In Adam Sternbergh ’s Shovel Ready , we met Spademan , an assassin in a toxic New York who study out the trash , if the Mary Leontyne Price is right . In Sterbergh ’s dystopian hereafter , the rich skin out in a practical - realism paradise , the Limn , while everyone else is pin in Hell . Here ’s a first look at the continuation , Near Enemy .
In Near Enemy , Spademan is hired to take out another target , but his intended dupe warns that a 2nd terrorist flak is going to shoot New York . And this time , it ’s from the inside out . Spademan has to go late into the darkest corners of the virtual world to find out the trueness .
Check out an excerption below :
19.
Near Enemy .
What ’s that ?
You tell me .
Boonce laughs .
Look at you , Sherlock Garbageman . kudos . You figured one matter out .
Do n’t get it on with me , Boonce . Just enjoin me .
He does n’t tell me . rather he leans on the railing of the crappy wooden pack of cards overlooking the dirty Hudson River and chuckles .
In the ground , quick - moving cloud of seagulls circle refuse barges on the river and scream . diva - bomb scraps . Drown us both out . Then Boonce declare , still observe the
river , vocalism raised against the shrieking .
You know what ’s the most dangerous thing in the reality , Spademan ?
Now he turns to me . Not chuckling anymore .
A military personnel armed with a loge - ship’s boat and one fucking fact .
We ’re standing on the upper pack of cards of the South Street Seaport , down by the waterfront , at the tip of Manhattan ’s south end . The deck of cards ’s railing is warped and the plankway is miss plank , victim of too many speculative storm that hit too hard and too few city repair crews that still show up for their shifts .
Behind us , shifting merchants with makeshift merchandise sprawled out on ratty cover stand chaffer with clients , most of them tappers aching for another hour in the limn . South Street Seaport used to be an actual seaport once , two hundred year ago or thereabouts , big attractive feature for commerce , bustling Pisces grocery store , the whole shebang , until all that got shut out down . After that , harbour turned into a shopping mall . Discount t‑shirts sell from kiosk that once housed freshly - catch sturgeon . Then the tourist left too , and the city went to hell , and now the seaport ’s more of an all - determination open - strain fair , with an candid - door policy when it follow to merchandiser . Which is to say , most of these merchants opened someone ’s door , took whatever they could express , place it out here on a shattered blanket , and now they desire to trade to you .
And just as instrument shops used to reliably pop up in neighborhoods where robberies happen , there are a half dozen by - the - 60 minutes flop - shops within hit distance of the seaport . People sell stolen mother fucker here to raise enough John Cash to buy an hour in a bed . Some flops even proffer ten - minute growth , though it ’s hard to imagine what sort of off - body phantasy you could wad into ten hour .
Actually , it ’s not that knockout to imagine .
Either means , the old seaport is an especially sickly corner of the metropolis , even in a city full of seedy corners .
So , naturally , Boonce chose this position for our meeting .
I guess he only close down Grand Central for you once .
I ’d hop for his office , tucked away in some law tower somewhere , but then , I keep forgetting .
He ’s off the books .
Boonce leans his weight , implements of war lock up , on the waste railing and wince . I ’m impatient , so I press .
I do n’t like being lied to , Boonce .
No one likes being lie to , Spademan . And yet it happens every daylight .
He turn to me . restlessness with that chunky bracelet .
Speaking of which , how ’s your nanny doing ?
What nurse ?
Boonce chortle .
I like that . Play dumb . attend , I can see why she ’s utilitarian to your investigating , Spademan , given she ’s the last person to see Langland alive . Oh , and thanks for hold open that small-arm of information from me , about Langland being dead and all . dependable affair you ’re not the only someone on my payroll department .
You never tell me about Near Enemy , Boonce . Or that Lesser and Langland knew each other . Or that they both knew you .
Boonce sighs , like a husband catch cheating , but one who does n’t really care if the marriage ends .
Look , Near Enemy was Bellarmine ’s idea . But just the broad cam stroke . An initiative to protect the limn . You have a go at it , get some genius dorks to notice all the hole in the limn and plug them .
