Cop Hater
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season196 pages, about 4 hours: two-thirds the length of a typical book on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbThe unnamed city is described first, then a detective is shot on his way to work.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live byIn 12 reviews from critics and book blogs, 8 credit the plot and 2 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesA blog review tells readers wanting a crime writing gem to read The Maltese Falcon, on the shelf at 254 pages, instead.
The case for it
on the detectives’ families
“who joke and watch sports, who have wives and children”
a book blog on the series opener
“a great introduction to the series”
a book blog on the city
“is a major character in the books”
a book blog on the officers’ families
“the children left behind when these police officers are murdered”
a book blog
The case against
on the gender politics
“the gender politics in it are dreadful”
a book blog on the forensic infodumps
“no one in the book asked for these facts”
a book blog on the mood
“No one in this nameless city was having fun”
a book blog on later entries
“there are better 87th Precinct novels that are more polished and have more interesting crimes/elements”
a book blog
