Frank Marr, an involuntarily retired police detective for a cocaine habit, is now clean and works as a Private Investigator when not indulging in a little Robin Hood-like wealth redistribution. He is surprised to see the missed call on his cell. His ex-girlfriend, Leslie Costello, hadn't called him in over a year, but he is happy to call her back. The response is curt and professional; the news is not good.
Frank Marr's best friend and former partner on the Washington D.C. Police Department, Al Luna, is on administrative leave for allegedly having shot and killed an unarmed African American teenager and Leslie, the District Attorney and Frank's ex, wants Marr to investigate what happened. Unlike Marr, who has more than his share of flaws, Al has a well-known reputation for being a clean cop with an unblemished record. He swears to Marr he saw a gun before he shot, but where did the gun go?
With protesters angrily picketing outside police headquarters, Marr knows a leak will soon happen and Luna's house will be targeted. Meanwhile, more incidents of cops being deliberately murdered are happening. Can Marr figure out what is really happening before the proverbial sh*t hits the fan?
TRIGGER is the third novel in the highly regarded Frank Marr series by David Swinson. As a former police officer and an investigator himself, Swinson knows firsthand of what he writes. He vividly paints a very realistic description of the harshness of drug life, police confidential informants (Cis) and other dealings in the dark underbelly of this famous capital city. With its fast-paced action and quick flashbacks, TRIGGER is eminently readable as well as a standalone novel.
Marr is a very intriguing protagonist with his own techniques for getting information. Almost surprising himself, he recruits Calvin, a wary, but quick-witted ex-gang shooter, to help him. In fact, one of the best highlights in TRIGGER are the dagger-sharp dialogues between them as they grudgingly start to respect each other.
WARNING! If you are a fan of police procedurals or dark gritty stories, TRIGGER is for you! I did not want to stop from reading it from the first page to the end and, when life intervened, picked TRIGGER up again as fast as possible. Swinson is an author who is definitely worth checking out and I will be on the lookout for more of his books!
In the latest novel from David Swinson, "one of the best
dialogue hounds in the business" (New York Times Book
Review), Frank Marr, a good cop with a bad habit, must
choose between justice and loyalty to an old friend.
Frank Marr was a good cop, until his burgeoning addictions
to alcohol and cocaine forced him into retirement from the
D.C. Metro police. Now, he's barely eking out a living as a
private investigator for a defense attorney--also Frank's
ex-girlfriend.
Ostracized by his family after a botched case that led
to the death of his baby cousin, Jeffrey, Frank was on a
collision course with rock bottom. Now clean and clinging
hard to sobriety, Frank passes the time--and tests
himself--by robbing the houses of local dealers, taking
their cash and flushing their drugs down the toilet. When an
old friend from his police days needs Frank's help to prove
he didn't shoot an unarmed civilian, Frank is drawn back
into the world of dirty cops and suspicious drug busts,
running in the same circles that enabled his addiction those
years ago.
Never one to play by the rules, Frank recruits a young
man he nearly executed years before. Together--a good man
trying not to go bad and a bad man trying to do
good--detective and criminal charge headfirst into the D.C.
drug wars. Neither may make it out.
No excerpt available.
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