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Mystery Scene

Spinetingler Magazine

Mystery One

Chicago News-Star

This book opens with a bang--and it just gets better. The protagonist is a cop who left the Chicago PD two days after turning in his badge. A bottom dweller who killed his wife got cut loose when the evidence that nailed him is ruled inadmissable. When he's killed, everyone's pretty sure it's Dooley's work, and while they can't exactly blame him, he has to disappear.

Eight years later, he's back and can't seem to avoid trouble. His former CPD partner is deep in his own nightmare, one that started after a similar personal tragedy--and the story that unfolds is told in a deceptively simple style that lucidly lays out personal relationships with enormous depth and sublety and power. It reminds me a little of early Elmore Leonard crime novels; Reaves has a similar knack for dialog that carries a lot of punch and authenticity, and the wise guys are not larger than life, but considerably smaller, another touch of authenticity.

An added bonus is a very real Chicago--I can't think when I've read a book that does a better job of conveying the flavor of the city north of the ship canal without any travelogue stuff. It's just there. Add some terrific moral issues and a love interest that is shaded and subtle and sad and satisfying and you have an excellent piece of crime fiction. This one's going on my top ten for the year. I'm tempted to read it again--in which case it might be on the list twice!

Now this is more like it. I've had a thirst for a good stiff shot of crime fiction for a long time now, and Sam Reaves' bracing new thriller, Dooley's Back, sure hits the spot. It goes down real smooth, but ends up kicking like a mule.