign languages. His short stories have appeared in Akashic Press's award-winning noir anthologies. He has reviewed books for The New York Times Sunday Book Review and Publishers Weekly, and his reviews for The Associated Press have appeared in hundreds of other publications. Previously, he was a journalist for forty years, most recently as writing coach world-wide for The Associated Press, editing stories that won nearly every major journalism prize including the Pulitzer. He has worked as a consultant for fifty newspapers, taught at the University of Michigan and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism, and lectured at Harvard University's Nieman Foundation. He and his wife, the poet Patricia Smith, live in New Jersey with two enormous dogs named Brady and Rondo. He is the author of Rogue Island, Cliff Walk and Providence Rag.

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    Reviews for Rogue Island

    3.5/5

    93 ratings19 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 4/5
      A Providence, RI reporter, Liam S.A. Mulligan has a love of the Red Sox and a penchant for getting himself into trouble with his nose and his mouth. Great debut from DeSilva
    • 3/5
      A quick, though somewhat slow read. The local references were far more interesting than the overly convoluted plot.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this story a great deal. I am not sure that I walk away with any huge insights about life, but the story was very well done. The characters are believable and I liked that politics were a part of the story.
    • 4/5
      Good entertainment. A quick read with a good story line.
    • 4/5
      BOTTOM-LINE:A decent introduction of a new sleuth.PLOT OR PREMISE:A reporter, Liam Mulligan, investigates a series of arsons around his hometown..WHAT I LIKED:Mulligan makes an intriguing sleuth, and he has lots of interesting characters running around the woodwork. He is far from Sherlock Holmes, nor is he Spenser for Hire taking on the tough guys. A bit more Donald Lam or Trace…slightly incompetent, but not Plum-funny. His partners-in-sleuthing are generally good..WHAT I DIDN'T LIKE:There are quite a few "foreshadowing" hints dropped, and it made me figure me well-in-advance sometimes when certain things were likely to happen and how. Although, to be fair, a couple never happened (red herrings). And I thought the bad guys were all relative obvious for the overall plot and motive..DISCLOSURE:I received no compensation, not even a free copy, in exchange for this review. I am not personal friends with the author, nor do I follow him on social media.
    • 3/5
      An interesting story, but rather disturbing in its willingness to glamorize some crimes while demonizing others. Crime is crime, in my opinion, and none of it is to be celebrated.
    • 4/5
      rabck from hyphen8; quirky offbeat light mystery. Blue collar reporter trying to figure out who's burning down his old neighborhood and why. Enjoyable light read - and I liked "Thanks-Dad" and other gags running throughout the book
    • 4/5
      Solid first mystery in a series. I hesitate to call this a cosy as it is fairly gritty but it does feature a nonprofessional "sleuth" in the shape of veteran newspaper reporter Liam Mulligan. I found the subplot about the decline of newspapers just as interesting as the mystery. The mystery isn't a murder mystery per se -- people died but mostly as a result of a series of arson fires.
    • 4/5
      Investigative journalist Mulligan drags us through the graft of the corruption that is Providence, Rhode Island, his beat; one that includes both crooked and inept cops, the mobsters they are chasing and the politicians who fund them all. Definitely an eye-opener for me, who always had thought of our smallest State as being full of
      Portuguese fishermen thanks to Rudyard Kipling. He would be surprised at the change!
      Mulligan is one of us, the common people. He has a wife he’s trying to divorce, a boss who is never satisfied, long-standing friends and an ulcer he is trying to nurse. He also has a couple of informants on the wrong side of the street, a bookie with ties to the local mobsters he is investigating and a girlfriend who is holding out again. He is also totally believable; the fl awed protagonist we can all relate to.
      When a fire-bug starts burning down the neighborhood he grew up in, house by house, he takes to the streets with his newspaper colleagues in an effort to find out who is behind the fires. When he discovers the truth of who is really behind the tragedy, death and destruction, Mulligan is forced to take matters in his own hands.
      Bruised, battered and scarred we are given an open-eyed tour of Mount Hope. What you find there may surprise you. With charisma, grit and the knowledge that all will be right in the world as long as the Red Sox win the pendant, DeSilva leads us through the world of the local newspaper reporter. In this tough, barred-knuckles fight the good guy is triumphant this time… until the next big story, and boy I’ll be waiting to read that one too.
