Lush Life by Richard Price (a review)

3 out of 5: Two detectives work to unravel the story behind a robbery gone bad. The setting—the Lower East Side (of Manhattan)—is as much a character in this police procedural as any human character. Richard Price vividly depicts this neighborhood and believably captures the gritty street dialog used by the detectives and suspected perpetrators. The first third of the book moves quickly, but the pace lags in the middle as the investigation stalls. With the investigation going nowhere, Price delves too deeply into subplots and into his characters’ inner psyches without maintaining the momentum. Fans of the genre will enjoy this novel, but others will find it tedious.