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Frank Clemons #1
Sacrificial Ground
The author of Blood Innocents writes a gripping psychological thriller set in Atlanta that will appeal to the fans of Lawrence Sanders and Jonathan Kellerman. "Thoughtful and uncommonly observant detective work".--Philadelphia Inquirer.
The author of Blood Innocents, Tabernacle and other critically hailed mysteries, Cook creates a haunting atmosphere that envelops the reader of his strange new novel. Frank Clemons, a homicide detective in Atlanta, is obsessed by the murder of beautiful Angelique Devereaux. Her body is found in a slum, far from the mansion where Angelique lived with her older sister Karen, an artist. Orphans since childhood, both girls had been oddly uncommunicative although occupying the same house. Questioning the students at the dead girl's school, Clemons learns she had isolated herself from them also. All he knows is that she was lovely and pregnant, which propels him into a near-frantic search for even a whisper about Angelique and her unknown lover. As the officer follows the trail to the victim's last few days, he arrives at a staggering truth that leaves him, and the reader, limp. The writing and characterizations are flawless, particularly as Cook unobtrusively but surely commands empathy for Frank Clemons, a good cop and a real human being.
The author of Blood Innocents, Tabernacle and other critically hailed mysteries, Cook creates a haunting atmosphere that envelops the reader of his strange new novel. Frank Clemons, a homicide detective in Atlanta, is obsessed by the murder of beautiful Angelique Devereaux. Her body is found in a slum, far from the mansion where Angelique lived with her older sister Karen, an artist. Orphans since childhood, both girls had been oddly uncommunicative although occupying the same house. Questioning the students at the dead girl's school, Clemons learns she had isolated herself from them also. All he knows is that she was lovely and pregnant, which propels him into a near-frantic search for even a whisper about Angelique and her unknown lover. As the officer follows the trail to the victim's last few days, he arrives at a staggering truth that leaves him, and the reader, limp. The writing and characterizations are flawless, particularly as Cook unobtrusively but surely commands empathy for Frank Clemons, a good cop and a real human being.
288 pages, Paperback
First published March 24, 1988
16 people are currently reading
177 people want to read
About the author
Thomas H. Cook
96 books355 followersThere is more than one author with this name on Goodreads.
Thomas H. Cook has been praised by critics for his attention to psychology and the lyrical nature of his prose. He is the author of more than 30 critically-acclaimed fiction books, including works of true crime. Cook published his first novel, Blood Innocents, in 1980. Cook published steadily through the 1980s, penning such works as the Frank Clemons trilogy, a series of mysteries starring a jaded cop.
He found breakout success with The Chatham School Affair (1996), which won an Edgar Award for best novel. Besides mysteries, Cook has written two true-crime books including the Edgar-nominated Blood Echoes (1993). He lives and works in New York City.
Awards
Edgar Allan Poe – Best Novel – The Chatham School Affair
Barry Award – Best Novel – Red Leaves
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – The Chatham School Affair
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – Red Leaves
Herodotus Prize – Fatherhood
Thomas H. Cook has been praised by critics for his attention to psychology and the lyrical nature of his prose. He is the author of more than 30 critically-acclaimed fiction books, including works of true crime. Cook published his first novel, Blood Innocents, in 1980. Cook published steadily through the 1980s, penning such works as the Frank Clemons trilogy, a series of mysteries starring a jaded cop.
He found breakout success with The Chatham School Affair (1996), which won an Edgar Award for best novel. Besides mysteries, Cook has written two true-crime books including the Edgar-nominated Blood Echoes (1993). He lives and works in New York City.
Awards
Edgar Allan Poe – Best Novel – The Chatham School Affair
Barry Award – Best Novel – Red Leaves
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – The Chatham School Affair
Martin Beck Award of the Swedish Academy of Detection – Red Leaves
Herodotus Prize – Fatherhood
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews
April 28, 2019
Lu en Français.
J’adore Thomas H. Cook! C’est le troisième livre que je lis de lui et je les ai tous adorés. Celui-ci est un roman policier plus classique, mais au-delà de l’enquête, c’est la force des personnages, la beauté de l’écriture, l’ambiance, l’atmosphère, mais surtout la réflexion sociale sur les secrets de tous, les vies secrètes, la façade publique, etc. qui semble être un thème récurant chez Cook. Un roman qui va plus loin que les limites de son genre. Un très bon livre et un auteur à découvrir si ce n’est pas déjà fait!
