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- Mystery - |
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Dust to Dust |
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 Dust to Dust byTami Hoag Bantam Books 496 pages, August 2000 ISBN 0553106341 Reviewed by PJ Nunn Most cops try to steer clear of Internal Affairs, and homicide detective Sam Kovak is no exception. Most cops are also inclined to defend each other to the death. But sometimes, lines are blurred and loyalties get divided. When Kovak and his partner Nikki Liska get called to a crime scene where the victim is found hanging naked in his bedroom, the nightmare begins. The victim, Andy Fallon, was a cop – and a son of a cop – the heroic, retired Mike Fallon who was Sam’s mentor in his early days on the job. Sam knows that cops often bite the bullet but somehow, suicide just doesn’t ring true in this case. Before the body is even cold, lines are being drawn within the department. Andy worked Internal Affairs. Was he working a case that was too much for him? Was he homosexual and involved in a relationship that went bad? Or was he engaged in autoerotic sexual practices that he couldn’t stop in time? Kovak and Liska are committed to finding the truth no matter what, but they seem to be alone in the search. Mike Fallon doesn’t want to talk about it. Neither does Internal Affairs. Everyone seems anxious to just sweep it under the rug and move on. The closer they get to the truth, the more apparent it becomes that someone will kill to stop them if necessary. Hoag’s writing is popular and has merit. She writes a taut, suspenseful tale with realistic and engaging characters. Perhaps the most appealing thing about this book is the interaction between Kovak and Liska and the insight into their lives. Kovak is firmly entrenched in a mid-life crisis that even his droll humor fails to conceal, as he reluctantly replaces the illusions of youth with reality. Liska is dealing with the pangs of a failed marriage and the struggles of building a good life for the two sons she loves while her ex-husband, also a cop, still plays the fun-time hero to the boys. Dust to Dust presents a crime to be solved, but in the process it provides an enjoyable, although sometimes troubling slice of life to be shared. |
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