Bernard Schaffer

The author is a policeman, and has managed to bring an underlying sense of "this is how it is" to this story.
Following two cops forced to pair up together while one recovers from a traumatic shooting, this story made me laugh, gasp, and at the end just about broke my heart.
Schaffer shows the human heart of police work, far removed from the gloss of CSI's pretty people and makes you care about them.
Warning :Strong language and some nasty details for the sensitive souls out there.

Recommended show more for : everyone who wants a good, hard look at police life without the sparkly bits. show less

This is undoubtedly the worst Sherlock Holmes spin-off novel I have read. As its title suggests, it concerns the Ripper murders, which is fair enough, if an unoriginal real life mystery for the Great Detective to unravel. However, it is poorly written and focuses excessively on the bodily mutilation/slash horror dimension to the murders, at the expense of building up an atmosphere of tension and drama through good writing; rather it built up in me an atmosphere of revulsion. Even worse show more though, the depictions of Holmes, Watson and Lestrade bear almost no resemblance to the characters created by Conan Doyle, with their dialogue sounding generically modern; Lestrade is no longer a mostly competent but uninspired officer, but instead a brutal thug who beats suspects bloody when it suits him, swears constantly, and has sex with prostitutes to get information out of them. All this combined to make me stop reading between a quarter and a third of the way through. One to be avoided by anyone who cares about these iconic characters. show less

New York City has about 36,000 cops. All report to the same chain of command. Philadelphia is surrounded by counties divided into multiple municipalities, each having its own police force with different standards and operations.

Schaffer uses that structure to examine two detectives in a small police force, Frank and Vic. Frank is coming back from leave having been shot and is assigned to work with Vic, an old-fashioned detective. He’s still in pain but Vic won’t let him have any show more narcotic pain-killers for fear he’ll become a junkie.

The book is a series of vignettes all tied together by their pursuit of Paris, a vicious drug dealer.

Some of the repartee and scenes are LOL funny. The one where they go dumpster diving and have to wade through diaper feces was hysterical. Others are sad as we watch Vic succomb to alcohol. He’s lost his kids in a divorce, most of his pay goes to child support and alimony, and he realizes the only time he really feels alive is when he’s tricking a pedophile into confessing.

Vic spun around and glared at Frank, his eyes red and streaming with tears. "I am sick of being used by everyone around me, Frank. I give everything I have to Danni, and she only ever wants more. It's never enough. I give everything I have to the Chief, and he only shines me on with promises that will never come true. The only time I feel alive is when I'm standing in blood and guts or talking to child molesters, Frank. Don't you see how fucked up that is? For one second, try and imagine how fucked up that is." "Maybe you need a different job." "Do you know why I became a cop? I was curious," Vic said. "I wanted to peek behind the curtain of evil, but what I saw can't be unseen, Frank. No matter how hard I try. All I had to hold onto was the kids, and without them, it's like the lights have all gone out."

The book is quite good if a bit unusual and provides an intimate look at the strains and pressures of being a cop. show less

Take one small town rookie cop with some outstanding personal baggage, add in another seasoned cop, a damaged former detective and top it all off with a serial killer who idolizes the worst of the worst predecessor serial killers. Bernard Schaffer takes us on a journey into police work, from procedural to personal perspectives. Without overwhelming the details, allowing us to understand the case and yet not get bogged down in facts. The writing was amazing, story flowed with my heart show more pounding, chills ran down my spine, left me turning the pages madly until I reached the perfect ending. BUY. THIS. BOOK!! show less