3.5 Stars The book opens on 11/22/63, and if you know what happened on that awful day, you'll most likely agree, it's a great draw for a beginningE STRANGLER is a story about the Daley family, particularly the lives of three grown sons, one a Detective for Boston PD, another a Harvard-educated Prosecutor, and the youngest a Master Thief. Also a focal point of the story is the suspicious death of their Police Officer father in the line of duty and the 'boyfriend' of their feisty attractive mother [...]

3.5 stars, rounding down.It's 11/22/1963 in Boston, and the city is grief-stunned. It's impossible for Bostonians to believe what has happened and all are wondering what could possibly come next.They are soon to learn of the Boston Strangler and his reign of terror on the city, in which thirteen single women let a stranger into their homes and wound up dead, also raped and/or mutilated. This book is a fictional account of a lawyer, Michael Daly, assigned to the Strangler case, and his family. I [...]

This is your classic story of Boston Police, the Italian family and the Mob, taking place in the 1960's. The Boston Strangler, a group of brothers, dirty cops, thieves, lawyers, cheaters, north end, south end, dead bodies, and hits put out!Hubby read this book and recommended it to me because he knows how much I love me a mob book!! It totally hit the spot for that! I enjoyed the writing and the descriptions of the times, and of course I took in every yummy morsel of that Italian men banter!! It [...]

This was writen before Defending Jacob and it is definitely in need of an editor. Spanning more than 400 pages, this crime thriller set in 1960s Boston comes up way short. Part 2 could be skipped entirely without much loss of understanding. The plot goes literally nowhere for 130 pages while the author indulges in ridiculous psychoanalysis of his major characters, the Daley brothers. He spends pages on the nature of a migraine headache, detailing every symptom over and over. Is this supposed to [...]

Another great book of suspense by William Landay! This was his second novel and had all the essence and grit of Boston in the early '60's when the Boston Strangler carried out his reign of terror by slaughtering 13 women.But the story revolves around the Daly family. The father, Joe, has bern killed in the line of duty as a policeman. The three grown sons and their mothrr not only mourn his passing but one son suspects foul play was involved in his killing and one son risks his life in order to [...]

Review of “The Strangler” by William Landay:Mr. Landay has become one of my favorite mystery authors. He’s published 2 books so far with the third one to be released 1/31/12. His first effort was “Mission Flats”. It was terrific and won the Dagger Award for best debut crime novel in 2003. “The Strangler” is set in Boston in 1963. The country is shaken by the recent assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Boston, in particular, is reeling from a rapist/murderer on the loose. [...]

I tried to get into this book because it's right up my alley. It's about the Boston Strangler who terrorized Boston in the 60's and the story centers around 3 Irish brothers : a cop, a thief, and a lawyer. That theme of the good brothers and the bad brothers has been done and redone. I know: it could be realistic, and we all know families who have a shining star and a black sheep. But when it feels forced, as this one does, then it doesn't matter whether it could be real, it feels like a stock s [...]

Not perfect but still pretty good. A suspenseful tale of three Boston brothers - one a crooked cop, one a troubled D.A one a freelance burglar - whose lives are crossed by corruption during the height of the Boston Strangler panic. Landay lingers too much on the trivial details and glosses over some of the important ones. For instance, one character has the same argument with his mother at least three times, while the suspected Strangler, Albert deSalvo, shows up out of nowhere. However, so much [...]

I LOVED Defending Jacob and quickly searched out all novels written by Landay. This book is just not as exciting as Defending Jacob. Landay is compared to another Boston writer, Denis Lehane, and rightly so. Defending Jacob hit all the right notes. There is just something a little flat with The Strangler tho. Never really found myself connecting with any of the three main characters here. Unlike Lehane's Mystic River, where the reader is riveted to the page and can smell the streets of Boston, L [...]

I read Defending Jacob and enjoyed it so I thought I would try this book. I thought the characters were well developed and anticipated a huge surprise at the end, similar to Defending Jacob, that would result in a nice book discussion. The ending was a disappointment. Margaret's actions at the end didn't support how she was portrayed throughout the book. Her action didn't strike me as a plot twist or a surprise, it just happened and wasn't really believable. Also, I know this is a work of fictio [...]

Superb amalgamation of the Boston Strangler killings, JFK's assassination, and the revitalization of Boston in the early 60s. Centering around three Irish brothers, a cop, a burglar, and a lawyer, The Strangler is rife with suspense, drama, and first-rate storytelling.

Suspenseful with beautiful writing.

This book tells the story of three brothers and their family. The oldest son is a policeman, the next son is a lawyer in the attorney general's office, and the third son is a burglar. Their father was a policeman killed in the line of duty. The story follows their dealing with this tragedy and the family dynamic. The oldest son gets into debt by gambling and is forced to work for them. The mother is dating her husband 's partner, who it turns out is also taking graft from the mob. The second son [...]

I am a Landay fan most days. This one not as much. We follow the Daley brothers who are in Boston, beginning on the day of Kennedy's assassination. The other big news of the day is of "the Boston Strangler" and this is what the story follows. I feel that Landay captured the mood and time wonderfully. It also captured the Boston political system at that time. I also liked the layers of all three brothers. That said, this fell a bit flat for me. I think it went in way too many directions at times [...]

