Pg. 69: Marcus Sakey's "At the City's Edge"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Marcus Sakey's At the City's Edge.

About the book, from the publisher's website:

Jason Palmer loved being a soldier. But after returning home from Iraq with an "other than honorable" discharge, he's finding rebuilding his life the toughest battle yet.

Elena Cruz is a talented cop, the first woman to make Chicago's prestigious Gang Intelligence Unit. She's ready for anything the job can throw at her.

Until Jason's brother, a prominent community activist, is murdered in front of his own son.

Now, stalked by brutal men with a shadowy agenda, Jason and Elena must unravel a conspiracy stretching from the darkest alleys of the ghetto to the manicured lawns of the city's power brokers. In a world where corruption and violence are simply the cost of doing business, two damaged people are all that stand between an innocent child -- and the killers who will stop at nothing to find him.

Among the early praise for At the City's Edge:

"At the City's Edge crackles and sears like a rip-roaring fire."

--Tess Gerritsen, author of The Bone Garden

"Goes from zero to sixty in a blazing rush. Sakey knows how to thrill a reader."

--David Morrell, author of Creepers

"Sakey's conspiracy and corruption scenarios twist together in startling ways in this ambitious thriller. It's fast paced from the get-go and just as good as Sakey's stellar debut. Highly recommended."
--Library Journal

"High-tension action, intricate plotting and a Chicago setting that thrums and pulses with the feel of the city... Sakey, who draws disturbing and thought-provoking parallels between Baghdad and Chicago, provides enough narrow escapes, traps and obstacles to satisfy a Die Hard fan, but enough meat to please readers who demand more than pyrotechnics."
--Publishers Weekly

"Sakey is a name to watch for devotees of Pelecanos, Lehane, and other chroniclers of the urban jungle."
--Booklist

"Intricate...relentless...Sakey's gritty Chicago is wonderfully evoked. [A] brutally effective action-heavy thriller, ready-made for film."
--Kirkus

Read an excerpt from At the City's Edge and learn more about the author and his writing at Marcus Sakey's website.

Sakey's first novel, The Blade Itself, was featured on CBS Sunday Morning and NPR, and chosen a New York Times Editor's Pick, one of Esquire Magazine's "Top 5 Reads of 2007," and made January Magazine's "Best of 2007" list. Rachael Ray loved it, too. Ben Affleck and Matt Damon's production company has bought film rights for Miramax.

The Page 69 Test: The Blade Itself.

The Page 69 Test: At the City's Edge.

--Marshal Zeringue