The City When It Rains

By: Thomas H. Cook

Narrated by: R.C. Bray

On a rainy night in New York City’s Hell’s Kitchen, a woman throws a doll from the fifth-floor window of a gutted tenement, then leaps herself. From his own apartment a few blocks away, freelance photographer David Corman listens to the radio reports as they come over his headset. Corman is a man at the edge, threatened with eviction, besieged by his wife’s attempt to regain custody of their daughter, yet reluctant to give up the life that permits him to roam the night. In the woman’s dying fall, he sees the chance to sell a story and perhaps buy some time. So he starts to probe deeper. Nothing prepares him for the odyssey he is about to undertake.

As the path leads, dark and twisted, from the meanest streets of New York to the homes of the rich, he struggles to uncover the life of the woman who leaped into the rain. The more layers he strips away, however, the more puzzles confront him, until ultimately, the search turns back onto himself: the dead woman’s true tale reveals shocking truths about his own life. At last, what began as a simple search for a story becomes a fight for his own soul.

Rich in character, complex in plot, The City When It Rains is a haunting, suspenseful novel of uncommon force, written with the stark beauty of the city it describes - passionate, resonant, a mystery in the deepest sense of the word.

©1991 Original material, Thomas H. Cook. Recorded by arrangement with Mysterious Press, LLC. (P)2011 HighBridge Company

Critic reviews

“Two-time Edgar award nominee Cook has written a haunting story of great emotional depth, which contains within it a first-rate detective story. Highly recommended.”( Library Journal)

Entertaining read! Thought provoking for fathers.

What did you love best about The City When It Rains?

I greatly enjoyed the mystery and atmosphere of the story, but what hit home with me most was the challenges some of the character faced as fathers.

Did the plot keep you on the edge of your seat? How?

Yes. I didn't feel a huge sense of urgency, but I did stay interested in what was coming next.

Which character – as performed by R. C. Bray – was your favorite?

Probably David, the Main Character

If you were to make a film of this book, what would be the tag line be?

In the dark, wet corners of the rainy New York City night, a freelance photographer follows the twisted path of a disturbing mystery while battling his own challenges as a father.

Any additional comments?

Great read! Thank you Mr. Cook and thank you Mr. Bray.

It's not about the mystery.

Reading Thomas H. Cook is about spending time with characters that don't behave according to plot. They worry about things that should happen, but don't, and allow you to see them as they change.

David has left life as an academic (never a mistake according to my personal prejudices--sorry all you profs) to pursue a passion for showing life through photographic images. His ideal is to produce a book of photographs so eloquent in themselves that they don't need words. A great romantic endeavor!

As the story progresses, so does his understanding of how art is made by real people, and why it is ultimately made alone.

The wonderful reveal in this novel is literally that there isn't one. Listen and spend time with some fascinating people in a great city, and enjoy the great treat that is R. C. Bray's narration.

Disappointing and irritating.

What disappointed you about The City When It Rains?

From the description, I thought I would like this book, but I found it irritating and unrealistic. In particular, I found the main character unsympathetic -- self-absorbed, self-destructive and uncommunicative. I got very tired at his answering virtually every direct question or comment with a shrug and being rude to people who were trying to be helpful. Perhaps his single-minded pursuit of his "art" and of the somewhat lame "mystery" was supposed to make him seem noble, but it came to grate on me, especially since it led him to neglect his child and didn't exactly strengthen his custody argument. Also, the rain was a "damper"!

To slow for me

Very bland and boring for me. Sped it up to get thru it. Just didn't do anything for me but roll my eyes and yawn.