Officer Involved

by Bill Zahren

Book 1: Murder and Meth in Sioux City, Iowa

When Sioux City Sentinel-Leader reporter Tom Kingman decided to drop by a domestic disturbance police call in the middle of a June swelter he had no idea it would change his life forever.

A metro area of 100,000 located at the junction of Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota, Sioux City is fly-over country for most Americans. But Tom Kingman knows Sioux City at ground level doesn't always fit the bucolic Midwestern mold. That's especially clear after witnessing an officer-involved shooting in a run-down residential neighborhood puts Tom in the crosshairs of a surly police lieutenant, a hot-headed patrol officer, and the mastermind of a multistate drug ring.

As the pressure increases, Tom discovers an unlikely the intriguing Assistant Woodbury County Attorney Hillary Reed. Within hours of witnessing the shooting, the skeptical, wisecracking Kingman finds himself thrown into an unlikely partnership with the deliberative, calm, religious Reed for a three-day frenzied pursuit of the truth about meth, murder ... and each other.

Genres: Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published October 6, 2015

About the author

Bill Zahren is a fifth-generation Iowan born in Lake Park. He graduated from Morningside College in Sioux City, Iowa, and worked for the Le Mars Daily Sentinel and Sioux City Journal before moving to West Des Moines where he now lives with his wife, Rhonda. Bill and Rhonda have two daughters, Haley and Jena. Bill works as a full-time freelance marketing writer when not drafting the latest adventures of Tom Kingman and Hillary Reed. Learn more at www.billzahren.com.

Reviews

[Charles Bill McKenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well written as in reads well. Not a clunky sentence, misused word or expression. I only caught one typo. Fun to see all the Sioux City references and not a bad place to set a mystery series. I'm not a fan of this genre so I don't know all the conventions, but point of view seems to be a problem. We seem to be inside of too many characters' heads to have a true mystery. For example, there's a drive-by shooting. We've been in the head of the guy who orders it and the guy who is going to carry it out before it happens. By the time it does occur there is not much surprise. Instead of the protagonist figuring things out, a lot of words are invested in characters explaining things. This bogs down the action. Strong, smart female character. Interesting religious slant to her, but there doesn't seem enough to make this believable. Maybe that aspect of her character is developed more in subsequent books in the series. Two dynamite concluding episodes. It will be interesting to see how he progresses as a writer in later books in the series.

[Susan Sorenson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I just finished this delightful fun read, the first in a series of novels set in Iowa. I was anxious to write an enthusiastic endorsement for the book. The characters were such fun and well-developed. The story was clever and writing was snappy and sharp. I have a bias in that I am from Sioux City, Iowa, the setting for Zahren's fast-paced novel which really adds to the fun of reading this book. I predict that Bill Zahren will become Iowa's John Sandford!

[Cynthia · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real good action/adventure story, set in Sioux City IA.... It's pretty obvious that the author knows the area he writes about....the setting, places described & area history are all 'spot on'! I really enjoyed reading this book! It was especially fun since I am so familiar with the Siouxland area.

[Clint Cole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well written with the perfect blend of meticulous detail and a fast pace that kept the pages turning! The characters were very relatable!

[Melissa · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF'd