Chris Pavone wrote an outstanding essay for CrimeReads that acts as a companion piece for his latest novel, THE DOORMAN.

As someone who lived in New York his entire life (before moving to Florida in 2015), here’s my favorite quote from the article: “A crime novel is the New Yorkiest sort of New York novel. Not only because in real life all of us New Yorkers are always just around the corner from a crime. But because in fiction, crime is the machine that offers an opportunity to turn the city’s atmosphere into menace, and to integrate all the New York themes into a propulsive plot.”

This fact is not lost on the protagonist of Pavone’s taut thriller, Chicky Diaz, a doorman for the Central Park West apartment building known as the Bohemia.

"This tense and explosive, yet incredibly thoughtful, novel can proudly stand as the BONFIRE of the modern age. It’s a powerful examination of the many issues that impact all Americans, especially those who live and work in New York."

The first distinct separation of characters we notice is how the staff of the Bohemia are almost entirely Black and Hispanic, while the majority of the residents are upper-class white folks. Chicky has been through a lot lately. His wife recently died following a prolonged battle with cancer, and tens of thousands of dollars in bills were left for him to deal with instead of any inheritance or life insurance payout. It is another commentary on the lack of equity in society and how our broken health care system continues to fail everyone, especially those in the lower middle-class range.

Chicky has had a long tenure at the Bohemia and is well-respected by his boss and the majority of residents. He is a true New Yorker who realizes that it is a dangerous place to live. He ponders that there are eight million people living in New York City, and each and every one of them can be killed. After a brief introduction to Chicky and his tough life, we learn more about some of the residents of the Bohemia.

Living in the penthouse are a wealthy married couple. Whit Longworth is in high finance and investment trading, while his wife, Emily, works with the underprivileged. They are opposites in every way, and it is clear that Emily regrets committing to someone who only values money and status and is universally despised by almost everyone who meets him. Apartment 2A houses Julian Sonnenberg, his wife and their two teenagers. An art dealer with his own gallery in Manhattan, Julian is on the board of the Bohemia and is referred to as “woke” by people like Whit.

We are introduced to other residents, but the destiny that this narrative is driving towards will involve the individuals I have just mentioned.

Meanwhile, New York City is in the midst of a race war on the streets, as demonstrators and protestors fill the area in response to the police shooting and killing of a young Black man. There is more than one incident in the novel’s background that adds fuel to this fire, and the 2nd Amendment rights that are so controversial in this country are constantly called into play.

Everything comes to a head with a conflagration of violence that begins when a group of armed masked men wearing body armor overtake Chicky and the staff of the Bohemia and demand access to four specific apartments. It all converges in the penthouse, where violence will erupt and blood will flow.

THE DOORMAN has been talked about in the same breath as books like Tom Wolfe’s THE BONFIRE OF THE VANITIES, which I believe is an apt comparison. This tense and explosive, yet incredibly thoughtful, novel can proudly stand as the BONFIRE of the modern age. It’s a powerful examination of the many issues that impact all Americans, especially those who live and work in New York.