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The Shattered Blue Line
Inside an Air Force Academy sex scandal investigation, another heinous crime comes to light: murder.
Major Nathan Malone figured his DWI charge was about to get him fired from the Office of Special Investigations. Instead, he's pulled from his holding cell to take on a shocking case: during an ongoing Congressional investigation into a sex scandal at the U.S. Air Force Academy, two female cadets are found brutally murdered. Accustomed to living on the edge, and used to his chiseled looks opening doors, Malone finds his devil-may-care attitude is shaken to the core as he and his partner, the uncompromising Marva "Mother" Hubbard, track a sadistic killer intent on keeping the secrets of the past buried deep.
Major Nathan Malone figured his DWI charge was about to get him fired from the Office of Special Investigations. Instead, he's pulled from his holding cell to take on a shocking case: during an ongoing Congressional investigation into a sex scandal at the U.S. Air Force Academy, two female cadets are found brutally murdered. Accustomed to living on the edge, and used to his chiseled looks opening doors, Malone finds his devil-may-care attitude is shaken to the core as he and his partner, the uncompromising Marva "Mother" Hubbard, track a sadistic killer intent on keeping the secrets of the past buried deep.
406 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published August 30, 2005
4 people are currently reading
46 people want to read
About the author
Patrick A. Davis
16 books13 followersPatrick A. Davis is the national and New York Times bestselling author of six previous novels: The Commander, A Slow Walk to Hell, A Long Day for Dying, The Colonel, The General, and The Passenger. He is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy and the Army Command and General Staff College, and a former Air Force major who flew during the Gulf War. He helped plan and direct U-2 surveillance operations for Operation Desert Storm and flew eleven combat sorties. He is a former pilot with a major airline.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
June 3, 2022
Ripped from the headlines of 1998.
Two female air force cadets are murdered, and a supposedly brilliant agent with a spotty history is called upon to investigate, because congress is getting interested.
Dated, and a bit dull, there's a twist at the end I saw coming a mile away.
Two female air force cadets are murdered, and a supposedly brilliant agent with a spotty history is called upon to investigate, because congress is getting interested.
Dated, and a bit dull, there's a twist at the end I saw coming a mile away.
January 3, 2021
The book takes up a timely and interesting premise:
a double-murder aimed to cover up an Air Force
Academy's allegation of sexual assault.
Unfortunately, the execution of the novel leaves
much to be desired. Most importantly, as Sue
Grafton wrote in B is for Burglar,
Most of my investigations proceed just like this.
Endless notes, endless sources checked and rechecked,
pursuing leads that sometimes go no place...
plodding along methodically ... facts accumulated
painstakingly. (page 33)
Translation: procedural detective-work is boring
if it's kept up too long. Anything past 250 pages
is a real risk. Unfortunately, Davis's book drones
on for 400 pages, feeling too much like an
interminable episode of "Law & Order."
The big "reveals" at the end are, alas, a bit
underwhelming.
Lastly, the characters aren't all that memorable
nor unique.
Wanted to like this book--especially since it
takes on a "progressive" political subject,
as well as the fact that the author, himself,
went to the Air Force Academy, guaranteeing
verisimilitude in the staging of the book.
But, alas, I ended up merely lukewarm on it.
a double-murder aimed to cover up an Air Force
Academy's allegation of sexual assault.
Unfortunately, the execution of the novel leaves
much to be desired. Most importantly, as Sue
Grafton wrote in B is for Burglar,
Most of my investigations proceed just like this.
Endless notes, endless sources checked and rechecked,
pursuing leads that sometimes go no place...
plodding along methodically ... facts accumulated
painstakingly. (page 33)
Translation: procedural detective-work is boring
if it's kept up too long. Anything past 250 pages
is a real risk. Unfortunately, Davis's book drones
on for 400 pages, feeling too much like an
interminable episode of "Law & Order."
The big "reveals" at the end are, alas, a bit
underwhelming.
Lastly, the characters aren't all that memorable
nor unique.
Wanted to like this book--especially since it
takes on a "progressive" political subject,
as well as the fact that the author, himself,
went to the Air Force Academy, guaranteeing
verisimilitude in the staging of the book.
But, alas, I ended up merely lukewarm on it.
August 25, 2020
FANTASTIC book! Could not put it down!!! Others who read this book said they saw the plot twists coming a mile away. I did not. Whoa!!!! Awesome read - I highly recommend it!
