Cop Job (Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mysteries) - Hardcover

Chris Knopf

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 157962393X ISBN 13: 9781579623937

Publisher: The Permanent Press, 2015

Synopsis

The sixth installment in the Sam Acquillo Hamptons Mystery series brings back Knopf's ensemble of famously eccentric and involving characters, not the least being Sam's dog Eddie Van Halen. A hardboiled crime novel, it also examines the fraught intersection of wealth, culture, politics and the ravages of an ugly war. Combine beautiful watery setting with a unique look into the underbelly of the Hamptons, it's an action and suspense story you won't find anywhere else.

It's bad enough when someone you know is brutally murdered, it's worse when the guy was a paranoid schizophrenic helplessly bound to a wheelchair. Sam Acquillo and Jackie Swaitkowski tried to look after Alfie Aldergreen, as had others around the Village of Southampton, but now they were forced to wonder, what else could they have done?

One thing is for certain, Alfie's killers are about to know what it means to murder a friend of Sam, former corporate troubleshooter, former professional boxer and all-around ornery bull dog, and Jackie, a defense lawyer often described as an avenging angel.

About this title

About the Author

CHRIS KNOPF'S twelve previous mysteries have critics likening Sam Acquillo to Dashiell Hammett's Sam Spade, Raymond Chandler's Philip Marlowe and Robert Parker's Spenser, while repeatedly comparing Knopf to Elmore Leonard.

The Last Refuge was a finalist for The Connecticut Book Award. Two Time (2007) was named a runner-up for this same prize. It was also one of thirteen mysteries listed in Marilyn Stasio's "Recommended Summer Reading" column in The New York Times Book Review, was listed in Entertainment Weekly as one of the 50 "Hot Picks" of that summer, and Publishers Weekly chose it as one of the "Best 100 Books for 2006."

Head Wounds (2008) won the 2008 Benjamin Franklin Award for Best Myster. Last year he won the 2013 Nero Award for Dead Anyway, the first in a new series featuring Arthur Cathcart, followed by Cries of the Lost (2013) and A Billion Ways to Die (2014). His mysteries have had overseas subrights sales in the UK, Canada, Japan, Spain, Germany, Turkey, Italy, England, and China.

Review

"In Cop Job, the sixth novel in this series, the police chief and prosecutor invite Sam Acquillo to investigate the murder of a disabled war veteran...The case is so puzzling that it seems Sam may never get to the bottom of it. But of course he does, wrapping everything up with a slam-bang action finish. As always with a Chris Knopf novel, the writing is as sharp and precise as Sam's wood chisels, making Cop Job a worthy entry in this entertaining series."--Associated Press

"In this enjoyable sixth Hamptons mystery, Sam Acquillo, a former corporate troubleshooter turned carpenter, joins forces with attorney Jackie Swaitkowski, when a murder case threatens to get ugly. The Southampton police haul lifeless Alfie Aldergreen, a disabled and disturbed veteran, out of a pond, still strapped to his motorized wheelchair. Then an attack on Sam's grown daughter makes the investigation personal. Sam and Jackie once again make a formidable team as he searches for answers and payback." --Publishers Weekly

"Cop Job delivers not only smart and sassy characters, but a nifty narrative full of intriguing plot complications having to do with confidential informants and home town corruption. A Sam Acquillo novel is always more than well-wrought plot and character. Knopf has a fine eye for the quiet beauty of the East End, and he knows how to fashion a theme about the quirks of human nature that also allows for some timely, trenchant social criticism." --Joan Baum, NPR

"Sam dives deeper than ever into the murky waters of past and present felonies. The fog gets so thick, in fact, that some readers will doubt Knopf can cut through it all. But he does, with a keen, deadly final stroke that makes this case one of Sam's best."--Kirkus Reviews

"This sixth entry in Knopf's Hamptons Mystery series maintains the high standards of previous entries: smooth prose style, brisk dialogue, smart plotline, well-drawn characters, keen sense of place. Another winner from a consistently strong author." --Booklist

About this edition

• Publisher: The Permanent Press
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 157962393X
• ISBN 13: 9781579623937
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256