Drawing Dead: A Cross Novel by Andrew Vachss

Mr. Vachss writes about bad people, really bad people.  He's a lawyer who has represented abused women and children and he knows about what he speaks.  Sometimes it's easier not to expose yourself to that but it's there and it's real.  This might be a fictional story but there is evil in the world.  Are you ready to step into a world I hope I never get close to?

Vintage Crime/Black Lizard and Edelweiss gave me the opportunity to read this book for review (thank you).  It will be published April 19th.

I knew this was going to be a wild ride because there is only one chapter in this book.  It starts on page one and continues on with no breaks.

It begins in prison and continues outside as the men gather into a gang.  They have one female tough enough to join them.  Some of them are married.  One has a dog he's very attached to.  They do jobs that pay them well.  They aren't picky about death.  But they take exception when a hitman tries to kill one of the wives.  He probably would have taken out the children, too.  However, they knew he was coming and all he does is end up dead.

Now they are trying to weave together the net to see who set them up and why.  They know the bottom layer but they also know that person wasn't working alone.  What they find is a monster at the center of the web with killers around him.

There's non-stop action, conflict between gang members and an organization you wouldn't believe could be put together.  People die along the way, some of them grossly, and the group marches on.  When the book ends, you know the tale isn't done.  Cross has a mark that the beast in the prison gave him and it pulses.  Until it's gone or Cross is dead, the story won't be over.