Andrew Case (2)

The Big Fear by Andrew Case is exactly the kind of mystery I like. It is complex with conspiracy inside conspiracy. It is fair, providing all the clues we need to divine the solutions with or ahead of our detective(s), it has the requisite level of danger and suspense, and there is a creeping paranoia that develops as it progresses.

It is unique, too, in the way you think it is the story of Ralph Mulino, the dispirited but stubborn police detective who has spent a good portion of his career show more on the outs with his colleagues. He goes out to a call one night, finds a murdered man and in a confrontation shoots someone he thinks is the killer, a man who turns out to be another cop. And things get really complicated when the dead cops gun disappears.

But then, it is the story of Leonard Mitchell, a mid-level functionary who works at the Department to Investigate Misconduct and Corruption. He is assigned to investigate Mulino’s shooting and begins to suspect there might be more to it than first appears.

Additional characters are also involved in advancing the story including a surprisingly brave city functionary who jumps to the private sector and discovers more than she bargained for. A few are a bit two-dimensional, particularly the beat reporter and the police accountability activist. And of course, the fixer-politician that Mitchell calls on for a bit of help is a fixer-politician, because what else would he be?

This is a story of corruption in government at the highest levels, of ambition and the need for respect and order. It reflects some of the resentments of police who believed they are over-scrutinized since the increasing evidence of police misconduct and brutality. There is a poisonous contempt for the general public who seems to value liberty over safety, police accountability over police license and a longing for more respect. What that leads to is appalling, shocking, but not completely out of the realm of possibility.

This is a good mystery. It is scrupulously fair if you’re paying attention, the sense of the city of New York is very real, you can see, hear and smell New York while you follow the characters. There is a gritty nobility and honesty to these characters who simply keep doing their job, even when they feel unappreciated, disrespected and undervalued. I was intrigued from the beginning and raced through the book. All in all, an excellent police procedural.

I received an electronic advance galley of The Big Fear from the publisher via NetGalley. show less

On the face of it, civilian investigator Leonard Mitchell is investigating the shooting, by police detective Ralph Mulino of the Organized Crime Control Bureau, of New York Police detective Brian Rowson. But, as is often said, nothing is quite as it seems. Was this simply a tragic accident, a horrific case of friendly fire claiming the life of the young detective? Or is there something far more sinister behind his death?

Suspense builds as the finely-drawn characters race to find the answers. show more Realistic, detailed descriptions of police procedure are a plus in this dark tale of corruption, murder, and mayhem. But the focus on politics rather than on policing and the ultimate wrongdoing and corruption revealed in the final pages may be problematic for some readers.

Recommended. show less

I received a free advance e-copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Wow, an exciting and well-written crime thriller with good character development full of twists and turns with a well-developed plot. This is a story of corruption in the New York Police Department with officers in cahoots with stock traders. Someone is getting rich by picking the right companies to sell short just before they go bust. There seems to be as much filth in city government and the show more police department as there is in the streets as the result of striking sanitation workers. This book starts off with a bang. A detective gets called out in the middle of the night to investigate suspicious activity and finds a dead body and another man with a gun in his hand. Then the sh----t hits the fan. He kills the man, discovers he is a police officer, and the gun disappears. From here on the action never quits and the suspense keeps building until the end. This is a keeper. show less

THE BIG FEAR by Andrew Case is the story of how fear can be used to intimidate, profit financially, and provide usefulness to those who otherwise have no real redeeming qualities in today's world. The book follows a civilian investigator, Leonard Mitchell, as he has to piece together the truth of who is feeding the fear in New York City and why.
I appreciated how the book began, with an incident that starts the slow discovery that accidents and events around the city aren't all quite so show more unrelated as they would seem. In the middle, the story slowed down so that the reader could meet all of the players in the book and start to see how they are all intertwined. While there is a lot of good character development and description, I wished for the story to have been moved forward a little faster while also fleshing out the characters. One note about some of the people we meet is that Case spends considerable time looking a police officer that have made mistakes and how the mistakes have shaped them into who they are now, sometimes for the better and sometimes for the worse. The end of the book really picked up steam, and I had trouble putting the book down in the last 75 pages or so because I couldn't wait to find out the ending. There are some good reveals and twists, and I often didn't see them coming.
THE BIG FEAR is a fun read that reflects on the corrupt and despicable nature that can be born out the rough world that is New York CIty. I would definitely read another Andrew Case book and hopefully he will continue on with some people in THE BIG FEAR.
Thank you to Thomas & Mercer, Andrew Case, and Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review! show less