The Whites

A Novel

By: Richard Price, Harry Brandt

Narrated by: Ari Fliakos

Length: 10 hrs and 24 mins

Publisher's summary

The Whites is the electrifying debut of a new master of American crime fiction, Harry Brandt--the pen name of novelist Richard Price.

Back in the run-and-gun days of the mid-'90s, when Billy Graves worked in the South Bronx as part of an anticrime unit known as the Wild Geese, he made headlines by accidentally shooting a 10-year-old boy while stopping an angel-dusted berserker in the street. Branded as a cowboy by his higher-ups, for the next 18 years Billy endured one dead-end posting after another. Now in his early 40s, he has somehow survived and become a sergeant on the Manhattan Night Watch, a small team of detectives charged with responding to all nighttime felonies from Wall Street to Harlem.

Night Watch usually acts as a setup crew for the day shift, but when Billy is called to a 4:00 a.m. fatal slashing of a man in Penn Station, his investigation of the crime moves beyond the usual handoff. And when he discovers that the victim was once a suspect in the unsolved murder of a 12-year-old boy--a brutal case with connections to the former members of the Wild Geese--the bad old days are back in Billy's life with a vengeance, tearing apart enduring friendships forged in the urban trenches and even threatening the safety of his family.

Richard Price, one of America's most gifted novelists, has always written brilliantly about cops, criminals, and New York City. Now, writing as Harry Brandt, he is poised to win a huge following among all those who hunger for first-rate crime fiction.

©2015 Richard Price (P)2015 Macmillan Audio

Critic reviews

"...Fliakos meticulously delivers each voice with full, rich characterizations. It's no surprise that he continues to win awards for his narrations." (AudioFile)

Engaging Story, Excellent Performance

NYPD's thin blue line with a conscience. Richard paints a vivid tale with generations of characters. Ari brings them to life. This story is quick paced, suspenseful, and offers twists that are logical yet not anticipated.

Great prose & characters, plot not so much

Interesting, engaging characters that are well fleshed out. And well written prose. But the plot, the twists, the mysteries that are laid and eventually unfurled...lackluster. I thought the story was building up to something but at the end I felt disappointed.

Terrific writer

Beautifully written and presented. The story is complex. I will listen a second time to gain a full understanding of the plot and characters.

Not What I Expected

This book's content was different from its description, but I truly enjoyed it. We all carry baggage from the past and this is a story about how several people dealt / ignored theirs and the consequences.

Wow, that was good!

Gripping story, and well read. Richard Price has a new fan! I really can't wait to get another by these two.

Once you start, you cannot stop.

This was an enjoyable well written book. Providing the listener with an inside look at the life of detectives. The gut wrenching decisions made on a daily basis. The inside view of the underbelly of society, and a ride along with the people who make the choice to protect and serve. Once you start - you cannot stop.

I loved every second of it!!!

This story has everything you want in a story and more! The voice actor really brought the story to life with his spot on NY dialect and easy listening voice.

Took a little bit to warm up , but worth it

Just a good read , like a nice chair that gets more comfortable the longer you sit in it. Was it ground breaking? No. Was it good , yes.

Takes a while to get into but...

An intense crime drama with many characters and realistic gritty dialog. Price has an amazing understanding of the police world and his dark humor keeps the reader satisfied to the very end.

UNREASONABLE EXPECTATION

“The Whites” is a story about unreasonable expectation. George Orwell suggests, “The essence of being human is that one does not seek perfection”. Keeping Orwell’s thought in mind, police departments are organizations made by, and for, humans that are expected to be perfect. “The Whites” is a story that explains how the ideal of “Serve and Protect”, posted on the side of many police vehicles, becomes distorted.

A picture is painted of how a policeman’s desire, to “Serve and Protect”, becomes distorted. Price tells a poignant story of Billy’s best friend who is about to lose his son to a rare disease. Billy’s close friend rages against the idea of God. He curses belief in any God who lets the “scum” of the earth live while those who are trying to make the world better for themselves or others–die.

Some may conclude Price’s story is not about corruption but justice. Others will say rationalized vigilantism is a slippery slope to Hell. Many realize the phrase “Serve and Protect” is limited to the truth of being human. Choosing to be a cop, like being a priest, creates an unreasonable expectation that humans can be perfect. Most will have an opinion about God, vigilantism, justice, and being human after listening to Richard Price’s novel, “The Whites”.