Synopses & Reviews
A disillusioned newspaper reporter turned private detective, Ray Dudgeon isn't trying to save the world. He just wants to do an honest job, and do it well. But when doing an honest job threatens society's most powerful and corrupt, Ray's odds for survival make for a sucker's bet... While working on a movie in Chicago, Hollywood locations manager Bob Loniski saw something he shouldn't have. Now he's a prosecution witness against a suspected member of the Chicago Outfit. Petrified, he comes to Ray for protection. Ray's mob contacts insist that they have no interest in Loniski, so he takes the bodyguard gig. Then people start dying and everything goes to hell. Ray's investigation leads to a stash of blackmail files involving the sex trade, Washington political corruption, and a deadly power struggle among Chicago's organized crime bosses; setting the FBI, the Chicago police, and the mob on his tail. He now holds evidence against top-ranking cops and politicians... but with the line between good and bad blurring, he doesn't know who he can trust.
If he does the right thing, Ray is sure to die. But if he doesn't, how can he live with himself? From the back alleys of Chicago to the mansions of Beverly Hills to the corridors of power in Washington, D.C., Sean Chercover's Big City Bad Blood propels readers relentlessly forward on a bullet-fast, adrenaline-pumping ride they will not soon forget.
Review
"A Chicago shamus runs afoul of a vindictive petty thug. Ray Dudgeon, a former reporter for the Chicago Chronicle, narrates his own story....Dudgeon's darkness adds welcome depth and complexity to this hard-boiled debut, a likely series kickoff." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Former Chicago private investigator Sean Chercover has penned an impressive hard-boiled debut....Chicago comes alive in the book." Chicago Sun-Times
Synopsis
Reluctantly hiring on as a bodyguard to a Hollywood locations manager who is testifying as a prosecution witness against a suspected member of the Chicago Outfit, private detective Ray Dudgeon is forced into an unexpected investigation with corrupt ties to Washington. A first novel.
Synopsis
A disillusioned newspaper reporter turned private detective, Ray Dudgeon isn't trying to save the world. He just wants to do a little good, but as he's about to be reminded, the road to hell is paved with good intentions.