Hunts Point

Gribetz’s unrealistic second novel featuring New York City PI Sam Free (after 2014’s Taconic Murda) presents a familiar setup: an investigator who left the police force under a cloud agrees to look into the case of a convicted killer and finds that the truth is connected to an elaborate conspiracy. Sam is approached by a bar acquaintance, Morris Ninver, who begs the former homicide cop to reexamine the evidence against his son, Jonah, who’s serving a 25-years-to-life sentence for murdering a prostitute. Jonah, who worked unloading trucks in Hunts Point in the Bronx, claims that he fell asleep after having sex with the victim. When he woke up, he saw a man in a ski mask repeatedly stabbing her in the back. The killer gave Jonah the bloody knife and asked the frightened kid to stab him as well. Then he laughed and took off. The suspect later conceded that his story made no sense; Sam comes to believe that Jonah’s attorney didn’t provide him with an adequate defense. A series of narrow escapes and improbable action sequences build to a clichéd climax. (June)