Choice of Evil by Andrew Vachss

 This is a typically grim novel from Vachss, but maybe in some ways less violent than some. I don't know the ways in which the New York of these novels reflects the real New York of the 1990s and early 2000s, but it's deeply internally consistent. I have to believe it reflects Vachss' day job, there's at least one lawyer in the novel who clearly reflects some of that experience (in a relatively light-haearted, humorous way). Vachss had an ear for dialogue, for sure, and a sense of how to structure a story so it could end almost abruptly, with questions unanswered, and still feel satisfying. Strong stuff and a good read.