Midnight Sin
Summary:
Becoming a cop changes everything you thought you knew about life. Midnight Sin is an inside look at the dark and mysterious world behind the cop s badge. Rookie cop Gary Hollings quickly learns that wrestling street thugs and arresting drug dealers while trying to track down a serial rapist is nowhere near as tough as watching his back from his fellow cops. He must also fight his inner demons ones that he never knew he had until he put on that police uniform. The police world is one of long hours and split-second decisions. The choices are not always clear. Midnight Sin is a gritty cop novel that explores the complexities of the cop psyche. (retrieved from michaeltabman.wordpress.com/books/)
Group Review/Comments:
Only two people read the entire book, and two started and abandoned it.
R. opened the discussion, giving kudos to the authenticity of the narrative. This was a real cop story written by a real cop. The story, the scenes, the politics, the characters, came across as genuine and left one thinking about it long after it was put down. R. also mentioned particularly appreciating the empathy for the victims that showed up in the cop’s use of the victims’ full names.
This led to a conversation about how graphic the book was, and just how “authentic” do we want our police procedurals to be in the realm of mystery fiction. Although many in the group enjoy a wide swath of sub-genres (this is no cozy-only-mystery group by far) the feeling by most was that the authenticity of ugly behaviors in this particular book was too much.
Those who read the book (all or some) also agreed that the writing was poor. We discussed how on occasion we’d be compelled to continue reading a novel that was more graphic than our usual liking–if the writing really stood out. That was not the case for this story. Clearly the hook was a genuine police perspective, from a writer with serious credentials in the police–not literary-field.
