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Jim Lansing #1
Chasing Smoke
Anthony Lee Gabbro is a sociopathic monster, a sexual deviant whose lust for power, control and violence knows no bounds. Det. Jim Lansing is consumed working the strange rape cases and the latest series case, a rape/ homicide which threatens to bury him in political pressure, Catholic guilt and professional failure. If that wasn’t enough, Lansing’s boss saddles him with training a rookie detective, Fred Hunter. Failing justice systems, incompetence and human error – some of it his own – become overwhelming for the dedicated investigator. As a result, Jim is visited by a cop's worst enemy and greatest fear: the 3:00 am night terror known as The Hour of Regret.
Det. Lansing, frustrated with chasing such an ellusive quary - what he describes as “chasing smoke” - reaches out to his beautiful ex-wife, Annie, a San Diego P.D. sex crimes investigator with FBI training in profiling sexual-sadist serial offenders. As they work the cases together, they also work on their relationship and love begins to once more blossom.
But, there is no way for them to know that Gabbro has plans to unleash his terrible rage on Annie. When, in a shocking turn of events, she finds herself at Gabbro's mercy, the investigation, careers; Anne's very life hang in a tenuous balance.
CHASING SMOKE is written by a 28 year police veteran and graduate of the 212th session of the FBI National Academy with an intimate knowledge of his subject. Like any story well told, it is difficult to know where the truth ends and the fantasy begins. Especially in the world of crime, police work, politics and love, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between truth and tale .
This novel is a roller coaster ride that will drop you to the depths of despair and shoot you to the peaks of triumph on tracks you never believed existed.
Det. Lansing, frustrated with chasing such an ellusive quary - what he describes as “chasing smoke” - reaches out to his beautiful ex-wife, Annie, a San Diego P.D. sex crimes investigator with FBI training in profiling sexual-sadist serial offenders. As they work the cases together, they also work on their relationship and love begins to once more blossom.
But, there is no way for them to know that Gabbro has plans to unleash his terrible rage on Annie. When, in a shocking turn of events, she finds herself at Gabbro's mercy, the investigation, careers; Anne's very life hang in a tenuous balance.
CHASING SMOKE is written by a 28 year police veteran and graduate of the 212th session of the FBI National Academy with an intimate knowledge of his subject. Like any story well told, it is difficult to know where the truth ends and the fantasy begins. Especially in the world of crime, police work, politics and love, it is sometimes difficult to differentiate between truth and tale .
This novel is a roller coaster ride that will drop you to the depths of despair and shoot you to the peaks of triumph on tracks you never believed existed.
282 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 21, 2014
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 3, 2016
I am not sure how much my enjoyment of this book was affected by the fact I grew up in El Cajon, California, where this book is set. Although I have not lived there since 1981, almost all of the places are familiar. I know the roads and the shopping malls and most of the restaurants.
The detective story was interesting and compelling, but there were a few times I felt the cop narrator got sidetracked too much by his personal life and waxing nostalgic on old cases. I also would have liked to see more dialog rather than the narrator summarizing what witnesses and other contacts add to the case.
Example: Det. Lansing meets two sheriff deputies from neighboring towns, Phil and Greg, to exchange notes on a serial rapist. A large hunk of the narrative was hijacked and devoted to Lansing flashing back to an old victim on a completely different case and remembering how Sally Jean tried to throw herself at him and how he answered a midnight call from her mother, Beth, and then ran out to help a drunk Sally Jean while he was off duty. Greg talks quite a bit at the meeting, but all his talking is recounting what a psychic told him (second hand) and yet Lansing never goes to talk to this amazingly accurate psychic himself! Phil gets practically NO direct quotes at all at this meeting. We are told Phil and Greg are "notorious cheapskates", but it's purely Lansing's opinion, with no proof shown.
We get a better characterization of Lansing's house-mate, the mortician, than we do of his colleagues, with the exception of the boss, Lt. Buck Jackson, and the love interest who also happens to be a criminal profiler.
However, even with these stylistic shortcomings (which are really just a matter of personal preference), it was still a compelling story and I will probably read the sequel.
The detective story was interesting and compelling, but there were a few times I felt the cop narrator got sidetracked too much by his personal life and waxing nostalgic on old cases. I also would have liked to see more dialog rather than the narrator summarizing what witnesses and other contacts add to the case.
Example: Det. Lansing meets two sheriff deputies from neighboring towns, Phil and Greg, to exchange notes on a serial rapist. A large hunk of the narrative was hijacked and devoted to Lansing flashing back to an old victim on a completely different case and remembering how Sally Jean tried to throw herself at him and how he answered a midnight call from her mother, Beth, and then ran out to help a drunk Sally Jean while he was off duty. Greg talks quite a bit at the meeting, but all his talking is recounting what a psychic told him (second hand) and yet Lansing never goes to talk to this amazingly accurate psychic himself! Phil gets practically NO direct quotes at all at this meeting. We are told Phil and Greg are "notorious cheapskates", but it's purely Lansing's opinion, with no proof shown.
We get a better characterization of Lansing's house-mate, the mortician, than we do of his colleagues, with the exception of the boss, Lt. Buck Jackson, and the love interest who also happens to be a criminal profiler.
However, even with these stylistic shortcomings (which are really just a matter of personal preference), it was still a compelling story and I will probably read the sequel.
April 21, 2015
Enjoyed the book. A down and dirty look into the life of detective during a time consuming investigation. There is more to life than going to work, but then the work consumes him. A look into the people and their personalities involved in the investigation, the personal romance of Jim Lansing as well as cop humor made it an easy read. At times graphic which made it easy to understand why Jim Lansing was so motivated to catch the monster.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews