Jamaica Plain

Jim Grant Thriller #1

by Colin Campbell

English cop Jim Grant is in Boston on a temporary assignment, and his instructions are simple: keep out of trouble. But for Jim Grant, keeping out of trouble is not an option, even if he doesn't carry a gun.

First thing Jim Grant does when he lands in Boston is buy a map. Second thing is get laid. Third? He almost gets himself blown up interviewing Freddy Sullivan, the prisoner he came from Yorkshire to question.

With an uncanny inner calm and the fists of a bare-knuckle fighter, Grant leaves a trail of broken bad guys and burned-out buildings behind him. And thanks to a public standoff with a frantic gunman, Grant finds himself splashed across the evening news, tagged with a new nickname--Resurrection Man. Down-and-out marine John Cornejo and the sensuous Terri Avellone offer Grant refuge in a hostile city, but as the clues add up, it's clear the political intrigue brewing in Jamaica Plain could become bigger--and bloodier--than anyone ever imagined.

Praise:

"Grim and gritty and packed with action and crackling dialogue."--Kirkus Reviews

"Campbell hits a high note with his gritty novel that catches the atmosphere of Jamaica Plain, Boston, and turns it into a compelling account of murder, sex and violence."--RT Book Reviews

Genres: Action, Crime

384 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Ex-policeman. Ex-soldier. International tennis player. And full-time crime writer in Yorkshire.

Reviews

[Conor Olmstead · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the only reason I even picked up this book because it takes place in my neighborhood. It's not often you get a crazy cop drama/mystery set in a town renowned for artist, dog owners and a nice friendly gay community. That being said this book was so cheesly written.

I like to think the arthur Colin Campbell (who is a retired cop himself) wrote this as a sudo fantasy for his own life. It is about an english cop who appears in this small town and somehow takes down a local king pin, wins over an entire police force and gets regular sex from a beautiful woman while all the other women out there want to jump him. It's a real goofy story with some of the cheesiest lines I have ever read. Seriously I was taking some of the more funny ones and posting them on twitter they were so funny. Also this dude seems to really like shower sex, because there is at least three different shower sex scenes in this thing.

It was also stated that the author picked the name because he thought "it sounded cool". That's really it, it also looks like he did some small amount of research to find out where our police station was and also the name of a few stores in our main street, however the search stops there. Suddenly he is making up bars and also putting a random strip club that is supposedly right by Jamaica Pond. I don't fault him for making things up but, I get the feeling he did a google street view of what was around Jamaica Plain and then just called it a day, without doing any more research.

So honestly unless you live here in Jamaica Plain or know about the area you probably should not pick this up, it's really not that exciting or griping...or well good, but if you do live here you will be laughing your ass off about it. Supposedly this is part of a trilogy and if the other two also take place in JP you better believe I'll read, because I will want a good laugh.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

#1 in the Jim Grant, the Resurrection Man series. Grant is sent to Boston, ostensibly to interview a prisoner being held for questioning, to keep him under wraps for a while. The prisoner is blown up during questioning and pictures of Grant being carried to an ambulance make the news. The prisoner's brother, who doesn't have a record, holds up in his apartment and holds off the police with a rifle. Grant, in a signature orange windbreaker, approaches unarmed, with his arms spread wide - seen live on TV, this earns him the nickname of the Resurrection Man. This action novel plows ahead on pure adrenaline; a fast fun read.

Jim Grant, the Resurrection Man - English cop Jim Grant is in Boston on a temporary assignment, and his instructions are simple: keep out of trouble. But for Jim Grant, keeping out of trouble is not an option, even if he doesn't carry a gun. First thing Jim Grant does when he lands in Boston is buy a map. Second thing is get laid. Third? He almost gets himself blown up interviewing Freddy Sullivan, the prisoner he came from Yorkshire to question. With an uncanny inner calm and the fists of a bare-knuckle fighter, Grant leaves a trail of broken bad guys and burned-out buildings behind him. And thanks to a public standoff with a frantic gunman, Grant finds himself splashed across the evening news, tagged with a new nickname--Resurrection Man. Down-and-out marine John Cornejo and the sensuous Terri Avellone offer Grant refuge in a hostile city, but as the clues add up, it's clear the political intrigue brewing in Jamaica Plain could become bigger--and bloodier--than anyone ever imagined.

