Black Out (edition 2007)

All the twists and turns make one harken back to the classic Alistair MacLean thrillers of the 60's. Set in post-blitz London, it starts with the discovery of an arm (dubbed "Herr Trousers" by the local pathologist) and ends up taking Inspector Troy on an investigation that leads to conspiracy at the highest levels. A splendid read. ( )

Lawton's first. It shows. His back stories and settings makegood reading: bombs hitting London, driving thru a blackout, searching thru the rubble of Southern London, meeting home-grown communists, resentment of Brits toward the Yanks. Male characters approach human; women are black widow or bubble gum parodies. All after Troy. But a good read. And a little history. ( )

This is the first in Lawton's Frederick Troy series (see the list below), and yet it creates the impression that there is quite a bit of Troy back-story. Recently I read A LILY OF THE FIELD the beginning of which pre-dates BLACKOUT. I remembered a lot of Sergeant Troy's back story from that book, his Russian emigre background in particular. Troy appears to have emerged in BLACK OUT a bit Venus like, fully formed. His boss regards him as Scotland Yard's "most intuitive detective", and he has certainly had a meteoric rise due to his ability to read and interpret a crime scene.

London in 1944 is a dangerous place. It is under heavy German bombardment and Troy is hit by bombs more than once. He is also shot, stabbed and coshed. He is a bit bulldog like in his sleuthing efforts. What matters to him is finally getting his man and he pursues that goal at all costs. There is a scene towards the end of BLACK OUT where Troy asks another character what she believes in. She responds that he doesn't have the right to ask anyone that question because his own beliefs are suspect. She says that he is unprincipled and will do anything to get to his final quarry.

I think what I didn't like about this book is that it is difficult to predict the chain of events. There are things that the reader can't possibly know and in fact the finally denouement really comes out of left field. I found it rather slow going in places, but some of the visual pictures were stunning.

What I liked about it too is the meticulous attention to historical detail and the feeling of authenticity of setting. Having read only two in the series, as well as the synopses for the other five, I suspect that to get the full picture of Freddie Troy you do need to read them all, but I am not sure the order matters. Historically speaking RIPTIDE is set earlier in 1941, but A LILY OF THE FIELD begins even earlier in 1934. To me the overall impression is a bit like hopping about a patchwork quilt. There's a post at It’s a crime! (Or a mystery…) which gives a useful overview. ( )

Mystery, London, WWII, ebook ( )

This is my third book in the Inspector Troy series. A few years ago, I read "Old Flames," set in the 1950s, which was excellent. I had meant to go back and read the books chronologically, but never did it for some reason. I recently read the latest installment in the Inspector Troy series, "A Lily of the Field" (2010). While I thoroughly enjoyed that book, compared to "Black Out" it is simply very good, while "Black Out" is superb. I've already bought "Second Violin," the first in the series chronologically and I can't wait to start it.

Reading the books out of order, I already knew some of the characters in "Black Out" and I knew their fates. However, I still loved this book and could not figure out how Lawton was going to bring together the threads of an exceedingly complex plot. Other reviewers have mentioned Lawton's evocative style; you feel as though you are living in wartime London. However, what I realized I missed in "A Lily of the Field" is the clear presence of Troy. "Black Out" was the first book in the series and Lawton pulls out all the stops in his portrayal of Troy. He is deeply flawed yet captivating. In "Black Out" Troy suffers an unbelievable number of serious injuries; he is beaten, bombed, stabbed, and shot. Some more than once. Toward the end of the book Troy is honestly not in his right mind. If he hadn't been the series protagonist, he would have been dead. Troy is clearly suffering mentally from his injuries and maybe the after-effects of drugs administered in the hospital. But Troy like a train wreck; the reader cannot look away.

And then there's Troy's taste in women. Not good. Well, good in that they are sexy and beautiful, but not good if you don't want to die and you don't want your heart broken. At one point near the end of the book, Troy is having Christmas eve dinner with a German policeman and his wife in Berlin. They are obviously very much in love. Lawton writes, "They fitted each other like gloves. It was startlingly natural. It had beauty, contentment, safety, peace and pleasure. It occurred to him [Troy] that this was a way of life he had rejected, or that had somehow passed him by, and at thirty-three was unlikely in the extreme to be offered to him. And he didn't miss it one jot." That pretty much sums up Troy. ( )