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Nineteen original stories--including a new contribution by New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly--about riveting showdowns between cops and criminals.
From Hawaii at the turn of the twentieth century to the post-Civil War frontier, from smoggy Los Angeles to the woods of Idaho, these gripping stories trace the perils and occasional triumphs of lawmen and -women who put themselves in harm's way to face down the bad guys. Some of them even walk the edge of becoming bad guys themselves.
In T. Jefferson Parker's "Skinhead Central," an ex-cop and his wife find unexpected menace in the idyllic setting they have chosen for their retirement. In Alafair Burke's "Winning," a female officer who is attacked in the line of duty must protect her own husband from his worst impulses. In Edward D. Hoch's "Friday Night Luck," a wanna-be cop blows his chance at a spot on the force--and breaks his case. In Michael Connelly's "Father's Day," Harry Bosch faces one of his most emotionally trying cases, investigating a young boy's death.
The magnificent and never-before-published Connelly story is alone worth the price of admission, and-combined with 18 unexpected tales from crime's modern masters-makes this an unmissable collection.
These entertaining nineteen tales focus on the police procedural theme. However, as Mr. Connolly explains in his introduction, for the most part the entries concentrate on the ¿world of the cop¿ as the stories ¿explore the burden of the badge¿ more so than investigative procedures. The contributions run the gamut with a strong historical by Polly Nelson to the return of Harry Bosch to a retired cop and his wife running into trouble (T. Jefferson Parker¿s ¿Skinhead Central). There are no clinkers yet the range is vast from a dark tale of a selected amnesiac (¿Such a Lucky, Pretty Girl: by Persia Walker) to amusingly light (Jon Breen¿s 'Serial Killer'). All are excellent, especially insightful is Paul Guyton¿s tense 'What a Wonderful World' that proves a short story can contain fully developed characters an apropos title along with Alafair Burke¿s ¿Winning¿ as this anthology is a wonderful look at individual members of the Blue Religion special congregation. --- Harriet Klausner
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Posted April 17, 2008
Reviewed by: Stephanie Rollins for The Blue Religion is a compilation of law enforcement stories. All are brief, so this makes for good bathroom reading. Not all of the stories in this book were good. A few were a bit boring and poorly-written. Then again, a few were great. There are 19 stories, so there are by far more good stories than bad. Some are written in a manner in which only someone in law enforcement can truly relate. The Blue Religion would make a great gift for a law enforcement personnel or someone just graduating from the police academy.
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Overview
Nineteen original stories--including a new contribution by New York Times bestselling author Michael Connelly--about riveting showdowns between cops and criminals.
From Hawaii at the turn of the twentieth century to the post-Civil War frontier, from smoggy Los Angeles to the woods of Idaho, these gripping stories trace the perils and occasional triumphs of lawmen and -women ...