Roll With It

by Nick Place

Career cop Detective Senior Sergeant Tony ‘Rocket’ Laver is a policeman with issues. Sure, he may have been returning fire, but the fact remains that Laver is the sixth Victorian policeman to shoot a suspect in four months, and that’s all the politicians need to get involved. While the circus of an inquiry begins, Laver is moved from Major Crime to the Mobile Public Interaction Squad ... aka
the mountain bike police. Bitter, struggling to cope with the fatal shooting – not to mention his flailing
relationship, Rocket is now wearing lycra and getting a sore butt on his bike seat.

Laver’s friends and bosses in the force tell him to keep his head down until the storm blows over, but that doesn’t factor in Stig and the Wild Man, two genuine bad guys Laver encounters on Smith Street,Collingwood. In innercity and outer-suburban Melbourne, major crime is in the air. Lives might be in danger but nobody will listen to a cop on the outer.

Add a nerdy supermarket-assistant manager in a bad reggae beanie, a hippy chick intent on saving the world, Nazi-like police rookies, mysterious men in suits and a human koala and you’ve got what it takes for a blackly funny action-packed addition to your spring/summer reading.

Genres: Crime, Mystery, Humor

246 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 1, 2013

Reviews

[Bree T · Rating 5 out of 5]

t’s a bad time for Tony Laver of the Major Crime Squad, to discharge his weapon, fatally wounding an armed burglary suspect. He becomes the sixth policeman to shoot someone dead in just over a year and due to some red tape and politics, he gets immediately reassigned – to the Mobile Public Interaction Squad. Tony doesn’t even know what that means but apparently he’s going to be spending the time until his inquiry riding around the streets of Melbourne on a pushbike.

So Tony fronts for his new position and finds himself paired up with young guns who take their position very seriously. Although irritated, Tony can begin to appreciate the positives in his new role – his first few days are lovely and sunny and there’s plenty of time to check out different coffee shops. His butt is sorer than he ever thought possible but he’s noticing a difference fitness wise too. And some of the fellow bikers are rather pleasant and he is given a chance to not only show them some proactive policing but also tell them stories about what it’s like to really square up to danger, not just directing traffic on Swanston Street and showing lost Chinese tourists the way to the Eureka Tower.

But there’s a downside too and that’s professional Siberia. His colleagues in Major Crime have been told not to talk to him and Tony can’t so much as run a search or even get a phone call returned. And when he spots two characters that set off his “radar” he knows that he needs to do something, find out more information. But he can’t get anyone to listen to him, people humouring him, thinking that he’s seeing major criminals wherever he goes to combat the boredom of being on the bike each day.

But that isn’t it – Tony is a good cop. He’s only once fired his weapon and only after someone fired at him first. He knows a suspicious character when he sees one. And if no one will listen to him then he might just have to go about this on his own. The fate of a hippy Friend of the Earth and a mild-mannered nerdy supermarket assistant manager depend on it.

This year I’ve made a more conscious effort to read some books by Australian male authors and I’m so glad that it’s something I’ve decided to do because it’s meant that gems like this one have not passed me by. From the first page this is both a fabulously written book and a fun story that combines humour with crime in the most clever ways.

Tony “Rocket” Laver is a pretty big deal – a cop in the Major Crime Squad, he’s been along on many a bust. The idea of such a career cop being sent to the mountain bike division of the Victoria Police is rife with so many opportunities for laughs and Place doesn’t fail to capitalise on any of them. Tony is paired up with a couple of Neo-Nazi mountain bike cops at first and can’t help but stare open mouthed at their utter devotion to the seriousness they think their job is:

‘C’mon, let’s decamp in a southerly direction and apprehend a coffee.’
‘I don’t drink on the job Laver.’
‘Well okay, you can be on the lookout for potential serial killer motorists while I do.’
‘I am not going into that cafe, Senior Constable.’
‘Fine. See you back at the station this arvo.’
‘We’re not supposed to separate,’ Standish huffed. ‘There must be two officers travelling together at all times.’
‘Excellent. Good to follow the rules, meaning you do have to wait while I get a coffee. Is it against regulations to sit at separate tables?’
Standish muttered under his breath, but Laver was already pedaling towards the cafe.

As well as Laver, we also get the thoughts of Jake, a shy and nerdy supermarket assistant manager who just wants to impress the beautiful girl he sees swimming at the pool each morning and decides that the best way to go about that would be to be interested in what she’s interested in – the environment. And Stig and Wildie are two men that have pulled off quite a heist up north and are now looking to fence the goods in Melbourne so that they can escape somewhere but unfortunately they run into Tony Laver. Laver’s gut instinct immediately tells him that Stig and Wildie are up to no good and he wants to find out exactly what that is.

