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Cooper MacLeish #4
Get What's Coming
Originally published in 1995, the fourth title in the Cooper MacLeish series finds Coop working as chauffeur and factotum for Regis Swanson, a wealthy Chicago real estate developer. When Swanson's wayward son is murdered in what the cops and the DEA insist is a drug deal gone bad, Cooper smells a rat: he knows the kid wasn't into that. Figuring out what really happened will pit Cooper against federal law enforcement hard-liners and some hired guns out to recover a stray suitcase full of cash.
355 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1995
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18 people want to read
About the author
Sam Reaves
24 books69 followersAka Dominic Martell.
Sam Reaves has written ten novels, most set in Chicago, and co-authored the true crime memoir Mob Cop. Under the name Dominic Martell he writes a European-based suspense series featuring Pascual Rose, and ex-terrorist trying to go straight. Reaves has traveled widely in Europe and the Middle East but has lived in the Chicago area most of his life. He has worked as a teacher and a translator.
Sam Reaves has written ten novels, most set in Chicago, and co-authored the true crime memoir Mob Cop. Under the name Dominic Martell he writes a European-based suspense series featuring Pascual Rose, and ex-terrorist trying to go straight. Reaves has traveled widely in Europe and the Middle East but has lived in the Chicago area most of his life. He has worked as a teacher and a translator.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
November 11, 2014
This is my favorite of Same Reaves' excellent series featuring the cab driving philosopher, Cooper MacLeish. In the first three books, driving a hack has found MacLeish getting into an awful lot of dangerous trouble and so he's now left the cab behind and taken what would appear to be a fairly safe and sensible job as the driver for a major Chicago real estate developer named Regis Swanson. This is a huge relief to Cooper's long-time girlfriend, Diana, who has suffered through his earlier troubles and stood by him when many other women might have bailed on the relationship.
Cooper and Diana are now newly married, but trouble seems to have a knack for finding MacLeish, no matter where he might be. A low-life scumbag sees a chance to rip off a group of drug dealers for a million dollars in cash. Naturally, the scumbag would prefer that the drug dealers not be hot on his trail, and so to throw them off the track, he frames Nate Swanson, the son of Regis, who owns a music club. The bad guys take the bait, track down Nate and kill him when he doesn't produce the money that he never had in the first place.
Regis Swanson is naturally devastated by the death of his son, and the bad guys now assume that Regis has their million dollars. This means that Regis and everyone around him, including Cooper MacLeish, are now in the line of fire. Much to Diana's consternation, her new husband refuses to just quit and walk away from the situation. He's determined to sort things out and provide some sort of justice, now matter how rough it might be. Naturally a lot of violence will ensue, and MacLeish may wind up risking everything, including his marriage and his life, before he can get things sorted out.
Again, Sam Reaves has created here a unique and very compelling protagonist, and he's built around him a very interesting and gripping story with lots of unexpected twists and turns. As always in these books, the city of Chicago plays a major role in the story and Reaves clearly loves the city and knows it very well. Crime fiction fans who have somehow failed to discover Sam Reaves should do themselves a great favor and hunt down all four of the books in this series. It's a winner from start to finish.
Cooper and Diana are now newly married, but trouble seems to have a knack for finding MacLeish, no matter where he might be. A low-life scumbag sees a chance to rip off a group of drug dealers for a million dollars in cash. Naturally, the scumbag would prefer that the drug dealers not be hot on his trail, and so to throw them off the track, he frames Nate Swanson, the son of Regis, who owns a music club. The bad guys take the bait, track down Nate and kill him when he doesn't produce the money that he never had in the first place.
Regis Swanson is naturally devastated by the death of his son, and the bad guys now assume that Regis has their million dollars. This means that Regis and everyone around him, including Cooper MacLeish, are now in the line of fire. Much to Diana's consternation, her new husband refuses to just quit and walk away from the situation. He's determined to sort things out and provide some sort of justice, now matter how rough it might be. Naturally a lot of violence will ensue, and MacLeish may wind up risking everything, including his marriage and his life, before he can get things sorted out.
Again, Sam Reaves has created here a unique and very compelling protagonist, and he's built around him a very interesting and gripping story with lots of unexpected twists and turns. As always in these books, the city of Chicago plays a major role in the story and Reaves clearly loves the city and knows it very well. Crime fiction fans who have somehow failed to discover Sam Reaves should do themselves a great favor and hunt down all four of the books in this series. It's a winner from start to finish.
June 17, 2009
As a run-of-the-mill crime thriller/mystery, this was good. It suffers in comparison to Sam Reaves's other books, however.
I'm not sure what it was; the elements of his other books were there, but they weren't working as smoothly. As I was reading it, I sometimes sensed a mechanical quality in the story.
I think maybe the reason I didn't like this one as much is down to the way Reaves handled his protagonist. For me, the main attraction of this series is the character of Cooper MacLeish. Reaves created a believable working class character who is smart and sympathetic, sort of like Spenser but with less snappy banter and more depth.
In keeping with his interest in philosophy, Cooper's worldview is based on the concept of the primacy of the ethical individual, and this has been reflected in the books by Cooper's position at the center. As with Raymond Chandler's Marlowe, the focus is mainly on how Cooper deals with the situations that form the plot, rather than the plot having primacy and the protagonist being a means to bring the story about. Because of this, MacLeish's character has an immediacy and a sense of realism.
In this particular book, the plot came first. Cooper seemed to be there just to keep things moving. Normally, the writer puts the reader into Cooper's life, but in this one, not so much. It was still an enjoyable read, but not up to standard.
I'm not sure what it was; the elements of his other books were there, but they weren't working as smoothly. As I was reading it, I sometimes sensed a mechanical quality in the story.
I think maybe the reason I didn't like this one as much is down to the way Reaves handled his protagonist. For me, the main attraction of this series is the character of Cooper MacLeish. Reaves created a believable working class character who is smart and sympathetic, sort of like Spenser but with less snappy banter and more depth.
In keeping with his interest in philosophy, Cooper's worldview is based on the concept of the primacy of the ethical individual, and this has been reflected in the books by Cooper's position at the center. As with Raymond Chandler's Marlowe, the focus is mainly on how Cooper deals with the situations that form the plot, rather than the plot having primacy and the protagonist being a means to bring the story about. Because of this, MacLeish's character has an immediacy and a sense of realism.
In this particular book, the plot came first. Cooper seemed to be there just to keep things moving. Normally, the writer puts the reader into Cooper's life, but in this one, not so much. It was still an enjoyable read, but not up to standard.
January 28, 2016
This author just keeps getting better! Although I don't care much for the title, the book is great. Terrific plot, excellent twists, and wonderful dialogue. "Get What's Coming" cries out to be made into a movie and it's a pity that it hasn't been. While I was impressed with "A Long Cold Fall", this is the best of the Cooper MacLeish series.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews