The First Victim

Having read, and really enjoyed, Pearson's first book The Pied Piper, I was prepared to enjoy this one as well. And I did but I didn't think it was as well-written as The Pied Piper so I was a little disappointed. There were a couple of occasions when I thought "In real life this wouldn't happen." Nevertheless it is a suspenseful story and the issue deserves some exposure.

The police officers from The Pied Piper are back in this story (Lou Boldt, now a lieutenant, and his crew). The story opens with a container ship trying to transfer a container to a barge during a fierce storm. The container falls into the water and when it is opened by the Coast Guard there are a number of young Asian women in it but three of them are dead. A local show more TV anchorwoman is one of the first media people on the scene and she decides there is more investigation needed. She asks her adopted sister, Melissa, a free-lance reporter to follow up on the story. Melissa is Chinese so she is perfect for the assignment. Meanwhile Boldt and his crew are trying to find the people responsible for the deaths of the three women in the container. Everytime they home in on a suspect, such as the ship captain or the owner of the crane, that person ends up dead. Boldt thinks someone is leaking information from their investigation. Then Melissa disappears and her sister is frantic.

The details about the people smuggling are probably authentic and they are certainly disturbing. This book made me thankful that I can live and work in comfort and prosperity in my own country. Spare a moment to think about all those people who cannot. show less

Lou Bolt (Seattle Homicide) is at it again. This time trying to track down the scum that is importing Chinese women for slave labor. I love mysteries set in Seattle and I have enjoyed Ridley's Bolt series. But he's gotten married and had children, and that has changed the action of the character. I'm increasingly annoyed by characters who do or don't do things because of what might happen to their children. I understand it is a fact of life, but it's a cheap way to direct action and I don't like it.

Synopsis: 'A shipping container washed ashore leads Seattle television news anchor Stevie McNeal and her reporter friend, Melissa, on the trail of a scam involving the importation of illegal aliens. A career stepping-stone for McNeal, the investigation her at cross-purposes with the Seattle Police Department's Lou Boldt and Sergeant John LaMoia. When Melissa disappears, perhaps at the hands of the Chinese Triad, McNeal turns from foe to ally and teams up with the detectives on an investigation that takes them from Seattle's docklands to the offices of the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
Review: This is a suspenseful book, but with portions that I found a bit draggy.

Mildly entertaining; however, the ending seemed a bit contrived and "hurried" and less than satisfying to this reader.

Set in Seattle.

Another great Dets. Boldt/LaMoia book