Saturday, March 30, 2013

Review: "The Good Cop" by Brad Parks


The death of a police officer is always a tragedy. The fact that it is being described as a suicide and then wouldn’t be covered in any depth by the Newark Eagle- Examiner is something that reporter Carter Ross does not know when he goes off to interview the widow. Noemi Kipps is a formidable woman who thought that the happy family would soon be going to Disney World. Instead, she has to plan the funeral of her husband and somehow raise their 7 year old daughter and 5 month old son alone.

Police Officer Darius Kipps was an outstanding police officer, a devoted father, and a class act human being.  There was absolutely no reason for him the Sargent and Detective to commit suicide. According to his fellow officers that is exactly what he did in the bathroom at a precinct in Newark. It is something both the widow and, as he learns more, reporter Carter Ross can’t believe or accept.



The series that began so strongly with Faces Of The Gone continues here in another complex and interesting read. The Good Cop is the fourth novel in the series by award winning author Brad Parks. Flashes of humor and cynicism do not get in the way of a complex story involving the search for truth and justice amidst the shifting agendas of politicians, religious figures and others. As always in this series, the role of reporters and newspapers play a major role in the book, as do the evolution of relationships between Carter Ross and others in a business where getting the story correct and in detail should matter far more than getting it first.

While The Good Cop could be read as a stand-alone, those who have not read the series and take the time to do so before reading this book will appreciate this book far more than those who just grab this one. Fans of Cater Ross and his creator Brad Parks will find much to enjoy in this latest installment of a very good series.


The Good Cop
Brad Parks
Minotaur Books (St. Martin’s Publishing Group)
2013
ISBN# 978-1-250-00552-6
Hardback (also available as an audio book and an e-book)
324 Pages
$24.99


Material Supplied by the good folks of the Plano Texas Public Library System.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2013

My review of  FACES OF THE GONE can be found here. 

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