"You know what it takes to sit across the table from a man, listen to him talk, look into his eyes...and then blow his brains all over the wall paper? Nothing. And the more of that you have, the easier it is."

With that introduction, Andrew Vachss starts the reader on a furious journey of evil and its legacy. Burke, Vachss' long time antihero, has been tricked into carrying out a kidnapping payoff that suddenly turns into a professional hit - on him. Burke and his partner defend themselves valiantly, but inevitably they fail. Burke is left a shattered hulk with a bullet in his head, and his closest companion is killed.

Amazingly, Burke survives. Driven by a thirst for revenge, and helped by his friends, he overcomes the hospital, the police, his wounds, and partial blindness. Once recovered, using the appearance of his death as a cover, Burke begins a hunt that takes him from New York to Portland, Oregon. It is a journey like no other Burke has taken, and it is not certain whether transformation or death lay at the end of it. Gradually, the mystery is unraveled. In Burke's world nothing is ever quite how it appears, and revenge turns into retribution.

Andrew Vachss' books always leave the reader suspended between the excitement and fascination of a well-told tale and genuine horror at the monsters that stalk through them. Even Burke's associates and friends are monstrous in their nature. Michelle, Mole, the Prof, are all here and you will find many new characters as well. Vachss populates his novels with the Children of the Secret. These are victims of child abuse and worse, bent forever by their nightmares. In Vachss' books the victims, the monsters and those that struggle against them are all touched by this plague.

This is a very different Burke than we are used to. Deeply focused and haunted by the events surrounding his 'death', Burke must face his own vulnerability and decide whether the nothing, the Zero, will consume him or whether he will find himself changed. In either case, the Burke we know will become 'dead and gone.'

Andrew Vachss' books are not easy to read. This is true noir fiction, true horror. Because it is focused on Burke's need for revenge for most of the book, Dead and Gone actually seems more accessible than most. Perhaps Burke as a victim is easier to deal with than some others that have appeared in this series. Vachss' writing style is sparse and compelling, and his pacing is superb, in what may be his best novel yet.

For those who are new to this author, Andrew Vachss has a long background dealing with and working for the victims of child abuse. His is currently a lawyer in private practice specializing in these cases. He manages to carry this agenda into his books without giving into the temptation to preach or rant. Instead, he presents the horror of the crime and the pain and nobility of its victims, letting them speak for themselves. These are incredibly strong novels; expect to find yourself changed in the reading. Not merely mystery or suspense, Vachss' books are in a genre by themselves.

--Marc Ruby