Winter and Night

By: S. J. Rozan

Narrated by: William Dufris

Private detective Bill Smith is hurtled headlong into the most provocative - and personal - case of his career when he receives a chilling late-night phone call from the NYPD, which is holding his 15-year-old nephew Gary. But Gary escapes Bill's custody and disappears into the dark, unfamiliar streets.

Bill and his partner, Lydia Chin, try to find the missing teen; their search takes them to a small town in New Jersey, where they discover that one of Gary's classmates was murdered. Bill and Lydia delve into the crime - only to find it eerily similar to a decades-old murder-suicide. Now, with his nephew's future - and his very life - at stake, Bill must unravel a long-buried crime and confront the darkness of his own past.

©2002 S. J. Rozan (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks

Critic reviews

Edgar Award, Best Novel, 2003

Good storyline, too much swearing

Good story, but so much swearing! It was distracting from an otherwise good storyline and disappointing.

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE

I loved this book and the narrator! The story is amazing!! You will love the characters and the mystery. A MUST READ!

Interesting

Narrating “female voice” annoyed me. I almost had to stop listening. I liked the story enough to power through.

Outstanding mystery/PI novel

The plot was full of surprises and everything kept coming up connected. The main protagonist character, Smith, was easy to like and you always wanted him to win. The only flaw to my mind was how over the top angry and macho all the guys were and demure the women were. Having been a jock in high school, in a school that prided themselves on football state championships, I never saw such the complete disregard for kids not jocks. Maybe a few jocks, but not the whole town! It does emphasize how Americans in general put way too much emphasis on sports, not only in school but in life after. Thanks for hitting that hard. It needed to be hammered some.

Great Backstory for Bill Smith

Bill and Lydia are a favorite detective team of mine and this story did not disappoint. Good characters and twisty plot. I couldn't wait to get an opportunity to listen so I could hear more. Got some projects done that way. lol

Narration too stereotyped

Found the narrator to be annoying in how pronounced and stereotyped he interpreted and delivered the character voices. Should have been more subtle.

One portrayal in particular was beyond, so offensive, that of "Luigi". Supposedly Puerto Rican, but spoken in the most "Speedy Gonzalez Mexican cartoon stereotype". And the vocabulary....never in my life have I ever heard a Rican speak in that phoney baloney cadence nor call anyone Cheeeko. Shame on the reader, the director and the producer.

Good book

Keeps you guessing until then end. Great characters and story line. Great narration lots of voice variations.

Story was great but too much profanity

This has been a problem in the NE. Sorry and narrator we’re both good.
But the profanity was too much.. if I wasn’t on BT with earplugs it was difficult to listen too. Especially in my car or outside with people nearby.

Better and better

This is my second book of the series and I like these characters more and more. The stories are quite interesting too

excellent narration

although the storyline was lacking in some ways, the outstanding narration reeled me in, and held my attention - tll the very end