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Random
Victim
by Michael A.
Black
Police
thriller with flawed cop and woman bodybuilder newbie.
Michael A. Black's police profession
gives his thriller Random Victim
a level of authentic detail about both police work and Cook County,
Illinois while at the same time, his fictional imagination makes Random Victim
a thrilling police procedural. Michael A. Black creates a wonderful
combination of characters with the impertinent, unconventional yet
honorable policeman Frank and his bodybuilding tough yet feminine
policewoman partner Olivia. The case itself intrigues as each clue
unravels more and more interconnections between some of the most
unlikely partners in crime.
Sergeant Frank Leal just doesn't have the
best reputation on the
police force, not after the Dark Gable Incident with a judge. He's
lucky to still have a job! Healing from a past incident, Frank is a bit
surprised when the Cook County Sheriff enlists him for a task force to
investigate the unsolvable case of Miriam Walker's murder. With the
sheriff election and a challenge to the incumbent, the pressure is on
to solve this and fast. Frank knows there is going to be a problem when
Lt. Brice is appointed to head up the task force. Leal and Brice have
history of butting heads. Joe Smith and Tom Ryan are known as screw
ups. Then there is Olivia Hart, a female bodybuilder. She may have a
body like steel that will match any man, but she has no experience.
Brice wants the investigation to go one way, but Leal's instincts tell
him to go another way. In public, the pressure is on to solve this
murder but when it comes right down to it, Frank and Olivia seem to be
the only people actually determined to catch the culprit. Can Frank and
Olivia fly under the radar, get the case solved and not get themselves
fired or killed in the process? Can they unravel all the intricate
threads surrounding this case?
Random
Victim, with its coarse dialogue
and imagery, almost
reads a bit like a hard-boiled crime novel. Some of the more
unfavorable police characters make racially and sexually offensive
comments. Although known for the equally explosive Dark Gable incident,
Frank stands out as a contrast to these officers, a policeman a cut
above the other officers in his treatment of others. Frank is devoted
to his job and has a sense of honor. In his relationship with his
partner
Olivia, he treats her as an equal and a woman. Olivia is a most
intriguing character -- she is a body builder with a muscular body that
won't quit, and yet Michael A. Black writes her with a very nice touch
of femininity, one recognized by her partner. Frank's romance with
Sharon Devain adds another dimension to Frank's character, reinforcing
and distinguishing the two women in his life. Together, the reader
feels the sense of family between Frank, his partner and Sharon. A
wonderful extra touch to this thriller!
As a policeman in Chicago for 29 years,
Michael A. Black's past adds
detailed nuances to this police procedural. His narrative style has a
wonderful mixture of streetwise coarseness mixed with moments of
emotion, honor and even tenderness. As a police thriller, Michael A.
Black's Random Victim
has all the loved twists and turns as Frank and Olivia get closer to
the truth despite all attempts to derail their hunt. Coarse at times,
with moments of irreverence, Michael A. Black also shines in his
portrayal of the relationships between his characters from moments of
tenderness to moments of chilling suspense. Michael A. Black maximizes
the reading thrills with intriguing threads, rippling out from this one
murder into the lives of others and their relationships right to
the shocking end. Police procedural thriller lovers will be happy to
know that Random Victim is the first of a series starring Frank
Leal and Olivia Hart!
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From the back
cover:
The case wasn’t just cold—it was
ice-cold. But the
murder of Miriam Walker had a pretty high profile in the middle of a
tough re-election campaign, so the Cook County sheriff assembled a task
force to get results…and put Sergeant Frank Leal on it. Leal is still
getting over the death of his partner and some wounds of his own, both
emotional and physical, so working as part of a team might be tough.
It doesn’t
help that a lot of people don’t really want the
case solved… including Miriam Walker’s husband and the men he
hired to
take care of Miriam for him. Leal isn’t even sure he can trust the rest
of the team, but he’s got a job to do, and he’s not going to quit until
he finishes it…no matter who gets in his way. |
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