This novel is a great homage to Melbourne – the busy streets and laneways that connect them, the ever-changing weather, the coffee shops and the mix of people that make up the city. I always love reading books set in Melbourne – even though I’ve lived near Melbourne for almost seven years, I don’t have the need to spend a lot of time in the city. I feel like I got to know it a bit more reading this book and people who are familiar with the CBD intricately will probably enjoy it even more than I did.

I do have to say though – if Tony’s Siberia is an accurate portrayal of what happens to cops in his position as they await their inquiry to determine if the shoot was a good one, that’s a little disturbing. He’s given no support whatsoever and merely reassigned to a division where they probably assume he can get into the least amount of trouble – the irony is that it’s in this very division that Tony uncovers something huge! But I did feel for him a little, well a lot actually. He killed someone and no one even really bothered to ask him how he was. Even for a cop, there are many out there who never have to do what he did, it’s not a light moment and I definitely felt sorry for him. He has very little in the way of emotional backing and his crutch seemed to be drinking.

The end seems left open for another Tony Laver novel and I’d definitely love to revisit him. This is a fabulous debut novel, well-paced and constructed with a core story serious enough to keep your attention throughout and a generous sprinkling of humerous moments to lighten the mood and keep you smiling. It deserves to be big.

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Detective Senior Sergeant Tony "Rocket" Laver fatally shoots a crim in self-defence and gets demoted from the hard arse Major Crime Squad to the Mobile Public Interaction (bicycle) squad. An action-packed police procedural ensues that includes: a persistent ghost, a drug war centred around a suburban supermarket, assassins in suits, the Wilderness Society koala, a growing body count, recognisable swathes of Melbourne and Torquay and the lingua franca spoken by their denizens.

I will be first in line for Mr Place's next work of criminal genius fronted by Rocket Laver.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personally, and not just because the idea of Lycra and clicking around in those weird riding shoes makes me shudder, the idea of being sent to the Siberia of the Mountain Bike Police certainly sounds like a rather extreme punishment. Especially as Tony 'Rocket" Laver is adamant that the bloke he shot fired first. And he was a serial suspect in a series of armed robberies. So you might think that Laver is justified in being more than a bit miffed at the political machinations that are overt in his demotion.

Although he can't really blame just the demotion for his rocky love life, which definitely includes fault on both sides. His girlfriend's not exactly sympathetic to the trials and tribulations of life as a Major Crime / Mountain Bike squad member, and Laver is inclined to forget she exists when he spies something around him that's not quite right.

And therein lies the biggest crime as far as Laver is concerned. He has rock solid, keen as, spot on cop instincts. He knows the very first time he sees Stig and his mate looming around a coffee shop in Collingwood that they are trouble. He might not know exactly who they are, or what they are up to, but there's definitely something Not Quite Right. With them, with the hippie chick they are hanging around with or the would be hippie in the ridiculous hat and his supermarket manager boss.

It's that sense of something that's just a bit off, and the complications of being in Siberia that send Laver off on a partially unofficial, partially supported by his colleagues, mostly personal wild goose chase not always mounted on a mountain bike.

ROLL WITH IT is a pretty good title for this book. The bike metaphor's the obvious one, but it also is a sort of roll with it story. Mad stuff happens, wisecracks are cracked, bitter asides are muttered, bike's are waxed lyrically over (that's not a euphemism) and every now and then a spot of cops pursuing crooks breaks out. There is a plot here that is nicely twisty, even though it's not the most complicated or complex story, much of which is telegraphed fairly early on.

But, and just because it's fun to occasionally beat a metaphor to death, ROLL WITH IT is more your Sunday ride - all about the journey, not just the destination. Even if arrival means you can finally get off the bike seat. Highly recommend ROLL WITH IT if you're looking for a bit of madcap action, with local flavour and humour.

http://www.austcrimefiction.org/revie...

[Shelleyrae at Book'd Out · Rating 4 out of 5]

I couldn't resist the premise of Roll With It, an Australian debut novel combining crime, action and humour. Author Nick Place introduces Major Crime Detective Tony 'Rocket' Laver who is plunged in the midst of a professional and personal crisis after shooting a suspect dead in self defense. As the sixth Victorian officer to do so in as many months, Laver becomes a political scapegoat and is swiftly reassigned to the Mobile Public Interaction Squad, forced to don a neon jacket and bike pants to patrol the streets of Melbourne on a mountain bike.

The intention of the Brass is to keep Laver out of the way and out of trouble but in between needling his earnest rookie partners, giving the wrong directions to backpackers and endless cups of coffee, his well tuned cop instincts finds something not quite right about two men menacing a hippie chick and her buttoned up admirer. Laver starts poking around convinced the ginger heavy and his companion, known as Wild Man and Stig are up to no good but without the resources of the force he has no idea just what he is getting into.