    • 4/5
      news reporter in Rhode Island, lots of community contacts; serial arson. Good story, fun characters...
    • 4/5
      Set in Rhode Island, I really liked this first book. Good characters. Baseball and a working newspaper journalist.
      I look forward to more by this author and I hope he keeps the same characters in his next book.
    • 4/5
      Rogue Island. Bruce DeSilva. 2010. Liam Mulligan is an old fashioned newspaper man in Providence RI who knows journalism as he lives and knows it is doomed, but he still has his instincts and he still wants to write a good story. When he realizes homes and apartment buildings in his old neighborhood are burning down, he decides he’ll find out why. As he investigates he runs afoul of the police, politicians and the mob. This first person narrative reminds me of Robert B. Parker’s early Spenser novels. Mulligan has the same smart-ass sense of humor and moral code. This is the first novel in what I hope will be a long series.
    • 4/5
      A fun read in the tradition of Robert Parker, Lawrence Block, Sue Grafton, etc. A wise-cracking newspaper reporter investigates a spate of mysterious arsons in the seedy part of town. There's intrigue in high places, petty corruption, wiseguys, a rumpled hero, romance and all the other elements of good noir. A must read for Red Sox fans!
    • 2/5
      I did not like this book. There is an arsonist on the loose. The fires are set in the same area, always at night. Good book stuff. The way the book flows: lets drive around at night in the area and try to catch him/her/them. In real life that is a good option. In a book? Boring. The author pulled a couple surprises towards the end. They seemed to be put there because the author realized what a yawner he had on his hands. The lead character even stated (in that noir, wisecracking style the book does well) that trying to catch the arsonist in the act is not all that creative. I agree.
    • 4/5
      Saw this book was an Edgar award finalist so I thought what the hey, I'll give it a read. I'm not sorry I did, Its not a bad read. Surely inspired by the adventures of Fletch, the tale takes place in the fine state of Rhode Island and involves a dogged newspaper man and a series of arsons. DeSilva keeps the pace moving and the character are witty and interesting. All in all a fine tale. As a side note, I also learned more about the state of Rhode Island then I ever thought I wanted to.
    • 4/5
      A reporter for a struggling newspaper in Rhode Island investigates nightly arson in the neighborhood where he crew up and uncovers corruption while mentoring the son of the publisher.
    • 4/5
      I enjoyed this debut novel very much, at least right up to its non-climax. I don't recall reading crime fiction where arson was the headline event, and the author did an excellent job with it. It felt real, well researched. The fire scenes were gritty, stomach clenching, upsetting, and there were quite a few of them. The author's background is reporting and the hero is a reporter a slowing dying newspaper. Goog plot, not great, good descriptions of Rhode Island, the motive for the arson was ok, again not great - I sense that the author backed himself into a corner and ended the story the only way he felt he could. So coulda been a 4 1/2 star but fell just short - I'll lean toward reading his next book, if there is one.
    • 5/5
      This debut novel by Bruce DeSilva was incredible. The characters and plot come together to make a 5-star thriller. I really enjoyed the humor and all of the main characters diverse personalities. I haven't read one like this in quite some time and I can say that I'm eagerly awaiting the next novel in the series (if this indeed turns out to be a series. Pick this one up if you're looking for a great thriller
    • 5/5
      If Ed McBain, the Edgar Award winning mystery writer, suggested you convert your short story into a novel, I'm sure you'd take his advice. I'm glad Bruce DeSilva did just that. The result is Rogue Island, a mystery set in Providence, Rhode Island. Liam Mulligan is a newspaper reporter and his childhood neighborhood is going up in smoke...literally. Someone is burning down the houses, killing people in the process.Mulligan knows every crook in Providence, from the Mayor on down to the mob, the bookies and their lawyers. He knows the inept fire investigators who he's labeled Dumb and Dumber. He knows the fire chief, the first female fire chief in the city's history. He knows everyone. Yet, he's stumped. Because he can't pinpoint the arsonist. But he well. No doubt about it.On the back cover of the book, Harlan Coben describes Mulligan as a 'droll hero' and Michael Connelly states DeSilva writes "...with genuine authority, a dose of cynical humor, and a squinting eye on the world..." DeSilva has created memorable characters, a cynical protagonist and a firey plot. If you're looking for a mystery author who writes with intelligence and wit, a book with action, then Rogue Island by Bruce DeSilva is your book. Both the author and I are sad that Ed McBain didn't live to read it.