Revolver

By: Duane Swierczynski

Narrated by: Rick Zieff, John Glouchevitch, Christine Lakin

Length: 9 hrs and 19 mins

Publisher's summary

Hammett Prize nominee, 2017

Three generations torn apart—by bullets fired 50 years ago.

Philadelphia, 1965: Two street cops—one black, one white—are gunned down in a corner bar. One of the fallen officers, Stan Walczak, leaves behind a 12-year-old boy, Jimmy.

Philadelphia, 1995: Homicide detective Jim Walczak learns that his father's alleged killer, Terrill Lee Stanton, has been sprung from prison. Jim stalks the ex-con, hoping to finally learn the truth.

Philadelphia, 2015: Jim's daughter, Audrey, a forensic science student, reopens her grandfather's murder for a research paper. But as Audrey digs deeper, she comes to realize that Stanton probably didn't pull the trigger—and her father may have made a horrible mistake....

©2016 Duane Swierczynski (P)2016 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Impressive, intricately constructed . . . Well sequenced to maximize suspense . . . A twist-filled saga of family loyalties and civic corruption . . . Mr. Swierczynski's innovative, life-affirming novel also affords the traditional pleasures of a police procedural, including humor."—Tom Nolan, Wall Street Journal

"This is the first novel I've read by [Duane Swierczynski] and as soon as I finished it I went back and read three more by him. . . . Fast-moving . . . This book illuminates race relations in the '60s in Philadelphia and in the country at large."—Nancy Pearl, NPR

"Swierczynski just gets better and better . . . [A] bleak, powerful tale of corruption and the lasting effects of crime . . . Swierczynski's riskiest move yet [is] a resounding success, with each story line featuring full-blooded characters and intrigue that works both in its own right and in the larger context."—Booklist (starred review)

Family always muddies the water.

Audrey comes home to a family of cops to celebate their Grandfather who died in the line of duty 50 years previous.

Audrrey begins to dig into this unsolved shooting that took her Grandfather and his partners lives, and it will change everything for the entire family forever.

Duane Swierczynski is a word smith who serves a tale like the fry cook at you favorite grease spoon slings hash, just how you want it.

A Gem. Swierczynski is here to stay.

Sharp & crisp. engaging. Descriptive without paragraphs of adjectives. great dialog without (excessive) foul language.

Blast from the past

I graduated from the PPD Academy in the late 60’s after serving in the military. I left Philly in the 70’s for a Law Enforcement position in California. This book brought me back to Philly and “The Job” Thanks for a “good read”!

Great classic Duane Swierczynski

If you like Duane Swierczynski you’ll like this book. Great action packed writing that keeps your interest all the way through.

If Dennis Lehane lived in Philly

Readers of Dennis Lehane might really appreciate Duane Swierczynski. What Lehane does for generations of Irish cops in Boston, Swierczynski does for Polish cops in Philadelphia. One difference is that this book crams four generations into one novel rather than stretching them out over several like Lehane. This doesn’t always work perfectly as the reader tries to navigate three generations of cops with unpronounceable Polish last names and the inevitable nicknames, but the author still keeps enough of our interest with a vivid painting of the evolution of race relations, city machine politics, and sex, drugs (well, booze) and rock and roll to keep us interested. Indeed, if this book is made into a movie, the soundtrack is already laid out in the jukeboxes, car radios and record albums in the characters’ lives. A good, solid genre crime novel with plenty of setting and a good mix of strong male and female characters.

Not for me

Too confusing for an audio book. Too many characters with similar names, bouncing back and forth historically. Didn't care about any of the characters. Seemed like a one note tale.