Blue Rubicon

Lincoln Munroe #2

by Harrison Drake

When an on-duty member of the Ontario Provincial Police is found dead in his cruiser of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound, only Lincoln Munroe - now a patrol Sergeant - knows the truth. The officer was murdered, and all the evidence points to the suspect being another cop.But in a line of work where right and wrong aren't always separate, and where 'above the law' is the motto of too many, Lincoln finds himself on an ethical tightrope, working both sides of the police force in an attempt to unravel a web of corruption in an unsanctioned investigation that may cost him his life.

Genres: Crime, Mystery

228 pages, Kindle Edition

First published July 3, 2012

About the author

Harrison Drake is the pseudonym of a Canadian writer and career police officer who has chosen anonymity in order to protect a safe, secure and quiet lifestyle for his family.

If he can't be found at home playing with his children or sitting in his lonely writer's garret, he'll be outside gazing up at the night sky and searching for answers.

Art comes in many forms, every piece different in its own way, and Drake believes it is necessary to challenge oneself, to never allow that art to grow stagnant. As such, Drake finds himself bound by no one specific genre and writes freely that which his mind creates.

It is for this reason that Drake has chosen to enter the world of the independent author. Art is an entity that needs room to breathe, space to grow, and the freedom to take its own shape.

Harrison Drake is the author of the 'Detective Lincoln Munroe' series of police procedurals, with A Dream Of Death and Blue Rubicon currently published in the series.

Additionally, Drake has written a novella, My Life In Darkness, that tells, through a series of letters, the story of one man's tragic life and secret love as he travels the world seeking out solar eclipses. Only in the darkness an eclipse brings can he find the light.

What does the future hold? A four-part apocalypse series, a three-part (more?) sci-fi/fantasy vampire series that will (or so he hopes) breathe new life into the genre, further crime novels and novellas, and science fiction in all shapes and sizes - from hard sci-fi (i.e., Battlestar Galactica or Stargate) to the sci-fi tinged (such as Audrey Niffenegger's The Time Traveler's Wife) and everything in between.

Reviews

[Kathy Togliatti · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would like to give 4 1/2, but it won't let me. This one was better than the first.

[Denise Zendel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book 2 in the series starts off with Lincoln Munroe now working as a patrol Sergeant. While on patrol, he finds an on-duty member of the Ontario Provincial Police dead in his cruiser. On the surface, it looks like the officer committed suicide, but Munroe sees some things that alarm him and make him think not only was the officer murdered, but murdered by a brother officer. Munroe smells corruption, but doesn’t know how far it has oozed, or who he can trust.

This novel is action packed, but doesn’t short-change the intense personal relationships between the characters that started in the first book. Monroe and his wife have worked past his infidelity, and his corruption investigation puts them at personal peril. The former mistress “mistress” (they had a brief fling after an intensely stressful event in the first book) bails them out of a difficult situation. Some very bad things – Very. Bad. Things. – happen to Munroe, but he retains his humanity and his belief in doing what is right, and in the end saves the day.

This was an intense, gripping read for me, and I expect Book 3 will be the same.

[Patricia White · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I will mention some spoilers. I was upset that Lincoln got bumped down to uniform from his previous position. But if he hadn't he never would have found out about the dirty cops and what they were doing. It sucks that he had to destroy evidence in order to look into the case.

It was action packed for myself. But for them to try and burn down his house with his wife and kids still inside!?! That was so wrong. But glad he was able to shoot the person who did it. The book for me was full of action which I like. Lincoln has good friends to stand by him and help him fight. Glad his wife wasn't as whimpy in this book. The punch she gave to Warren the master mind behind the dirty cops was great. I have new found respect for her. Glad she is finally becoming human.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A police procedural set in Canada that is well written, fast paced and will remind you (quite positively) of the early Patterson books about Alex Cross. In fact, this book is much better written (no two pages chapters over and over here). The second novel in the series, it deals with police corruption and the illegal drug trade. Lots of danger, chases, sneakiness and plotting. I recommend reading the first book in the series, but it's not necessary. This is a stand alone, however it does refer on a couple occasions to the happenings in the first novel. I found myself once again sucked into these character's lives and reading late into the night.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought it was a nice sequel to A Dream of Death. Drake certainly has written some likeable characters - even Lincoln's wife - in the first novel I wasn't much of a fan of hers, though here in Blue Rubicon I found that Drake wrote her to be a little bit more likeable (at least to me). It definitely kept you on the edge of your seat, wanting to see how things played out. I highly recommend giving this series a try.

[Lhenry · Rating 4 out of 5]

The second I the series. Not quite as emotional as the first one, so if was a little different, but still good. The mystery was intriguing. I also really liked the bits of family life and the character growth of Kat, Kara and Lincoln.

[Carrie · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like crime, or mystery novels, you will like this one.