J’adore Thomas H. Cook! C’est le troisième livre que je lis de lui et je les ai tous adorés. Celui-ci est un roman policier plus classique, mais au-delà de l’enquête, c’est la force des personnages, la beauté de l’écriture, l’ambiance, l’atmosphère, mais surtout la réflexion sociale sur les secrets de tous, les vies secrètes, la façade publique, etc. qui semble être un thème récurant chez Cook. Un roman qui va plus loin que les limites de son genre. Un très bon livre et un auteur à découvrir si ce n’est pas déjà fait!
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May 29, 2014Sacrificial Ground, by Thomas H. Cook, B-plus, Narrated by Michael Sutherland, Produced by High Bridge Company, downloaded from audible.com.
This is the first in the Frank Clemons series. Frank, a homicide detective in Atlanta, is assigned to a case involving the body of a beautiful White teenage girl laid out without a stitch of clothing in the weeds in the poorest part of town, where she clearly doesn’t belong. To Frank, it’s too close to his own personal life where his teenage daughter committed suicide and ended in his divorce and sinking into alcoholism. His only salvation is finding justice for the dead, and he sets out to find out whether this girl was killed or committed suicide. He has a very hard time because she seemingly had no friends at her school. Even her sister, with whom she had lived since their parents’ deaths, knew almost nothing about her and hadn’t actually been in her bedroom since the girl was 11 years old. We see Frank pursuing dogged interview after interview to come on a very tragic outcome. Cook is especially good at creating atmosphere, and dialogues for interviews. His only problem is the adverb clauses he includes way too often in Frank’s responses, such as “Frank asked quickly” or “Frank answered immediately” etc. It’s fairly annoying. Despite this drawback, the book and its mystery are quite good.
This is the first in the Frank Clemons series. Frank, a homicide detective in Atlanta, is assigned to a case involving the body of a beautiful White teenage girl laid out without a stitch of clothing in the weeds in the poorest part of town, where she clearly doesn’t belong. To Frank, it’s too close to his own personal life where his teenage daughter committed suicide and ended in his divorce and sinking into alcoholism. His only salvation is finding justice for the dead, and he sets out to find out whether this girl was killed or committed suicide. He has a very hard time because she seemingly had no friends at her school. Even her sister, with whom she had lived since their parents’ deaths, knew almost nothing about her and hadn’t actually been in her bedroom since the girl was 11 years old. We see Frank pursuing dogged interview after interview to come on a very tragic outcome. Cook is especially good at creating atmosphere, and dialogues for interviews. His only problem is the adverb clauses he includes way too often in Frank’s responses, such as “Frank asked quickly” or “Frank answered immediately” etc. It’s fairly annoying. Despite this drawback, the book and its mystery are quite good.
August 18, 2019
I am a huge fan of Thomas h cook and have read several of his later books as well as Chatham , his early award winner. I have always been moved by his use of language and style. This book has neither. It is standard police procedure with a odd ending. I’m glad this was not the first of his books I read as I would have skipped missing out on some great reads.
February 22, 2018
Dark, brooding and atmospheric. This haunting mystery revolves around Frank Clemons, a lonely police detective who has his reasons for drinking hard, looking for the killer of a beautiful young girl. A slow burn that seems to ask bigger questions than simply 'whodunnit?'.
July 2, 2023
This was a wonderful detective story! Hard boiled in with a melancholy but tough protagonist. I give it five stars and I would recommend this to anybody who likes to read about tough hard, boiled and caring empathetic detective.
July 29, 2025
I'm a big fan of Thomas's works, and this was a good story, but it did tend to drag along. Maybe I've been reading too many thrillers lately. Anyway, it's good enough to look for the next in the series.
June 4, 2017
Inspecteur tout cabossé, ambiance mélancolique et crépusculaire, tout serait parfait si l histoire avait un peu plus de consistance en dehors de sa seule atmosphère. Agréable à lire mais décevant.
November 17, 2017
BG . Not bad, not good.
March 21, 2024
Found this in a Little Library and had to take it because the murder victim shares my name.
July 10, 2024
Kind of blah toward the end!
October 24, 2024
Very slow and not very interesting. I'll pass on the following books.
April 2, 2016
I kept on wondering how did the people interrogated by Frank Clemons remember all the details of what happened like up to three months ago! I can't remember what I had for breakfast the day before.
So, detective Frank Clemons investigates the murder of a beautiful young girl; her mystic beauty made her special and it sort of annoyed me because the author kept on rubbing that fact on my face incessantly. Anyway, it's a classic detective story that takes a lot of time to launch itself into becoming interesting. I rarely put a book down unfinished, so I just pushed myself onward until I finished it.
So, detective Frank Clemons investigates the murder of a beautiful young girl; her mystic beauty made her special and it sort of annoyed me because the author kept on rubbing that fact on my face incessantly. Anyway, it's a classic detective story that takes a lot of time to launch itself into becoming interesting. I rarely put a book down unfinished, so I just pushed myself onward until I finished it.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 22, 2013
used Hb -- thank you Amazon
I like the style of the writing because I really like the characters. This is a case where the death of an extremely beautiful girl leads to the seedier side of the fringe art community in Atlanta. The reader can tell that this book was written when using racial slurs was just beginning to be frowned upon by select groups. The author refrains from using street 'speak' and tells a story of a lonely girl. Recommend for a vast audience including older teens. a sort of cross between 'Kill a ... and Gone ..."
I like the style of the writing because I really like the characters. This is a case where the death of an extremely beautiful girl leads to the seedier side of the fringe art community in Atlanta. The reader can tell that this book was written when using racial slurs was just beginning to be frowned upon by select groups. The author refrains from using street 'speak' and tells a story of a lonely girl. Recommend for a vast audience including older teens. a sort of cross between 'Kill a ... and Gone ..."
October 9, 2011
I love this THC! This is an older book - mid 80's I think - and is a bit less intense than some of his others but an intriguing story nevertheless. You know that there is always a subtext to his plots and I have no doubt that this one is going to be a doozy.
March 6, 2013
Not my favorite Thomas H Cook by far... It is part of a trilogy set partly in NY. The character and plots are pretty interesting, but this is no edge of your seat mystery/thriller/detective book. Unfortunately, nor is it written in Thomas H Cook's usually spellbinding and almost poetic style.
December 8, 2014
Well, this is another story with a down and out cop who drinks too much and is all alone in the world. Having said that, this did turn out to be a pretty good story from a good writer. It's a bit dark, but it was well written and I liked the ending.
November 9, 2008
Don't bother.
December 12, 2009
The first of his three book series with Frank Clemons. Good 80's cop/PI series.
January 6, 2011
Another Great book
April 1, 2011
Another excellent read from Cook. One of his earlier books, and more of a police crime procedural than the moody thrillers he writes now, but entertaining, well-written and a satisfying ending.
May 18, 2011
great!
July 22, 2013
I have read many of Cook's books and usually love them. This is one of his early works. It did not appeal to me.
January 29, 2014
Cassettes in 1996. George Guidall.
November 9, 2014
Kind of odd. A literary police-procedural. Hard to really believe in the characters.
October 10, 2014
A very good "gumshoe" novel, save for two clichés you can spot pages in advance it could have gone to 5 stars.
Looking forward to next Frank Clemmens story.
Looking forward to next Frank Clemmens story.
June 26, 2017
Who killed Angelica and why?
This is a sad story in that it begins with the discovery of the body of a beautiful teenage girl in a vacant lot, tossed out like so much garbage. Frank Clemons, a sad, grieving, lonely man investigates the case along with his partner, Caleb Stone.
The investigation is plagued by contradictions as no one seems to know much about the victim, including her sister. Yet someone murdered her, so what was really going on in her life?
6
This is a sad story in that it begins with the discovery of the body of a beautiful teenage girl in a vacant lot, tossed out like so much garbage. Frank Clemons, a sad, grieving, lonely man investigates the case along with his partner, Caleb Stone.
The investigation is plagued by contradictions as no one seems to know much about the victim, including her sister. Yet someone murdered her, so what was really going on in her life?
6
January 4, 2015
The book was bought cheap on my Nook device, excellent read , well written, good story line
April 14, 2017
Romanzo del 1988.Trama interessante. Personaggi convincenti. E soprattutto la misericordia verso tutti gli attori, che caratterizza i grandi autori (v. Karim Fossum).Emozionante.
Want to read
November 6, 2018Synopsis: Frank Clemons, a homicide detective in Atlanta, is obsessed by the murder of a young woman. He can't find anything about her.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 31 reviews