Terry Orr
Created by Jim Fusilli
Terry Orr is a New York
writer haunted by the senseless murder of artist/wife Marina Fiorentino
and their young son Davy, in Closing Time (2001), an impressive
debut that drew praise from people as varied as the New York Times'
Marilyn Stasio and P.I.E.S.' Gary
Warren Niebuhr. It seems some looney pushed them in front
of a subway train.
Frustrated, lonely, still mourning, and desparately seeking some sort of closure, he becomes a private eye, ostensively as research for a book, but in reality, to develop the skills he will need to track down the killer of his family, who so far remains at large. But along the way, Orr discovers he has a knack for the work, and is soon drawn into several other cases.
Meanwhile, he has a twelve-year-old daughter, Gabriella, to take care of. Together, father and daughter try to come to terms with the violence that has ripped through their lives, and figure out how to live.
And all this is played out against a strong and vivid portrayal of New York City that's heightened by photos and silhouettes of skyscrapers on the cover and first page of each chapter (at least in the hardcover version). All in all, a poignant and often moving story, handsomely presented, that bodes well for both author Jim Fusilli, a Wall Street Journal music critic, and his detective.
And in fact, in 2002, Terry returned, in A Well-Known Secret, another well-received novel, this time set against the backdrop of post 9/11 NYC. For a series that seems so intrinsically linked to the Big Apple, it's hard to imagine Fusilli shying away from it.
UNDER OATH
NOVELS
Report respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.
