Officer Down
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Theresa Schwegel Officer Down is the winner of the Edgar Award for Best First Novel.
The Chicago Police Department says Samantha Mack shot her partner, Fred, during the confusion of a bungled pursuit. Mack says it was their quarry, a violent pedophile named Marco Trovic, who fired the deadly round in that darkened room. But Mack was knocked out and can't really say what happened.
When no evidence of Trovic is found on the scene and the bullet is shown to have come from Mack's own gun, the Department labels Fred's death as a case of friendly fire. Back at the station, it seems no one believes Mack's account. Not Internal Affairs investigator Alex O'Conner, and not even Mack's lover, whose best attempts at support leave her as cold as the wind whipping across Lake Michigan.
With the Department looking to quiet the bad press, Mack can't count on anyone to help her track down Trovic. Even if she can somehow find him in the dark recesses of Chicago's underworld, can she prove that Trovic was the shooter? With her back to the wall and her career at stake, now it's time for Mack to take matters into her own hands to clear her name—and avenge her partner's death.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Schwegel's instantly engrossing debut crime novel begins with the bungled bust of child molester Marko Trovic: after Samantha "Smack" Mack, a chain-smoking, hard-drinking Chicago police officer, and her partner and ex-lover, Fred, storm a pitch-dark tenement house, Smack wakes later with a nasty concussion, but Fred, shot during the attempted arrest, never does. Police officials decree that Smack's "friendly fire" killed Fred, but she's sure there were others in the room with them that night. Reeling from her concussion, Smack is given administrative leave, but offered little support (or hope of commitment) from her married lover, detective Mason Imes. A determined Smack realizes busting Trovic will be her problem alone: a meddling Internal Affairs operative harasses her, the Sarge threatens to confiscate her badge and Mason says they're going to close the case. Persistence and detective work fueled by righteous rage lead Smack to a guilty informant and an elaborate drug ring supervised by an ever expanding cast of suspects, some much closer to her than she ever imagined. Smack's voice is rough and real, conveying both her tough cookie persona and the authentic emotions behind her street face. Schwegel's sympathetic protagonist and fast-paced action turns out an impressive, gripping first novel.
