Callahan paints a beautiful environment with his descriptions of 1950's New York City. The entire feel of the book is glamorous and lush. While I felt he tried a little too hard in the first few chapters to set the stage (too much name dropping), it was an education on the time and effective.
The tone of the book was... quiet. Don't take that to mean slow or boring. What I mean is the pace was on point with the movement of drama at the time and it progressed with ease - in a tantalizing way. Callahan has a way of building suspense without writing a thriller or being overly dramatic. The novel felt real and accurate. True to the time and the people is was meant to represent.
And the ending... was shocking. There's no other word for it but shocking.
Check it out here:
