Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Book Review - True Blue


Several weeks ago, the fine folks at Hachette Books were kind enough to ask me if I wanted to review an advanced copy of David Baldacci's new police mystery, entitled "True Blue". Despite the fact that I almost never read police stories (never mind what I do for a living), I decided to give it a go. Since today is the official release date for the book, there is no better time than now for a review.


OK, let's get to it, shall we? I enjoyed this book. I did... and that surprised me. I fully expected a lot of crappy and archaic terms that someone got of a badly-made police movie from the 1950's... but that isn't what happened. Baldacci seems to have really done his homework especially as it regards the Washington, DC Metropolitan Police Department. This simple fact helped me enjoy the book more that I would have thought, because I have so many pals on the Department (special shout out to my protege M, in 1D).

In this story, Baldacci tells the tale of Mason "Mace" Perry, a hot shot former police officer who was set-up, convicted of a crime that she did not commit, and imprisoned. Her sister, Elizabeth, is Washington DC's Chief of Police (hello Cathy Lanier!), a true leader in this ever politicized town. When Mace is finally released from prison, she figures that the only way she can get back on the force is to bring to justice, all of the people who set her up, thereby restoring her honor (and her eligibility to wear the blue again). She'll have a long way to go, because as soon as she gets out people start getting murdered.

Despite her sister's repeated warnings, Mace sets out to investigate one of the murders on her own, and then she meets Ace Georgetown lawyer Roy Kingman. Combining forces, Mace and Roy begin to... well, I think that I will let you find out the rest on your own, but believe me when I tell you, this is where the wild ride begins!

In this book you will find murders, police procedure, lawyers (good and bad), spies, government deception, crime in the name of "National Security" (and haven't we had enough of that?!), corruption, and all sorts of action.

If you live in the Washington, DC metropolitan area, I think that you will enjoy the book, even though Baldacci could have been a little more descriptive of the specific locations he used to tell his story, but truthfully, I don't think that any of this impinges on the story itself.

If you like police mysteries, you'll like this book. Give it a read, I don't think that you'll be unhappy. As I said, today is the official release date for the book, so it is available at local bookstores and online.

GF

Please Note: While Hachette Books provided a copy of the book, I have not been compensated in any other way.

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