If you are into 1960s Boston, along with crooked cops, mob ties, and criminals, this book would be up your alley. For me personally, it's not a part of history that I am interested in but the story is well-written and there were some twists. I really liked Margaret towards the end and it shows what a mother would do to protect her family.

Oh, PLEASE read this! Whoever you are, wherever you are, stop and read this book. lol An Irish American family, Irish cops, Irish mob, a murderer, bookies, knee-busters, family matters, death, laughter, love, agony All that and more can be found in here.ENJOY!

Interesting readI enjoyed the book even though it came during a lull in my own reading habits. It took me six months to complete, though no fault of the writing. I did like the story, but hate when people become trapped in their own addictions, as Joe Jr did.

Wm. Landay is the author of one of my favorite books, Defending Jacob. This one isn't as good but still enjoyable, since I used to live near Boston and could identify with some of the locales. He included another unexpected ending which seems to be his MO. Makes you wonder!

I really like this author.

I love the way this guy writes. His characters are compelling and the plot takes several really interesting twists. The ending is chilling! Be warned: it's a very dark, gory tale.

A disappointment. Not anything like Defending Jacob.

I started with Landay's newest novel (Defending Jacob), which was a great listen. It wasn't a book that engrossed me right upfront, but by the time I was just past the middle point, I didn't want to stop listening. As impressed as I was with Defending Jacob, I was more so with The Strangler.Landay has it down. He writes excellent, intriguing, fully fleshed characters. There's real drama here (as opposed to the melodrama you often find in sub-par mystery/crime novels). He's got a great ear for th [...]

Murder and mayhem in 1960s Boston.The story centers on the Daley brothers and how they are each affected by the events of 1963 through mid-1964 and their roles. With Joe Daley, the oldest Daley brother, we see his decline from a shady cop to becoming a crooked cop. Middle brother and lawyer Michael goes from being the weak link in the family to being the one everyone turns to for direction. Ricky, master burglar and youngest of the Daley clan, is the most mysterious of the brothers even at the e [...]

In the early 1960's, I was a young girl growing up in the Boston suburbs. I vividly remember the newspaper headlines regarding The Boston Strangler. Seeing the the author of Defending Jacob, which I loved, had a prior book with the title The Strangler made me get the book immediately. The book, however, is really not about The Boston Strangler. The Strangler merely provides a time and mood setting for the story of the Daley Family and has a small part in their story. That's fine--just saying tha [...]

Defending Jacob, Landay's most recent novel, was fantastic. I'm still thinking about it, in fact, still haunted by the creepiness of Jacob and the strength of the storytelling. Walking around in this pleasant book coma, I picked up The Strangler.Well. It's no Defending Jacob.Although the book wasn't particularly long (I just finished Anna Karenina, and would have given Tolstoy another 300 pages, easily), it felt looooong. At one point, with NBC's haphazard coverage of the Olympics on the backgro [...]

Wow – I wasn't expecting to enjoy this book as much as I did. Jumping in, I thought I was up for a run of the mill semi historical crime novel, what I got instead was a deep seeded mystery with a heavy emphasis on strong characters intertwined in a family drama.The three Daley brothers; Joe – the cop with a habit of getting in deep with the mob, Michael – the lawyer assigned to the Strangler task force, and Ricky – the cocksure criminal and professional cat burglar each bring a unique an [...]

Summary: A story of three brothers: Ricky, Michael, and Joe Daley. All three are involved in crime. Joe is a police officer, Michael is a lawyer and Ricky is an expert burglar. Their father (Joe Daley Sr.) was a police officer. He was murdered and his murderer was never solved. Their city is Boston in the year of 1963. Crime is in the air and the Strangler is on the loose. Two stars for this one. I didn't like the way story went back and forth. I kept getting confused about whose story I was rea [...]

Since the first book I read by William Landay was "Defending Jacob", I have to say that this book lacks a lot of the finesse of the third novel. His continual belief that Albert DeSalvo wasn't the "real strangler", has of course, now been proven false by DNA testing. Though not all the victims were tested, so perhaps he is right about the earlier wave of murders not being DeSalvo at all.I enjoyed the narrations about the Daley family and eventually took a liking to them all, especially the mom. [...]

After liking this author's Mission Flats, zoning out for most of the audiobook on this one only to be woken up by the ending, then really liking the follow up novel Defending Jacob, I decided to eventually give this another try. The result is no different except I paid attention. The writing and story are still uneven.The problem starts with the title. Calling it The Strangler implies that it's practically non-fiction, when it's merely the background for a story of three brothers, their family, [...]

Set in Boston during the time that the Boston Strangler was active, the book chronicles the affairs of the Daley family. This touches on the strangler investigation, as lawyer Michael Daly works on the investigation. Brother Joe Daly is a cop. And the other brother, Ricky, is a thief. They all become interested in who the strangler might be, after reporter Amy Ryan, Michael's girlfriend, is strangled. But is her death the work of the Strangler, or is it the work of someone who didn't like the in [...]