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    Gravesend
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    Gravesend
    Unavailable
    Gravesend
    Ebook285 pages4 hours

    Gravesend

    By William Boyle

    4.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    Shortlisted for the 2018 CWA John Creasey New Blood Dagger

    Ray Boy Calabrese is released from prison 16 years after his actions led to the death of a young man. The victim's brother, Conway D'Innocenzio, is a 29-year-old Brooklynite wasting away at a local Rite Aid, stuck in the past and still howling for Ray Boy's blood. When the chips are down and the gun is drawn, Conway finds that he doesn't have murder in him. Thus begins a spiral of self-loathing and soul-searching into which he is joined by Alessandra, a failed actress caring for her widowed father, and Eugene, Ray Boy's hellbound nephew. Ray Boy Calabrese is back in Gravesend: some people worship him, some want him dead . . . but none more so than the ex-con himself.

    'Bristling with energy, Gravesend marks Boyle out as a new name to watch' - Guardian

    'A brave and gripping novel from start to finish' - Big Issue

    'A dark, hard hitting novel' - The Herald

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNo Exit Press
    Release dateSep 21, 2017
    ISBN9780857301291
    Unavailable
    Gravesend
    Author

    William Boyle

    William Boyle is from Brooklyn, New York. His novels include: Gravesend, which was nominated for the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière in France; The Lonely Witness, which was nominated for the Hammett Prize and the Grand Prix de Littérature Policière; A Friend Is a Gift You Give Yourself, an Amazon Best Book of the Year; and, most recently, City of Margins, a Washington Post Best Thriller and Mystery Book of 2020. He lives in Oxford, Mississippi.

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    Reviews for Gravesend

    4.5/5

    4 ratings4 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Really well-developed characters. No false notes.
    • 4/5
      Boyle built a story of many remarkable characters whose lives tragically collide in a down-and-out, blue-collar NYC neighborhood named Gravesend. Ray Boy is a just-released ex-con, who commited hate-crime manslaughter and wants to die. Conway is the brother of the Ray Boy’s victim and wants to help fulfill Ray Boy’s wish. Eugene is Ray Boy’s nephew and well on his way to emulating the worst of his uncle. Alessandra is back from LA following her mom’s death and Stephanie is a drug-store clerk. Gravesend is a godsend for anyone who likes tales of crime and raw violence. I found the story refreshing – a mix of Brothers McMullin and Quentin Tarentino. Gravesend swims in Catholic, Italian, and parochial school lingo that lured this reader in.
    • 5/5
      A great crime novel and one of the best stories about Italian Americans I've read in a long time
    • 3/5
      GRAVESEND is a noir that deviates from the more classic mode because the revenge killer just can’t pull the trigger and the victim really couldn’t care less if he is killed. Nonetheless, Boyle portrays working class Brooklyn as a dark place filled with grim characters clinging to a past that may not have been all that ideal. They live with memories of high school crushes, slights, and rebellions.Boyle portrays his Italian-American characters as people who live in the past and identify strongly with their neighborhood. Conway D'Innocenzio wants to revenge the killing of his gay brother by a high school bully named Ray Boy. He is a local looser working a dead-end job at a Rite Aid and caring for his widowed father. Alessandra Biagini briefly escaped Gravesend to LA where she failed in her goal to become an actress but now she’s home caring for her recently widowed father. She has a drinking problem and is reluctantly seeking old contacts in the neighborhood. Eugene Calabrese is a petty high school hood, who idolizes his legendary Uncle Ray Boy. He’s eager to assume the hoodlum role that his uncle seems to have abandoned. Ray Boy is the most enigmatic figure in the book. Apparently he was a “Fonzie” type who has changed dramatically as a result of his 16 years in prison for the hate crime of murdering Duncan D'Innocenzio. These characters are supported by a cast of local losers including a worn-out cop names McKenna, a wealthy ne’er-do-well called Sweat, and a high school friend who never left home and pines for Conway.The novel follows three interrelated plotlines. Conway means to kill Ray Boy but finds he really doesn’t have the killer instinct. Alessandra tries to relive her high school crush on Ray Boy while being stalked by Conway. And Eugene hatches a crazy scheme to rob a local crime boss. It is obvious from the outset that none of this will end well. After being told by a reader that they could see the end coming a mile away, Boyle was heard to say, “Yeah, it’s not a mystery novel. Eugene’s fucking doomed from the start. You could sense that because that’s the way I made it. There are no options for him.” The same seems true for Conway and Alessandra.Boyle unflinchingly portrays his old neighborhood as a dark and perverse place where everything is broken, and people never leave or are inevitably drawn back. It is obvious that he knows this place and these people well. In the best Rocky fashion, Eugene sticks a “yo” on the back of much of what he says. On traveling north along the Hudson, Sweat admits that this was the first time he ever crossed the river. All history revolves not just around the neighborhood but the block.This is a clever twist on the crime/noir genre wit a few interesting things to say about the insularity of big city neighborhoods.