William D. Pease

When I'm in a reading slump I go to a used bookshop near work and standing in their paperback mystery/thriller section and pick by size - the fatter the better. This is exactly how I discovered this book and this author. A bartender calls the cops when a patron becomes suspicious. The patron, when approached, just turns and blows the cop's head off and the bartender smiles as if a job was well done. And the tale gets stranger and stranger. U.S. Attorney, Michael Holden, a just-before-retirement-burned-out cop and a rookie cop are plunged into a long and complicated plot of intrigue. This is a really well crafted plot, too. It took me a while to get into it, but once in, I was hooked. The good news, is that it looked so good in the shop, that I also got the other one of his (also fat) that they had.… (mehr)

The murder of a Washington, D.C., cop puts an assistant U.S. attorney on the trail of drugs and corruption in Pease's stylishly gritty debut. Apprehended immediately, the killer asks to speak with Michael Holden, whose investigation of Washington's mayor had failed to bury either the pol or his pal Milton Higgs. The killer, who promises to hand over the goods on Higgs, is found hanged before the night is out. Holden is freshly determined to nail both Higgs and the mayor, and to find out who in the P.D. is in their pockets. With the help of veteran detective Eddie Nickles and a bright rookie, Holden orchestrates an investigation of money-laundering that uncovers Higgs's involvement in a huge heroin shipment; Higgs is also connected to the murder of a male prostitute. The many angles of the case are neatly resolved as the story ends with a seamlessly introduced, thought-provoking surprise that is not a tribute to the legal profession.… (mehr)