Editorial Content for Payback
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
PAYBACK is the second police procedural in Lorenzo Carcaterra’s series featuring Tank Rizzo, a disabled and retired New York City police detective. His disability stems from the sad fact that he was shot while not on the job. That incident included several shootings, and Tank’s old partner, Frank “Pearl” Monroe, was left a paraplegic who has been confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his life. Nevertheless, Tank has remained on good terms with the Chief of Detectives Ray Connors, who occasionally calls upon him to solve cold cases.
"Readers will find PAYBACK’s tightly woven plot to be well-written and suspenseful. Not one word is out of place, which makes for a stellar reading experience."
The novel opens with a flashback to Detective Eddie Kenwood questioning a young man in an interview room. He would stop at nothing to close a case, and his tactics included forcing innocent people, usually young black men, to confess to crimes committed by someone else. One of these individuals is Randy Jenkins, who has been accused of murder. It was under threats of harm from Kenwood that he felt he had no choice but to sign a false confession. Pearl knows that Jenkins is innocent, so he wants Tank to clear him of all charges and take down Kenwood.
Meanwhile, Tank looks after his 15-year-old nephew, Chris, whose mother and father recently died in a suspicious car accident. Tank and his brother were estranged for years, and Carcaterra fills readers in on the family trajectory: “The past never leaves us. It hovers over us, hidden by the passage of time, waiting to strike when we least expect it. It can do damage or ease suffering, its path never truly known until it confronts us.” Chris has done enough computer searches to convince himself that his parents were murdered due to a money-laundering scheme, and he enlists his uncle’s help in bringing those responsible to justice.
Carcaterra's characters are finely honed and believable. Readers will find PAYBACK’s tightly woven plot to be well-written and suspenseful. Not one word is out of place, which makes for a stellar reading experience.
Teaser
Detective Eddie Kenwood is a dirty cop. He has the highest signed-confession rate in the NYPD and a distinguished career built on putting men behind bars --- whether they’re guilty or not doesn’t matter much to him. When Tank Rizzo’s partner, Pearl, tells him about an old family friend Kenwood put in jail for a murder he didn’t commit, Tank and Pearl vow to take Kenwood down. Also in need of a takedown: the money-laundering accounting firm where Tank’s brother used to work --- before he mysteriously died, leaving Tank the sole guardian of his nephew, Chris. Chris smells a rat and enlists Tank’s help to bring the men who had his father killed to justice.
Promo
Detective Eddie Kenwood is a dirty cop. He has the highest signed-confession rate in the NYPD and a distinguished career built on putting men behind bars --- whether they’re guilty or not doesn’t matter much to him. When Tank Rizzo’s partner, Pearl, tells him about an old family friend Kenwood put in jail for a murder he didn’t commit, Tank and Pearl vow to take Kenwood down. Also in need of a takedown: the money-laundering accounting firm where Tank’s brother used to work --- before he mysteriously died, leaving Tank the sole guardian of his nephew, Chris. Chris smells a rat and enlists Tank’s help to bring the men who had his father killed to justice.
About the Book
Payback is personal for a former NYPD detective taking on a corrupt cop and a dirty accounting firm in this adrenaline-laced thriller from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of SLEEPERS and TIN BADGES.
If there’s one kind of person Tank Rizzo hates most in this world, it’s a dirty cop. Criminals are at least honest about being dishonest; dirty cops are a disgrace to the badge they carry. Detective Eddie Kenwood is one such disgrace. He’s got the highest signed confession rate in the NYPD and a distinguished career built on putting men behind bars --- whether they’re guilty or not doesn’t matter much to him. When Tank’s partner, Pearl, tells him about an old family friend Kenwood put in jail for a murder he didn’t commit, Tank and Pearl vow to take Kenwood down.
Also in need of a takedown: the money-laundering accounting firm where Tank’s brother used to work --- before he mysteriously died, leaving Tank the sole guardian of his nephew, Chris. Chris smells a rat and enlists Tank’s help to bring the men who had his father killed to justice.
Working two big cases means getting out the big guns, and Tank assembles his A-team. With help from a retired mobster, a professional boxer, a Chelsea psychic and the U.S. Attorney --- not to mention his and Pearl’s own quick wits and Chris’s burgeoning skills as a computer whiz --- Tank gears up to take on his most dangerous and personal cases to date.
Audiobook available, read by Pete Simonelli
