Walking the Perfect Square

By Reed Farrel Coleman

August 6th, 1998: Moe Prager, a former cop, waits to call his daughter for her 18th birthday. In the midst of an ugly family meltdown, Prager is desperate to find a way to make sense of what has caused his once-happy family to implode. As he waits, however, it is Prager who receives a call that might not only solve a case that has haunted him and his wife for twenty years, but might also supply the glue to patch his family back together. December 8th, 1977: Patrick Maloney, a supposedly popular college student, walks out of a Manhattan nightspot into oblivion. It s no wonder Maloney s disappearance barely registers on the radar screen. Son of Sam strikes. Elvis is dead. It s the Sex Pistols vs. the BeeGees, Studio 54 and the Dirt Lounge, est and yin/yang, gas shortages, Quaaludes, pot and polyester, Plato s Retreat, The Rocky Horror Picture Show, and the neutron bomb. Moe Prager, a cop forced into early retirement by injury, certainly hadn t noticed Patrick Maloney s disappearance. But when Prager s ex-partner calls with an offer to work on the case, Moe, wracked with self-doubt over his undistinguished career, signs on. As Prager traces Patrick Maloney s steps from his upstate home to his college dorm on Long Island, from the Tribeca bar where he was last seen to an old flame s mansion on the Gold Coast, Moe realizes that nothing about the case, especially the details of the missing man s life, is as it seems. Even the picture his parents gave the police was two years out of date. Why? What could his parents be hiding? What tortured secrets might have driven Patrick to create a public persona so different from his true self? Questions multiply as Prager searches for Patrick in New York s notorious punk underground, gay clubs and biker bars. Will Moe s blossoming relationship with Patrick s older sister help to bring Maloney back home or will it help to destroy any progress in the case? Can Moe overcome the roadblocks thrown in his path by dirty cops, corrupt politicians, and an ambitious reporter? And who are the truly ominous forces working behind the scenes to pull Prager into the very private hell of the Maloney family? Is Moe Prager running in circles or simply walking the perfect square?

• Language: English
• Publisher: The Permanent Press
• Release date: Feb 2, 2002
• ISBN: 9781579623319

Reed Farrel Coleman

REED FARREL COLEMAN is a two-time Edgar Award nominee. He has also received the Macavity, Barry and Anthony Awards. To find out more visit: www.reedcoleman.com

Reviews for Walking the Perfect Square

[rwt42 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

(Moe Prager series #1) My first book from this author. Writes like a Jewish Damon Runion, so I'm interested. This detective is both reluctant and inexperienced so the character is more disturbing than exciting to follow. But I'm hoping that he will develop.

[edgoldberg · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Moe Prager is your everyday guy. an ex-cop (due to a freak accident), his friend, Rico, suggests to the parents of missing Patrick Maloney that Prager take the case. His claim to fame was finding a missing girl several years ago, resulting more from luck than skill.Prager dislikes Francis Maloney, Patrick's father, from the instant they met. However, during the course of the investigation, he falls in love with Patrick's sister. Prager soon realizes that he's being played--there's something deeper going on and he's just a pawn in the chess game.Maloney's disappearance occurs in 1978, however the book opens in 1998 when Prager gets a call from a Sister in a Catholic nursing home that a dying patient wants to see him. Both men admit they've never seen each other before but when the Sister mentions Maloney's name, Prager's interest is roused.Walking the Perfect Square mostly takes place in 1978 and discusses the disappearance and introduces some very dis-likeable characters. Coleman transitions back and forth between 1998 and 1978 nicely.There's not a lot of action, so to speak, in Walking the Perfect Square, but the writing and characters and plot draw you in and keep you interested. I'm definitely reading the remaining four books in the series as well as possibly trying his Coleman's other books.Reed Farrel Coleman is a new author for me and I'm glad the salesman in Mystery on Main in Brattleboro, VT recommended the book. He also recommended another mystery, who's name I forget, but I'm raring to go to read that one. Definitely pick this up.

[johnbsheridan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

1st instalment of 5 (currently) in the Moe Prager series and quite a good opening. Pace picks up considerably in the last third of the book when Moe starts making the connections and various consequences are revealed. For the Irish out there it includes an interesting description of hurling from an outsider's view.

[goodwillbooks · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Good, solid mystery, featuring Moe Prager, a former NYPD officer, out on disability. He's hired to find a missing person with secrets, and uncovers more than he realized, but comes to understand he's being used for more than a search. Characters are enjoyable and believable; the ultimate solution perhaps comes as something of a surprise. The "Epilogue" might seem a bit much, but wraps the story up nicely. I'd like to read more about Prager, but I don't know if Coleman has continued the series.

[she_climber · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Superior writing, interesting characters, and an intriguing story. College student, Patrick Maloney, disappears. His father, a man with some clout in 1978 NYC on the surface seems to be doing everything possible to find him. Enter Moe Prager, retired/injured on the job street cop, who had the dumb luck to find a missing child once before. Prager immediately senses that not all is on the level with the father and despite having never made detective does his best to look into the case. He finds himself getting help from unlikely places and pushed away from others. Prager is his own man though and keeps at it through the ugly, unseemly underside of NYC. Throw in some romance, fascinating characters, fast-forward glimpses to modern day and a very rewarding epilogue and this book is a keeper. Can't wait to continue through the series.

[ridgewaygirl · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Walking the Perfect Square is the first installment in Reed Farrel Coleman's crime series about Moe Prager, an ex-cop who is asked to look into the disappearance of college student who disappeared one night after he left a Manhattan bar. Set in the mid-seventies, this is a classic hard-boiled, with the hard-nosed but tender Prager going up against various shady characters who are out to either intimidate him or to use him for purposes of their own. What fun to read a novel that both respects the rules of the genre, while keeping the story feeling fresh and interesting. Prager is an interesting character and I'll be looking for other books in the series.

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this. The story was interesting, moving along at a good pace. The mystery included a few twists I didn't see coming, which is nice. Being old enough to remember the era, the setting of NY in the late 70s definitely added something.

[susan259 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Almost perfect. Love Moe Prager.