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The "blue flu" has struck the Seattle Police Force and the majority of officers are on an unofficial strike. Overworked and understaffed, detective Lou Boldt is committed to remaining on the job no matter what. But when a string of robberies and the brutal near-murder of a female cop descend on the city, the pressure of being a nearly one-man operation threatens Boldt's psyche and his marriage. With the help of Daphne Matthews and Sergeant John LaMoia, Boldt is able to make slow progress show more cracking the case and their work leads them to a Denver convict and his brother, a hardened criminal. Boldt and Daphne come to realize that the robberies, assaults, and strike are somehow connected - and that his life is now in very real danger. Filled with the fast-paced, spiraling action that has made his novels "irresistible" (The Los Angeles Times Book Review) works of suspense that "grip the imagination" (People), this offering from "the best thriller writer alive" (Booklist) is certain to win Ridley Pearson an even more enthusiastic audience. show lessTags
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Lou Boldt is one of the few at work in the Seattle police department which is suffering a collective 'sick out'. (This, apparently has nothing to do with the November WTO excitement…) And things are getting bad. One of the other working members of the department was viciously attacked in her home. Boldt, himself, was attacked at his home and there is a string of mysterious burglaries. Pearson truly captures Seattle which makes all of his books great fun for me, but the Boldt series, I think, holds up no matter where you are.
Good read from start. Flu overtakes the dept. Cops are being injured; violent thief on the loose.
Another great Boldt/Matthews book
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"Blue Flu" is running through the ranks of the Seattle Police Department, and life's not easy for the few cops who've chosen to buck the union and remain on the job. Among them is Lt. Lou Boldt, the relentless crime fighter and star of Pearson's outstanding series, whose loyalty to law and order tends to suck him into more than his share of life's complications. With 90% of the force calling show more in sick, Boldt has to shoulder an enormous caseload, yet a strange series of burglaries worries him the most. During one of the hits, a strikebreaking police officer was savagely attacked, her neck broken. When two other officers are mauled in similar fashion, and Boldt himself is badly beaten, a sickening prospect emerges: the cops who are on strike are retaliating against the cops still on the job. Yet it may not be that simple. Some of the crimes could be the handiwork of Bryce Abbot Flek, a crafty career criminal who has devised an ingenious method of coaxing people out of the homes he wants to burglarize. Along the way, Flek has also developed a searing hatred for Boldt, whom he holds responsible for the death of his brother, who was killed in prison shortly after a visit from the lieutenant. Pearson (The Pied Piper) never quite masters the intersection of these two disparate story lines, yet they eventually converge in a well-devised finale. This seventh Boldt thriller packs all of Pearson's usual wallop: it boasts simmering suspense, a plot with a level of detail that comes only from painstaking research, and dynamic chemistry between Boldt and his colleagues and family. show less
added by cmwilson101
A brutal attack that leaves a young woman paralyzed is horrifying enough, but when it happens to one of Seattle police lieutenant Lou Boldt's own officers, and all the suspects wear the same uniform as the victim, it's much worse. The SPD has been struck by a not-very-mysterious case of the "blue flu," a labor dispute that's turned cop against cop. Frustrated by the work slowdown in the show more department, Boldt is working almost on his own, except for forensic psychologist Daphne Matthews and detective John LaMoia, familiar characters in Pearson's popular series (The Pied Piper, The First Victim). Despite not-so-veiled warnings from some of his colleagues, Lou is determined to unmask Maria Sanchez's attacker, even if it turns out to be a fellow cop. And if that's not enough, the piano-playing lieutenant with a devoted wife--and a lingering yen for his coworker Daphne--has to deal with a crime wave that's increasing every day as the blue flu fells more of the force. show less
added by cmwilson101
Author Information
101+ Works 34,886 Members
Ridley Pearson was born in Glen Cove, New York on March 13, 1953. He was educated at Kansas University and Brown University. In the early 1970s, he was a musician and songwriter for a rock band, eventually writing more than 300 songs and the score for an award-winning documentary. Having honed his craft writing scripts for television shows such as show more Columbo and Quincy, he turned to writing and published his first novel, Never Look Back, in 1985. His novels include The Angel Maker, No Witnesses, and Beyond Recognition. He has also published many children's books including The Kingdom Keepers series and a series of prequels to Peter Pan written with Dave Barry. His book Peter and the Starcatchers, written with Dave Barry, was adapted into a Broadway play that won 5 Tony Awards. He received the Raymond Chandler Fulbright Fellowship at Oxford University in 1990 and the Missouri Writer Hall of Fame Quill Award Winner in 2013. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Awards and Honors
Distinctions
Series
Work Relationships
Common Knowledge
- Original publication date
- 2000
- People/Characters
- Lou Boldt; Daphne Matthews ; John LaMoia
- Important places
- Seattle, Washington, USA
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 557
- Popularity
- 52,910
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.67)
- Languages
- Dutch, English, German
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 31
- ASINs
- 7
