Ed Dee's The Con Man's Daughter is noir at its best. The retired police officer proves he can transfer life experience to the written page with crisp talent. Like Dennis Lehane's bestseller Mystic River, Dee takes his readers for a fast-paced read through parts of New York most New Yorkers will never see—parts run by the Russian Mafia.

Ex-police officer Eddie Dunne is beginning to enjoy life, the road behind him dark and mostly forgotten. He has been clean and sober for some time. Though his wife is dead, he has his daughter Kate and granddaughter Grace living with him. They make it worth waking up every day.

When his daughter is sick abed one morning, Dunne must walk Grace to school. He cannot know that his life will be turned upside down when he returns. Someone breaks into his house, but nothing is missing -- except Kate. She's been kidnapped.

Dunne spent his time on the force partnered with a shady cop known as the Priest, whose family was connected to the Russian Mob. This made the both cops look dirty and soiled their reputations. Somehow Dunne's past has caught up with him. One of his old cases has brought big trouble to his doorstep. Dunne does not plan to sit back and wait for the police or the FBI to find out what's happened to his daughter. He knows the best way to get answers is to rattle cages. Disregarding any thought for his own safety or mortality, Dunne sets out to save his daughter before her abductors decide she is more trouble than she is worth and kill her.

The Con Man's Daughter is full of action, some romance and tons of tension. Dee's writing is concise and taut, his tale twisted and sharp. This is a tough book to put down, a hard story to forget.