First Victim (Boldt/Matthews, 6) - Softcover

Pearson, Ridley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 140130818X ISBN 13: 9781401308186

Publisher: Hyperion-Acquired Assets, 2005

Synopsis

Lieutenant Lou Boldt, the Seattle cop who stars in Ridley Pearson's deservedly popular series, is a sharp and touching figure--perhaps the most believable police officer in current fiction. Early in this ninth book about his public and private life, Lou has to put on a bullet-resistant vest to lead a raid against some dangerous criminals. "The vest was not physically heavy, but its presence was," Pearson tells us.

It meant battle; it meant risk. For Boldt, a vest was a symbol of youth. It had been well over a year since he had worn one. Ironically, as he approached the hangar's north door at a light run behind his own four heavily armored ERT personnel, he caught himself worrying about his hands, not his life. He didn't want to smash up his piano hands in some close quarters skirmish. . . . Boldt plays jazz piano one night a week in a local bar, and despite his concern for his hands, he takes every opportunity he can to get away from his desk and into the streets. But money pressures, caused by his wife's recent illness, also make him think about the possibility of a better-paying job in the private sector.

Meanwhile, some extremely ruthless people are murdering illegal Chinese immigrant women and leaving their bodies buried in newly dug graves. An ambitious local TV journalist named Stevie McNeal and the young Chinese woman she thinks of as her "Little Sister" risk their lives to investigate the killings, while Boldt and his team round up a most unusual array of suspects.

This combination of hard-edged realism and softer sentiment has become Pearson's trademark, and once again it works smoothly. --Dick Adler

About this title

About the Author

Ridley Pearson is the award-winning co-author, along with Dave Barry, of Peter and the Starcatchers, Peter and the Shadow Thieves, Peter and the Secret of Rundoon, Peter and the Sword of Mercy, Escape From the Carnivale, Cave of the Dark Wind, Blood Tide, and Science Fair. In addition to Kingdom Keepers: Disney After Dark, Kingdom Keepers: Disney at Dawn, Kingdom Keepers: Disney in Shadow, and Kingdom Keepers: Power Play, he is also the author of the young adult thrillers Steel Trapp: The Challenge and Steel Trapp: The Academy. He has written more than twenty best-selling crime novels including Killer View and Killer Weekend. He was the first American to be awarded the Raymond Chandler/Fulbright Fellowship in Detective Fiction at Oxford University.

From AudioFile

This taut thriller is read confidently and empathetically by Scott Rosema. Lou Boldt, Pearson's believable Seattle cop, is read strongly and decisively, though he's struggling with issues connected with his wife's cancer and his recent promotion to desk jockey. Stevie McNeal, the Chinese-American news anchor, is deftly read in warm, softly feminine tones with a slight, charming accent. Stevie persuades her adoptive sister to help locate a sweatshop staffed by illegal Chinese immigrants, and Melissa decides to go undercover and join them. The suspenseful announcements interspersed throughout--"Friday, August 28: 11 Days Missing"--will keep mystery and conspiracy lovers glued to their headphones. S.C.A. (c) AudioFile, Portland, Maine

About this edition

• Publisher: Hyperion-Acquired Assets
• Publication date: 2005
• ISBN 10: 140130818X
• ISBN 13: 9781401308186
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 443