A review by sireno8
Blue Belle by Andrew Vachss

3.0

This unflinching crime story pulls absolutely no punches and thus creates a world where anything can happen to anyone at anytime (which is my favorite kind of entertainment!). Vachss also manages to make his seemingly sociopathic main character totally worthy of empathy (because at base he is ruled by his own empathy). The grit and detail of this universe and its denizens is utterly fascinating. About halfway through, however, the two main characters' musings, though compellingly horrific, seem to take on a similarity in tone and slow down the action. Also, after a certain point, I didn't need every last detail of their sex life/therapy sessions. The combination seemed to slow the momentum about 2/3 of the way through so the last sixty to pages seemed like catch up work. But the end was satisfying and the characters are staying with me. Vachss has a singular compelling voice and I look forward to reading more of his work.