As Laver wanders around in professional Siberia, the case twists and turns revealing surprising links between a suburban supermarket store, a rainbow warrior runaway and a fiery car crash in Queensland. Though the plot isn't difficult to predict it's enjoyable to follow Laver Melbourne's CBD as he tries to put the pieces together. Anyone familiar with the city is likely to enjoy the familiarity of the environs, and those who are not will appreciate the distinctly Australian flavour.

The narrative follows Laver, Stig and Wild Man and Jake, a supermarket manager assistant whose crush on beatnik Lou results in him unwittingly becoming tangled in the case. I think I would have preferred for the perspective to stay with Laver as I really enjoyed the cynical, wry humour of the hard edged cop, I particularly liked his observations of his colleagues in the 'bike' police. Laver is not just a cop though and his demotion plus his frustration at being ignored by the Brass spills over into his personal life, and not for the first time. Already a failed husband and father, his current fiance isn't all sympathetic to his current predicament.

Roll With It is an entertaining read, there is enough intrigue and action to provide an interesting story and plenty of humour to amuse. I hope to see Tony Laver hot on the trail of some more bad guys soon.

[Rob Kitchin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comic crime capers always have elements that are a little exaggerated or stretch the imagination, with characters that are somewhat larger than life. At the same time, the story has to have some ring of believability about it. It’s a difficult balance to perfect. For the most part, Nick Place manages it with Roll With It, a tale about a good cop’s fall from grace and his increasingly desperate attempt to gain redemption. Laver the career cop demoted from elite squad to bike duty, Jake the naive supermarket assistant, Lou the rebellious green activist, Stig the loser, low-level criminal, and Westie his violent side-kick, are all well-penned and engaging characters whose lives become entangled. For the most part the plot also works well, with Jake pursuing Lou, Stig’s former girlfriend, whilst Stig is also trying to win her back whilst also offloading a consignment of drugs stolen in a different part of the country. However, I didn’t quite buy Laver’s initial or ongoing quarantining, nor his relationship to his fiancée which seemed way past over and certainly not worth pursuing. The tale is told in a nice tell not show style, with a gently comic voice, and a nice sense of place with respect to the city streets of Melbourne. Overall, Roll With It is a light, enjoyable and amusing read.

[Sunnie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Timing is everything. WhenTony 'Rocket" Laver kills a man in self defence hard on the heels of several other police shootings, political expediency takes precedence and he finds himself on the Mobile Public Interaction Squad which is wanker -speak for bicycle squad. The job is easy if a bit mind numbing but it doesn't numb Tony's cop instincts when something doesn't seem right. A hippy greenie, a nerdy supermarket employee and bad, bad men all combine to make an engaging, twisting,turning tale.

Nick Place is better known for children's books and Roll With It is his first and so far only foray into adult crime fiction. I hope it's not his last.

[John Bartlett · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a welcome addition to Australian crime writing.
The characters are funny and zany; the crooks almost equally likeable.
Despite the lightness of touch, there's a serious story underneath.
Nick Place has a light touch but tackles the difficult questions too. Look forward to a sequel.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

fabulous, a rollicking read through inner melbourne, enough suspense as a crime novel to keep you going, and enough ironic humour kep you chuckling until the very end

[Nick Place · Rating 5 out of 5]

I may be biassed.

[Shane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Predictable and full of cliches, but still enjoyed it. Some great characters be some very funny scenes.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great pace, vivid people, humour, very enjoyable- will read others by the author.

[Beth · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the story of a Melbourne elite cop who is involved in a fatal shooting of a criminal in the middle of a crime. The politicians decide to make an example of him for the sake of the publicity and, in the meantime, while waiting for his case to come up, he is shuttled off to the side to become a bicycle cop.
While in this position, he comes in contact with some serious criminal activity and cannot get anyone to listen to him.
This is the first book by the author and shows promise. The "outsider cop" is done nicely and seeing him not fit into where he's been placed is also well done. I did think that the criminal element was a bit over the top.
On the whole, an enjoyable, light read.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVED this book. It is so nice to read a book that is Australian - in the language, in the characters and in the location. At the end of the book, I put it down, and I thought to myself - I'm really going to miss Tony Laver. There are not many books out there where the character feels like a friend by the end of it - this is one of those books. Highly recommended.

[juice · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent read if you like reading.

It's even better if you're from Melbourne's inner north, as reading it feels at time like you've gone for a walk around the neighbourhood.

But no matter where you live, just buy it and read it. Your brain will thank you.

[Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. Having worked in Fitzroy and surrounds for 25 years it was all about the colour for me. The local identities, locales etc. I see those Lou's on their purple bikes every day. It's an enjoyable farce and i look forward to reading the next.

[Warren Olson · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is fast moving police based mystery taking place in downtown Melbourne. I liked Places characters and style ; somewhat Elmore Leonard-ish, and look forward to another tale featuring the same main character/s

[Steven Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyable. Sequel, please.