The Man Who Never Returned Hardcover - 2010

Media reviews

Praise for The Man Who Never Returned"Peter Quinn just might make it into the history books himself. He is perfecting, if not actually creating, a genre you could call the history-mystery. The Man Who Never Returned is a dazzling story by a fine writer. Fintan Dunne is a memorably hero who you want to meet again & again."--James Patterson

"In The Man Who Never Returned, Peter Quinn shapes a tantalizing tale around the enduring mystery of Judge Joseph Force Crater, whose disappearance remains a major mystery. Quinn knows New York and its politics better than anyone. The talk and the story are as sharp and hard-edged as they city they embody. This is noir fiction at its finest."--William Kennedy

"The nonstop sizzle of two new historical novels set in Manhattan makes them strong candidates for the beach this summer."--The New York Times

"The Man Who Never Returned is a winner. A masterful and evocative tale, set in a beautifully rendered 1950's New York, it combines true crime with vivid imagining. This is that rare book: A first-rate thriller that seamlessly weaves together page-turning narrative with richly detailed characters whose motivations--complex, suspect, hidden--always ring true."--Thomas Kelly, author of A Testament of Devotion

"A new take to the old mystery"--New York Post, "Required Reading"

"Peter Quinn brings wit, panache and a deep knowledge of the Big Apple to his latest Fintan Dunne novel. The Man Who Never Returned is a taut thriller but also a meditation on life in the big city, where a well-connected municipal judge can disappear overnight and leave behind a mystery that transforms lives, confounds investigators, and--fortunately for lovers of detective fiction--provides Quinn with a fascinating plotline that fully utilizes his skills as a storyteller."--T.J. English, New York Times best-selling author of Havana Nocturne

"Peter Quinn writes about the old New York the way that Allen Furst writes about Paris. The Man Who Never Returned is not only a gripping take on one of the city's most enduring mysteries, but also a world in and of itself. You may never want to leave."--Kevin Baker, author of Strivers Row

"Quinn delivers a satisfying solution to the real-life mystery of Joseph Crater, a New York City judge who disappeared in 1930, in this stellar hard-boiled historical novel, a sequel to The Hour of the Cat (2005). In 1955, a New York newspaper magnate offers PI Fintan Dunne carte blanche to investigate the case in the hope that Dunne will provide him with a sensational exclusive. Crater vanished just as an official inquiry into judicial corruption, ordered by then governor Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was getting underway. Perhaps Crater fled to avoid prosecution-or someone bumped him off because he knew too much. Restless in retirement, Dunne accepts the offer, despite his skepticism that such a cold trail can be meaningfully pursued. Quinn not only makes the existence of clues at such a late date plausible but also concocts an explanation that's both logical and surprising. The depth and complexity of the lead character is a big plus."--Publisher's Weekly

"I read Peter Quinn's novel The Man Who Never Returned. It is an utterly compelling story with a charismatic flawed protagonist in Finton Dunne. Gripping from the first page to the last, Peter Quinn creates a unique and utterly believable world, part history, part fiction. He is an enviably wonderful writer."--Gabriel Byrne

"Freely mixing history, mystery, and novelistic license, Quinn offers a noir-ish tale of Tammany Hall politics, sex, crime, Broadway moguls, and cops, populated by more than a dozen interesting characters... Quinn's rich, insightful, evocative descriptions of New York, both in Crater's time and in 1955, will certainly please fans of historical crime novels."--Booklist

"With echoes of Raymond Chandler and Orson Welles, as well as enough period detail to outfit a vintage shop, this workmanlike effort will appeal to those interested in literary and noirish historical mysteries."--Library Journal

"A page-turner noir novel... Quinn masterfully crafts a forceful narrative whose revealing ending doesn't disappoint." --Irish America Magazine

"For New York City history and mystery buffs, The Man Who Never Returned is required reading!... Historian/novelist Peter Quinn has written a brilliant NYC-based page-turner that presents a shocking and sinister solution to the Judge Crater mystery once and for all!"--PIX Morning News

"Peter Quinn has an encyclopedic knowledge of the New York of the time, and his treatment of Dunne and his challenges in finding truth in the murky waters of media and city politics are as intriguing as the Crater saga itself." --Historical Novels Review