Read
August 16, 2022NOOK
November 29, 2015
This one has more twists and turns than a corkscrew. I read it fairly quickly and pretty much have to say it was a decent thriller\police procedural\military novel. It begins with a rape at the air force academy years ago that was never solved....Moves quickly into a series of murders and events, a number of decently stinking red herrings, and some stuff that I figured out before getting halfway through the novel that got confirmed and yet almost muddled in the novel's conclusion.
Nathan Malone is an investigative officer who got a second chance after washing out of the Air Force academy-- and managed to rise in the ranks to a decent position...
He is a womanizer. And is repeatedly accused of using women and throwing them away throughout the novel.
The novel swivels around the old rape, new murders, a Senator's abusive behavior in the media towards the air force, a chain of command coming down all over Malone and a mass murderer running loose-- along with pressure to solve the old rape case.
While this novel was interesting, and I did enjoy it. There were some troubling things. First, the constant violation of proper procedures, specifically in a climactic scene near the end of the book at the Senator's press conference. Sorry, but even though the civilian cop has his arm twisted, he isn't going to make an arrest in a crowd when the suspect will be alone shortly. Sorry, no real cop would ever intentionally do such a thing. So this was a problem.
The constant pressure from the Secretary of Defense and interference with the investigation was bit off, too! While there would be pressure, nobody is going to condemn a cop for exonerating one suspect while identifying another.
I also had a problem with the condom wrapper and the explanation of the condoms use. Without spoiling it, although someone did use the opposite sex and use sex as a manipulative tool, this just would not have happened given the psychology of the character involved.
Overall, though, a thriller that kept me turning the pages, slowly coming to a realization that I was right, with kudos to Mr. Davis for playing fair, planting the clues, and allowing the reader to come to them without some really outrageous out-of-left-field conclusion. The reader is allowed to logically do the detective work.
Nathan Malone is an investigative officer who got a second chance after washing out of the Air Force academy-- and managed to rise in the ranks to a decent position...
He is a womanizer. And is repeatedly accused of using women and throwing them away throughout the novel.
The novel swivels around the old rape, new murders, a Senator's abusive behavior in the media towards the air force, a chain of command coming down all over Malone and a mass murderer running loose-- along with pressure to solve the old rape case.
While this novel was interesting, and I did enjoy it. There were some troubling things. First, the constant violation of proper procedures, specifically in a climactic scene near the end of the book at the Senator's press conference. Sorry, but even though the civilian cop has his arm twisted, he isn't going to make an arrest in a crowd when the suspect will be alone shortly. Sorry, no real cop would ever intentionally do such a thing. So this was a problem.
The constant pressure from the Secretary of Defense and interference with the investigation was bit off, too! While there would be pressure, nobody is going to condemn a cop for exonerating one suspect while identifying another.
I also had a problem with the condom wrapper and the explanation of the condoms use. Without spoiling it, although someone did use the opposite sex and use sex as a manipulative tool, this just would not have happened given the psychology of the character involved.
Overall, though, a thriller that kept me turning the pages, slowly coming to a realization that I was right, with kudos to Mr. Davis for playing fair, planting the clues, and allowing the reader to come to them without some really outrageous out-of-left-field conclusion. The reader is allowed to logically do the detective work.
July 30, 2015
This is the third Patrick Davis book that I have read and by fat the best. Everything the reader presumes turns out to be wrong--I like that. The hero is the villain--the villain the hero of sorts.
This is a book about a homicide investigation and from start to finish only consumes one or two days. But, that short period of time has more twists and turns that a mountain road.
It is an interesting book--if one likes suspense and an interesting ending--this is the book.
This is a book about a homicide investigation and from start to finish only consumes one or two days. But, that short period of time has more twists and turns that a mountain road.
It is an interesting book--if one likes suspense and an interesting ending--this is the book.
July 29, 2016
Love Patrick Davis writing, but this one is difficult to read.
Great skill by the author to present the topic of sex scandal at the Air Force Academy Major Nathan Malone and his partner Marva Hubbard track a sadistic killer intent on keeping the secrets of past crimes buried.
Great skill by the author to present the topic of sex scandal at the Air Force Academy Major Nathan Malone and his partner Marva Hubbard track a sadistic killer intent on keeping the secrets of past crimes buried.
September 30, 2007
He gets better with every book. I like the AF angle to his books. I hope he keeps writing. This was a great read.
February 14, 2014
Very good book. A few unexpected twists and a really twisted story. I enjoyed this one.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews