Haiku

From the author of the acclaimed Burke series comes a sharply affecting new novel about a group of outcasts who undertake a “mission” to save a schizophrenic’s hidden treasure.
 
When his most beloved student dies as a result of what he believes to be his misguidance, Ho renounces his position as a revered sensei, abandons his dojo and all of his possessions, and embarks on a journey of atonement on the streets of New York City. Here a group of homeless men gather around him: Michael, a gambler who lost it all; Ranger, a psychotic Vietnam veteran; Lamont, an ex-con, poet, and alcoholic in that order; Target, a compulsive “clanger”; and Brewster, the keeper of a secret library in an abandoned inveterate building on the waterfront. When news hits that the building is slated for demolition, the group must subsume each individual’s demons into one shared goal: save Brewster's library, at all costs."[Andrew Vachss's] New York . . . is not borrowed from anybody, and it shimmers on the page as gaudily and scarily as it does on the streets."
—New York

"Vachss gives such a smooth ride, it is easy to forget someone is driving."
—The New York Times Book Review

"Compelling and challenging . . . [Vachss takes us] not simply into the mean streets but into a subterranean nightmare."
—The Washington Post Book World

"Vachss's reverence for storytelling is evident in the blunt beauty of his language."
—Chicago Sun-Times

"Andrew Vachss continues to write the most provocative novels around."
—Martha Grimes

"Vachss writes with . . . an unerring ear for the language of the streets."
—Rocky Mountain News

"The voice of Vachss: uncompromising, exciting, and fiercely original."
—George Pelecanos

"Vachss is a master."
—Sacramento BeeAndrew Vachss’s many books include the Burke novels and two previous collections of short stories. His books have been translated into twenty languages, and his work has appeared in Parade, Antaeus, Esquire, Playboy, and The New York Times, among other publications. He died in 2021.