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The Concrete Maze
The Concrete Maze
Author: Steven Torres
ISBN-13: 9780843959697
ISBN-10: 084395969X
Publication Date: 7/31/2007
Pages: 368
Rating:
  • Currently 3.8/5 Stars.
 6

3.8 stars, based on 6 ratings
Publisher: Leisure
Book Type: Mass Market Paperback
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Member | Amazon | Write a Review
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Top Member Book Reviews

reviewed The Concrete Maze on + 2 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 1
Amazon customer review by Jennifer Jordan: "Steven Torres is one of the best writers and one of the most unsung writers in the genre. In THE CONCRETE MAZE, he takes a break from his Precinct Puerto Rico series to take his readers on a trip through hell.

Told by Marc Ramos, this story is wrapped around the disappearance of his cousin and his uncle's quest to find her. The police seem uninterested in locating the missing thirteen year old so they travel into dark corners of New York City that tourists try hard not to see to get her back. But the world of drugs and prostitution that his cousin disappeared into is unforgiving and what they find there changes both of them.

Torres uses the perspective of Marc to put the reader the role of the sometimes somewhat unwilling accomplice. Tio (Spanish for 'Uncle') Luis pulls Marc with him day after day and forces him to put himself in danger often so Luis may get his beloved daughter back.

The central theme to this novel is family. Luis is willing to sacrifice everything he has to recover his daughter and that same sense of family motivates Marc to help his uncle. The irony here is that Luis routinely puts Marc in harm's way to get his daughter back.

Torres captures the profound pain of Luis and the conflict in Marc to help the family but avoid being pulled into the dark world of drugs, guns and prostitution that his cousin found herself in.

And while the story is told in first person by Marc, the central character to the story is Luis. His motivations are sometimes clouded and his relentlessness in his pursuit felt disconcerting to me. But this is the hallmark of a great story where the reader feels invested in seeing how it all turns out.

This is a solid novel that shows that Torres can write excellent hard-boiled mysteries. I look forward to his next novel."

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The Concrete Maze and a couple from the Precinct Puerto Rico series are on Bob's Bookshelf.
Read All 1 Book Reviews of "The Concrete Maze"


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