Sorrow's Anthem

By Michael Koryta

Cleveland PI and former police officer Lincoln Perry has always been passionate about his work. But professional devotion becomes obsession when his childhood friend, Ed Gradduk, is accused of killing a woman then setting fire to the house where her body was found.

Still haunted by the circumstances that led to his estrangement from Gradduk, Perry is determined to get to the truth. But Gradduk is murdered before Perry gets anywhere. With the help of his partner, retired cop Joe Pritchard, Perry combs his old neighbourhood for answers, following a winding trail of dirty cops and suspicious fires toward the truth.

Michael Koryta's plot percolates with crisp dialogue that would impress Chandler himself. He demonstrates a gift for creating both sympathetic characters and a fast-moving, twisty plot.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arena
• Release date: Jul 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9781741767841

Michael Koryta

Michael Koryta is the New York Times bestselling author of fourteen novels. His work has been translated into more than twenty languages and have won or been nominated for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, Edgar Award, Shamus Award, Barry Award, Quill Award, International Thriller Writers Award, and the Golden Dagger. Visit him online at MichaelKoryta.com.

Reviews for Sorrow's Anthem

[she_climber · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I'm really enjoying this series. My only wish is that Joe would have a more significant role in the stories. This story wove all over the place picking up more and more players along the way. It was a bit tough to keep them all straight at times but was really entertaining. I'm definitely game for the third installment.

[maneekuhi · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

3 1/2 stars, finished 6/5/11. @nd in the Lincoln Perry/Joe Pritchard series. This has strong ties back to the old neighborhood, boyhood pals of age 12, Mom and Dad, betraying a friend yet remembering the ties. Renewal, sudden death, an investigation without a client, some bad guys obvious to everyone except our heroes, arson. There are a number of links to connect bits of history and fact and clues that are very fuzzy, very tenuous, some might say a bit of a stretch. Sorrows anthem ? from sirens of ambulances, fire trucks, cop cars. All comes together a bit too neatly with all kinds of conspiracies and bad guys in both police and prosecutor's office. Not committed to this series. Characters are OK, but nothing great. Lincoln is a bit too brash for my taste, too in-your-face.

[mike1990-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

After loving his first novel, I wasn't a big fan of this one, however, it doesn't mean I didn't like it. Koryta's Private Eye lead Lincoln Perry is a character is unique in his own ways. He is well established and well written. This one took me longer to read than the others, I assume it's because I wasn't really into it as much as his first book.

[thoughtsofjoylibrary · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Private Investigator, Lincoln Perry discovers that his estranged, childhood friend is in trouble, and he is determined to help him. Lincoln enlists the help from his partner, Joe Pritchard, a retired cop, to investigate the suspicion of arson and murder.I read the first in this series, Tonight I Said Goodbye, over three years ago and liked it more than this one. I was encouraged by Lincoln and Joe's relationship and looked forward to seeing them again. However, in this book, I didn't feel the connection or observe any banter between the two. The plot focused more on Lincoln's past friendships, but that shouldn't have prohibited the partners' relationship. Unfortunately, it was bland and disappointed me.As for the plot, it was pretty good. It had a lot of twists and turns, but at times I was bored. I do like that I learned more about Lincoln and hope that the third book can provide a bit more oomph and visible bond between him and Joe. However, the ending to this book may have provided that missing ingredient. I really hope so. The title, Sorrow's Anthem, was the perfect choice.Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy

[fmrox · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Lincoln Perry and Joe Pritchard try to absolve Perry's friend of a arson/murder case and get pulled into a complex tale of local government/police corruption. Quite the cast of characters in this novel. A little bit hard to remember everyone, but they all seemed to play a role in the end. I liked the story-line and how it involved Perry's past. This novel really helped develop Perry's character/past. Joe Pritchard become more developed but Amy Ambrose got lost in this one.

[crazybatcow · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I liked it better than the first book in the series - it has a better (more believable) plot, no weird attempt at romance, no female characters so there were none there to be objectified.Perry is not Robichaud or Reacher and the writer is not as noir as I had been led to believe. The dialogue is a bit too wordy and it could probably use a bit more action and a bit less chatting.This is a decent 3 star book but that's it. I wouldn't read it again, and don't think I'll read more in the series - they are just average and there's not enough time to read all the average books out there.

[ficusfan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Book 2 in the Lincoln Perry mystery series.In this book Perry and Pritchard are involved in arson, murder, and official corruption.Perry gets involved with an estranged old friend,Ed Gradduk, who has been accused of arson. Ed dies when accidently struck by a police car, though Perry is not so sure it was really an accident. Perry's guilt requires him to investigate.In the fire Ed was supposed to have set, a murdered woman was found. Ed had a brief, bad relationship with the woman. Perry doubts Ed set any fires, but he knows he didn't kill anyone. Ed and Perry grew up together, but went separate ways when they were grown. Perry went into law enforcement, Ed went into crime. Perry in an effort to help Ed (in their younger days) actually got him sent to prison. Ed and Perry had been estranged ever since.The fires are being set in Perry's old neighborhood, and the investigation has him opening old wounds, and long buried secrets. There is a DA in search of higher political office, and several cops who seem less than interested in the truth. Perry starts to connect the current wave of arson with a 17 year old spree that was never solved.Perry also has to deal with the enmity his old neighborhood has for him, and pain of past childhood tragedies.Eventually Perry and Pritchard put all the pieces together. They are almost killed in an effort to silence them. Pritchard is critically injured and Perry must carry on alone.I liked this book as well as the first. The writing was good, it was a fast read with an interesting story. The character exposition and development is really well done. One of the things I didn't like was the sidelining of Pritchard. I hope its not going to be the norm for future books. Although a partner, he is a minor character in the book and he provides balance.

[devenish_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A clever title in as far as it describes the blending of police, ambulance and fire services sirens. This is the second in the Lincoln Perry PI series. A rather difficult one for me to get into but once in,I had to keep reading. Perry is a developing character and I look forward to the next in the series.

[johnbsheridan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Don't think this quite lived up to the standard of the first lincoln perry book but he and his partner joe pritchard are engaging characters and the plot certainly kept me guessing so overall an enjoyable book and certainly more than enough to keep me interested in the next book in the series.

[buffalogr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Book two of the series, suffers from #2itis. A well crafted plot has Lincoln Perry attempting to help a childhood friend who is then killed. This story wove in and out, with players added all the time--who really did it? It was hard to keep them all straight. Koryta is a great writer of urban action.That said, I'm in for the third episode.