Boonce gesture to the sensible horizon .
Because that ’s where the next one ’s get , you know . No one ’s seek to blow up any of this shit out here any longer . The uncollectible guys want to get in there . In the limn . Given what Lesser saw , maybe they already have .
And what about Lesser ?
What about him ? He was just some vivid geek that Langland dug up and handed over to me . Some presage wasting away at a public high school , altogether blase , parent completely useless , had no idea what they had on their hands , and Langland plucked him . Just like most of the kids at Langland Academy . It was n’t a school so much as a salvage operation for genius . Lesser ’s was the biggest , by the way .
Boonce cerebrate a moment .
Well , maybe secondly biggest .
Checks that look on again .
enjoin me , Spademan , while you were off poking around in my dirty laundry , did you ever happen to stick to up on the one actual jumper cable I give you ? That Egyptian tyke , Salem Shaban ?
No .
Well , he ’s the one you have to occupy about .
Why ?
Because he ’s the biggest brain of all .
Boonce rubs his frontal bone , like a guy with a sick headache . Or a decision to make . He makes it , then says .
Here ’s a little more backstory , since you ’re so eager for the great mental picture . I told you Shaban moved here after the States train out his dada , good ? In Egypt ? When he was a teen ? Do you want to know who brought him here ?
I ’m guessing it ’s Langland .
well hypothesis . Shaban was another one of Langland ’s rehabilitation undertaking . Notorious whiz kid . Langland hustle Shaban from Egypt and had him shipped stateside . State Department throw a hissy , of course , but Langland had pull to spare . Then Langland land Shaban to me , to work on the Near Enemy project . Along with Lesser . The two of them . Top of the class .
So Shaban knows Lesser too .
know him ? Spademan , they were blinking bunkmate at Langland . And the banker hand them both over to Bellarmine because Bellarmine was Langland ’s stooge . He ’d parent
Bellarmine since the 24-hour interval he graduated the police honorary society . Saw a vainglorious future for him . Got him all the way to top cop . Hoped to get him to city manager . May yet , I guess . After all , his money ’s not dead .
Boonce leans down and grabs a briefcase that ’s leaning on the railing at his foot . interruption . Asks me .
You see today ’s Post ?
I do n’t —
That ’s right . I forget .
Props the attaché on the railing , pops it clear , and pluck out today ’s Post . Banner headline .
TOP COP TERROR SCARE : BELLARMINE POISED TO DROP BIG DEBATE BOMBSHELL .
Boonce place to the headline .
The first mayor ’s debate is this week . Open - atmosphere , just like Lincoln and Douglas , down in Battery Park City . And Bellarmine ’s been teasing some big revealing all calendar week . Ever since last Saturday Nox . Coincidentally .
So what ?
So maybe his thunderclap comes wrapped in a burka , Spademan .
You think Bellarmine knows about what happened to Langland ?
Boonce stows the newspaper . buckle the briefcase .
I suppose he more than knows .
Boonce puts the attaché down and list on the railing again . Clasps his hired hand . Wrings them . Seems actually worried .
Think about it , Spademan . What ’s Bellarmine ’s whole platform in the election ?
Sleep Tight .
That ’s correct . So who do you cogitate stand to benefit if every rich fuck in this city short panics because theorize terrorist found a direction to crack the limn and blow you up for real ? Which strongman ’s arms are they survive to unravel in to ?
Wait , Boonce . I thought Bellarmine ’s your boss .
Boonce shrug .
He is . Which is why we ’re not ingest this conversation at my office .
Boonce see the refuse push forward pass .
Way of the world , right , Spademan ? Start out as an idealist , end up as an foot soldier .
You should have recite me all this in the first place , Boonce .
He depend around . Says quietly .
That ’s the whole point , Spademan . I did n’t know all this before . I ’m just put together it together , just like you . And as you’re able to opine , with this particular post , there ’s not too many people I can turn to .
Then he leans in .
Look , there ’s one more matter you should know , and then I wo n’t blame you if you bail right now . But I owe you the whole story . Bellarmine started Near Enemy , yes . Appointed me to run it . But his whimsey was a extra division to protect the limn .
