The Squad Room: A Novel

While I'm sure the authors know their material when it comes to crime solving in the Big Apple, along with the incompetent, insufferable egos that occupy several positions of authority, the writing is just not quite "there" yet. No grammatical errors, but the conversations do not feel at all life-like. The love interest angle is not really believable either...unless maybe you're a guy...which of course these authors are. ;-) If they attempt making a series from this first novel, hopefully they will become a bit more polished -- the detectives themselves have definite possibilities and it would be nice to follow more of their cases, but only if they can be made more interesting through more realistic dialogue, and ditching the show more "dreamgirl" love interest. I feel guilty criticizing writers for their style, because Lord knows I have zero writing talent, but like they say -- you know it when you see it. show less

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a true page turner. It was predictable, yet suspenseful and tied up neatly at the end. That said, I gave it 3 1/2 stars. I liked the main character, Bill Morrison. He was a composite of many detectives you read about - excellent in his job yet troubled in his personal life. I think my problem with the book was how black and white it was. People seemed to be all good or really all bad. In life it isn't always so well delineated. My guess is that the authors had fun writing the book and have more plots in mind in which to involve these characters. The writing was adequate - not great, but certainly adequate. I would read another book by these two and would expect them to tighten up their prose show more and develop the characters more. show less

The Squad Room by John Cutter and Robert Nivakoff is a 2016 Beaufort Books publication. I was provided a copy of this book as a part of the LibraryThing Early Review program.

With a title like “The Squad Room”, I got the impression this novel would be a died in the wool police procedural, and it is that, but not in the way most of us are used to.

Bill Morrison is a dedicated cop, devoting his whole life to putting criminals behind bars. But, as the story opens, Bill is on the brink of burnout and despair after losing his son in the line of duty and the breakdown of his marriage.

With a serial killer on the loose, Bill finds the support and camaraderie of his fellow officers gives him the strength to stay sober and fight against show more dirty politics within the ranks, to keep the city safe.

The story gets off to a pretty rough start as the squad members are introduced, and there is a pretty large cast of characters, many of whom tell a ‘war story’, if you will, regarding a past experience on the force, or about the effects the job has had on their personal lives, while the murder case slowly builds in the background. I got lost as it seemed like I was reading small vignettes, there for a while, but a rhythm soon developed and I finally settled into the plot. From there it was a pretty fast read, detailing the day to day procedures and roadblocks Morrison and his comrades faced, with a few surprising twists along the way.

I liked the gritty feel of the story, which lent it an air of authenticity, and the plot is clever in many ways, but I struggled with Morrison’s involvement with Claudia. I try to avoid this trope in the wake of its massive popularity, because it’s just not my thing at all, so I was disappointed to find it showing up in my mystery novels being treated like a positive thing, not an abusive relationship, and I have some real problems with that. I found it troubling that this type of relationship was the only way Morrison could feel alive, as he put it, indicating he found normal, healthy relationships couldn’t quicken him.

The writing was a bit jarring and seemed a little amateurish at times, and the delivery of the dialogue was often flat and unemotional, but there was a bit of understated or wry humor from time to time.

Still, I appreciated the approach, the homage to the men in blue, the good guys, and the unique bond they share, which seems to be the point of the story more so than the solving of a crime. Morrison’s character is in a really bad place as the book begins, but by the end he’s found a modicum of peace, a renewed sense of purpose and feeling of belonging that had been missing from his life.

Overall, this story is a little off beat in some ways, but traditional in others, making it a unique crime story and Bill Morrison certainly makes an interesting character study.

I was a little on the fence about how I should rate this one, leaning towards the middle ground, but after some thought, I think it’s a little better than just okay, so how about a 3.5 rounded to 4 show less

I liked this book about a New York City cop fighting his personal demons, as well as a corrupt boss, and serial killer fellow cop. Bill Morrison's son, Billy Jr., followed his father onto the force and was killed in the line of duty. Bill blames himself for wanting his son to follow him into the NYPD. So does Bill Sr.'s wife and they no longer share a bedroom. Their marriage is just waiting for one of them to have the courage to end it. Bill is a very good boss and motivator for those who work under him. His detectives love and value him except for Lou Galipoli, a rogue cop who does not belong on the force and who got his job through a deceptive military resume stating that he had earned a silver star in Iraq. Along the way Bill show more stumbles upon an amazing woman who seems to be his soul mate and to have been influenced by "Fifty Shades of Gray". This seems a little improbable as Bill seems like a pretty staid person, but on the other hand he has plenty of restraining devices. His squad is after two men who have killed three women in particularly brutal fashion. The interrogation of the suspects is masterfully done by an expert interrogator who can really get inside the heads of the perps. I'd like to read a sequel. show less

The Squad Room is a fantastic book. I felt like I was there in the midst of the cops and the action. John Cutter and Robert Nivakoff put together an interesting and fascinating inside look on cops and how they live. Nothing is cookie cutter about the characters and everything works. Give me more William Morrison and the rest of these cops!

I found The Squad Room an interesting read that gave insights of how a major case squad works. The officers of the team are a cohesive force and their boss Capt. Morrison knows how to use each of the individuals to solve a case. Besides trying to find the suspects in a series of killings the squad has to deal with bureaucracy that any large organizations seems to collect as it grows. I guess the organization must find a place for the incompetents that have slipped through and made it into the system so they are eventually kicked upstairs. The case even becomes more complicated when there appears to be a copy cat killer following the same MO as the original case.

The book gives the reader an insight into the inner workings of a group of show more officers who are after the same goal. It shows the stresses of the job and how those stresses affect family life, personal relationships and drives some more and more into themselves. This group of officers know their strengths and weaknesses and come to together to work and support each other. Of course this comes from working with each other for a long period of time and caring for each other and the team.

I found the book to be interesting without a lot of violence and to come to understand the mind set of officers as they track a serial killer and try to bring all of the evidence to bear. Rather it be DNA, fingerprints, blurry video, or eyewitness or ear witness accounts of what occurred. Maybe there will be follow up cases for the squad to solve so that we can get to know other members of the unit. show less

If you enjoy a good crime drama on television, you'll most likely enjoy this book. Overall, the plot seems somewhat formulaic and predictable - within the first few chapters the "bad guy" was easily identifiable - but that does not mean that this is still not an enjoyable read. While a good read, the book overall has the feel of something that has already been done: I've seen it on several cop shows on television or read it in other novels, where it has been done better. However, the book did still have appeal for wanting to read it - as with any good crime drama, you wanted to keep reading the pages to determine what would happen next. While it was obvious from the writing that the authors had professional experiences as police show more officers, that didn't always translate well to the writing. The conversations were not particularly believable, and at times, the writing seems incredibly forced. While I'm sure that it is realistic to refer to the detectives by their last names within the squad room, I found the use of names repetitive throughout the book. It often felt like every sentence began with the detective's name. The characters lack development, although there is definitely potential for future books involving the characters. At times the plot is difficult to believe - I personally find it questionable that you meet your next love interest who happens to share your sexual fetishes with one glance across the bar - but if you are willing to suspend some elements of reality, it's still an enjoyable novel. The book may not be original, and it may not be the best writing in the world, but it is fun and it is engaging. It has all the elements of a successful crime drama, and even if I wasn't surprised by the plot, I still enjoyed reading the book. I finished it within a day because I did enjoy the story. Bottom line: This is a nice, solid, predictable, somewhat formulaic, but interesting cop drama. I would definitely give another novel by the authors a read to see what happens next. show less