[Troy Killgore · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's amazing the all the reviews of this book state the main character is an Englishman.
Apparently they weren't paying attention.

He's a Welshman, from WALES a totally different country.
He's NOT from England.
He just has an accent that other characters in this Bhaston based book think is British.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Original!

Gritty.. and with a touch of humor, full of excitement and action.. it's the humanity of Jim Grant that stands out to me. Love this character, and what a great story and start to this series.

[Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I concur with Lee Child - "very real - very good".

[Amanda · Rating 1 out of 5]

I tried for the same reason lots of people did, because it takes place near my home and I love local stories. I got almost a hundred pages in and couldn't do it anymore. I know he said he only set it there because the name was cool and I can respect that, since if I didn't live within ten miles of Jamaica Plain, I wouldn't know or care too much about authenticity. But the story reads like first draft, self-insert, dirty old Boston fan fiction. Every cop and bartender is Irish and there's anti-English sentiment everywhere he goes. It got to a point where I thought maybe it was set in a cinematic 1990s, but then a character referred to Whitey Bulger as a fugitive in the past tense and someone referenced Dennis Lehane's "Gone, Baby Gone". But then there are carefully researched geographical and media references. He pinpoints the CVS on Centre Street, but assumes IRA jars are still a common thing in bars. It's very strange. And writing-wise, the dialogue is goofy as hell and the foreshadowing is very clumsy. And the sex scenes are way funnier than probably intended.

But I'm all over campy stories and bad writing so I was enjoying it for what it was. What I'm not all over is sexism and homophobia. Which start rearing their delightful heads about 70 pages in. I'll accept the label of PC feminist killjoy, but what few women there were were there for sex or to blush over the manly main character. And a whole exchange devoted to jokes about how gender neutral job labels were stupid and it might be sexist, but a man's man is what you need in these situations? Unnecessary bloat to the story first of all. But wow. Plus the homophobic cracks and constant reassurances of the main character's heterosexuality were unpleasantly ironic for a book set in Jamaica Plain, a famously gay-friendly neighborhood, in what I assume is around 2013. So that's when the book stopped being goofy fun and started just being grating. So I'm going to move on to something else.

[Nancy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Intense "fish out of water" story begins with British cop Jim Grant, sent across the pond to Boston to interview a suspect for a robbery in his home turf of Yorkshire. The real reason for Grant's trip to Beantown: stay out of trouble! Trouble does seem to follow him wherever he goes, especially when a hand grenade obliterates his suspect! A series of other various scrapes ensues--no wonder Grant is dubbed the Resurrection Man by the news media (because his pose to show he's unarmed resembles Jesus on the cross)! With the help of Boston detective Sam Kincaid, and Marine John Cornejo, what starts out as an escort services may be of catastrophic proportions. Lots of action every step of the way.

[Ed · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book grabbed my attention because my daughter lives in Jamaica Plain, an interesting and diverse neighborhood of Boston. I liked it for it's original take on a tough, West Yorkshire (UK) cop on assignment in Boston to interview a robbery suspect. Should have been routine but Constable Grant gets detoured on a violent journey through Jamaica Plain to become "the Resurrection Man" in a kind of throwback to earlier noir detective novels. What makes it a good book is Grant's West Yorkshire wit and resolve interacting with Irish-American cops, bartenders and assorted bad guys of Boston. Looks like the start of a good series.

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Try as he might, Jim Grant cannot stay out of trouble. He is in Boston to interview a burglary suspect from England when the interview has an explosive ending. Multiple run-ins with Irish thugs raises his hackles and his dander. With the aid of local police and an ex-marine the book reaches an explosive ending. A quick, action-packed read.

[Catherine Bassett · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this because JP is my neighborhood and the reviews weren't bad. The book was terrible. Writing was competent but over reliant on repeating phrases - unnecessary ones - over and over. But I finished it so one star.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.70 stars. I think this book is a good, solid introduction to a witty, "copper". Looking forward to reading the next installation in this new
series!

[Charis Loveland · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really could use a better editor, often repeated and cliched phrases abound. It was a quick read and entertaining because it is set in my town. Local descriptions are accurate.

[Lily C. · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was a pain to read. It was like Campbell was living out this macho man fantasy and it made me lose all interest. Quit after two chapters.