Hamill,
Denis. Long Time Gone. Atria Books, September 2002. c416p.
ISBN 0-7434-0709-1. $25.00. Fiction.
Journalist Danny Cassidy, pushing 50, divorced,
and estranged from his daughter, returns to Brooklyn after
32 years to bury his father. When he fled the neighborhood
in 1969, he was a speed freak and acid head suspected of killing
a bad cop, Vito Malone. To make matters worse, Vito was the
father of Danny’s girlfriend, Erika. Danny was so messed
up on drugs at the time that he still doesn’t know whether
he committed the crime. What he does know is that two cops
are on his tail, still trying to pin the homicide on him. If
he expects to stay free and grab the chance to reconcile with
both his daughter and Erika, now a wealthy entrepreneur, he’s
going to have to find out who killed Vito and why. Hamill (Fork
in the Road) spins an engrossing tale with a host of sharply
delineated characters and complications galore. Readers will
enjoy the rich evocation of late-1960s Brooklyn as an extended
dysfunctional family. Highly recommended for all public libraries.