hired to recovery Arab prince's son as price of care for the Prof, Burke and co. are given new lives in return

The two-year old son of a Saudi prince is grabbed from his armored Rolls in an area where prostitutes work, with the prince left immobilized by a drug injection. The mysterious Pryce, a shadowy government cut-out is asked to find the toddler, but is completely stumped so he moves an severely injured member of Burke's family out of the care of shady doctors to a top medical facility to get Burke's help. Burke spends much of the novel trying to figure out whether the toddler was grabbed by a pedophile, a political enemy of the house of Saud or a personal enemy of the prince. Apparently, the prince liked to have his son watch as he demeaned prostitutes, which sickened most of Burke's family. Mama and the senior members of the family have plans for the younger members to exit the life, including Clarence, Flower, and Terry. One by one, Burke eventually all possible scenarios, leaving the well-intentioned culprit exposed. Oh yeah, Burke finally finds a replacement for Pansy, who is also beloved by his doorman, Gateman. A fitting end to a good, but very dark, series. ( )

The last of the Burke novels and while not the best (since when does Burke reference Buffy the Vampire Slayer) tis still sad to say goodbye to such an interesting man and the family he chose. ( )

I have loved Vachss work since "Flood" but it feels like, with "Another Life", Burke has reached his end. It's enjoyable when characters age through a series however now when reading about the exploits of the family, you wonder how they can keep up with younger criminals rather than focus on what the story is saying. Read earlier books for a better grasp of who Burke is and what he stands for.

After loving the other Burke books, I must say that I was rather disappointed by this one. It was still a page turner, and of course I love the characters, but I just did not find this book to be as strong as previous ones. There were poignant moments that I thoroughly enjoyed, but on the whole I was not impressed with this book, especially if it is truly the last Burke book. ( )