I re-read Flood a few months back. Read some other stuff and then started on a Vachss/Burke fest. I have whipped through the next 5 books in this series in a few weeks. A real trip down memory lane for me. I first read Sacrifice int he early nineties. My abiding memory is of reading it whilst on a short holiday with a good mate. We were camping and had some kit, but not enough. I remember sitting in a chair near the tent, Snoddy was cooking and I was reading. I found Sacrifice compelling then and it has lost none of its fire in the intervening 20 years or so. So Burke, unlike most of the previous books, is not involved in a quest for cash, this is purely of this own sakes. A revenge tale, for what has been done to a boy by freaks. The climax, when it comes, is quick, but with consequences. Another writer would have drawn out the action at the end into an explosive finale. Vachss treats it as he writes the rest of the book - sparse, direct and efficient. The is no main love interest for Burke either in this book. Which is refreshing. He still mourns Belle, seems to be coming to terms with Flood's absence, but is a damaged and therefore more interesting character. Great stuff.
Sometimes, I pick an Andrew Vachss book out of boredom. I really liked the first one but now, I can't help but be disappointed whenever I read another one in the series.What Burke and Andrew Vachss though him try to do is laudable. Fighting for endangered children, revealing how sordid and cruel adults can be toward the vulnerable is crucial. However, I have a problem with the writing style, a problem that detracts me somewhat from appreciating the book. I don't know if it's because I am not a native speaker but sometimes I feel like the vernacular is so thick I don't understand what is going on. I also found the psychology of the characters lacking. I think that may be explained by the fact that we're dealing with people that are street-smart and that don't really care about the hows and whys as long as they get the job done.In the story, once they understood roughly why the child was like that, it was time to act but I would have been interested to learn more about his psyche. That being said, it's not a bad book, just too shallow to hold my interest for long.
What do You think about Sacrifice (1996)?
What--or who--could turn a gifted little boy into a murderous thing that calls itself "Satan's Child"? In search of an answer, a man named Burke travels from a festering welfare hotel to a neat frame house where a voodoo priestess presides over a congregation of assassins. For this vigilante and unlicensed private eye has made it his business to defend the small victims whom the law has failed--even a child who has been made into a killer. Just discovered this author and now reading my way through all his books. Like his characters and plots. Keeps you reading.
—Susan
A gifted nine year old boy is a murderer that calls himself Satan's Child and it's up to Burke to find out how he got that way. Burke's also been tasked with finding a father and a missing baby. Can Burke find who he's looking for and set things right?Right off the bat, Andrew Vachss is so bleak he makes James Ellroy look like Richard Simmons. The New York Burke lives in is a cesspool of pimps and pedophiles. Burke's a miserable loner but the men he goes up against make him look like a saint.Sacrifice is one hell of a tale. Burke goes up against pedophiles, murderers, and gets into some heat with a voodoo cult. As usual, he's a survivor.The thing that keeps me coming back to the Burke books is the setting and the supporting cast. New York is a member of the cast in Vachss's books and the supporting cast, Burke's family, are a well fleshed out bunch. I'm hoping Clarence and Belinda stick around for a few more books.I don't really have any complaints. Vachss delivered the goods yet again. Now I'm going to go read something more uplifting.
—Dan Schwent
I really like Burke and the way in which they are written, but with this one I felt like there really wasn't that much of a story. Or the story wasn't the driving factor. There was still a little more peeled away of Burke's past and more development so it wasn't all bad, but I wish that there was a little more to the "title". I do love the way past characters are brought up, not in a way that you have to have read the previous books but enough to make you glad that you did. And I have to say, this being the sixth book in the series, I really miss Belle. I'm not sure Burke will, it was such a pivotal character.
—John Grazide
