Book Review: Sons of the City

Reviewed By: Webspinner - RAM

Sons of the City     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Scott Flander
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Police Procedural
Series: Eddie North # 1
Avon; 1999; 370pp, Philadelphia; police procedural; noir;

Cynical Eddie North is a night-shift patrol Sergeant on the streets of Philadelphia. Nick is his younger cousin, serving on his squad. The city is on edge to begin with, and Eddie [furious at having been pulled off of the Organized Crime Task Force and his investigation of Mickey Bravelli] starts his own, private, investigation and he doesn't like where it's heading. When one of his young officers [the Commissioner's son] is killed, and the officer's sister goes undercover without authorization, Eddie begins juggling too many situations at once.

Family or not, Eddie has problems with some of his brothers-in-blue and with his young cousin, who has always looked up to him. He's also worried that the young sister of the murdered patrolman is falling for his target, mob boss Bravelli.

Probably a more realistic police procedural than most, this one takes you down onto the streets with the officers, the media, the mob and the neighborhood. This one has it all riots; funerals; Mafia; Black Mafia; corrupt administrators; idealistic young cops; neighborhood agitators; angry residents; and everything in between. It's dark. It's intense. The plot twists. A journalist for the Philadelphia Daily News, Scott Flander has included a few cliches and is probably much more sympathetic to police officers than most journalists. That said, Sons of the City is well written. It tolls a bell of truth behind a curtain of headlines and news stories that I'm going to make sure my son [the Criminal Justice student] reads.

Webspinner - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Webspinner - RAM