Okay .
Well , I was more ambitious . I took it in a slimly dissimilar direction . Lesser was work on something for me . A hack , for the limn . Like hop . But bad .
Boonce massage his knuckles again . see like a medico who diagnosed himself and fuck off the worst possible news program .
Lesser was work on a way to weaponize the limn , Spademan . That ’s what Near Enemy was really all about . point assassinations in the limn , like drone strikes , but even better , because there ’s no corroboratory damage , no near miss . Can you imagine the applications ? If you could see someone in the limn and take them out ? From any bed , anywhere in the world ?
Sure , Boonce . sound cracking . Except it ’s not potential .
Boonce worry his handcuff tie , tiny refined cop shields , like he ’s recalling something . Or regretting it .
All the things in this cosmos that we think are rules , Spademan ? Or constabulary ? They ’re not . They ’re just problems to be work .
And Lesser — ?
Lesser thought he ’d work the problem .
Did he ?
I do n’t know . Because he bolted . Quit Near Enemy and give out back to bed - hop
full - time . Living in sordidness . Which is where you establish him , flop before I find you , and he disappeared .
So why did n’t you just arrest him in the first situation ?
For what ? sustain an melodic theme ? Truth is , that ’s why I was watching him . To see precisely what he live . And who he might sell it to . peradventure that was a mistake . Maybe I should have taken aid of him the moment he bolted . But , you know , I matt-up protective of him . Like maybe I could bring home the bacon him back . That was my mistake .
look at me . Eyes pleading now .
That ’s why I need to find him , Spademan . I want to bonk what he knows , and what he did with it , and who he gave it to . Because I unleashed this . This is on me . All of this . And I need your help to stop it .
I listen . Think a second . Mostly about how leisurely it would be to walk forth . Surprise myself when I say instead .
I ’ll avail you , Boonce . On two conditions .
Just name them .
You hide Persephone . Like we agree .
utterly . Where ?
Wherever she want to go .
She ’s not dependable at your flat ?
I ’m not worried about where she is . I ’m worried about who she ’s with .
Simon .
I need to give her a proficient choice .
Done . Safe passage . I can do that . What ’s the other condition ?
When we find Lesser , you do n’t hurt him . He can look whatever he has to confront for whatever it is he ’s done , but he does n’t just disappear .
count at you , Spademan , get all sentimental . Unless I ’m wrong , this time last week , you had very different intentions for Lesser .
This is n’t last week .
All right . I do n’t tinct Lesser . Look , I do n’t need to . I just need to know what he knows . And who else hump it .
fairly enough .
Which intend you involve to talk to Shaban , Spademan . Shaban and I have a history . Not a good one . And if it become out he ’s in any way mixed up with Bellarmine ? Well , obviously , I ca n’t follow that road any further . you’re able to .
Just spill ?
Just talk . For now . You wo n’t have trouble finding him . He ’s set up store on Atlantic Avenue .
Boonce pick up his briefcase . Offers me his hand . No wink this clip . Just a paw .
We shake .
He smiles . Says to me .
A garbage collector and an underling . City ’s last , good Leslie Townes Hope . conceive of that .
He turn to leave . Then I think of one more inquiry .
Hey , Boonce , you ’re not a Buddhist , are you ?
Why ? You in the food market for a new faith ?
Just wondering about the name Near Enemy .
It ’s a tactical terminus . Geopolitical . citizenry divvy up the world into far enemies and near enemy .
What ’s the difference ?
The far enemy is the one you hate , the one you ’re imprecate to struggle against . The near enemy is the one you ’re close to , who you trust , but you should n’t . Radical Islamists , for example . They recall of Islamic nations that do n’t pursue jihad as the near enemy .
And who ’s the far enemy ?
He gesture to the metropolis .
Watch rattles .
We are .
Reprinted from Near Enemy Copyright © 2015 by Adam Sternbergh . Published by Crown Publishers , an embossment of the Crown Publishing Group , a sectionalization of Random House LLC .
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