Takedown

by Jeff Kass

Ann a small city with a big university A city of cute coffee shops, leftover hippies, hybrid cars, indie bookstores, and craft breweries. A city, above all, that values education. Or does it? Jim Harrow has been an Ann Arbor cop for fifteen years. He mostly handles things like stolen cars and fratboy fights, giving him time to coach high school wrestling and help raise his teenage daughters. But things take a deadly turn the night of the Michigan–Michigan State football game, when a house party ends in a fire. Its single victim is a graduate student with no job, no friends, and no research. What was Sanders Bolgim working on, and why would someone want to kill him for it? Nothing about the case makes sense, and as Jim traces the events leading to the fire, he uncovers a shady party company, dark money buying for-profit charter schools, and a string of murders stretching back years. In a town where money and education are always in each other’s pockets, someone is paying a killer to teach the ultimate lesson. Kass’ debut novel is an astute commentary on the darker side of education reform wrapped in a gripping adventure. Filled with authentic characters, a strong voice, and the perfect portrait of a Midwest college town, Takedown is as sharp and crisp as a football Saturday.

348 pages, Paperback

Published October 4, 2017

Reviews

[Chuck · Rating 1 out of 5]

Detectives Jim Harrow and Karen Evans -- long time partners in the Ann Arbor Police Department -- investigate a graduate student's fiery death in off-campus housing. What initially looks like an accident eventually seems suspicious, and the two detectives are led to pursue a trail of increasing implausibility. There's a serial killer, and a Michigan governor whose political ties favor charter schools over public education, to the point at which multiple murders appear to be the only way of furthering his agenda. Predictably, money is what's lurking behind the scenes. But we interrupt this review for a quick dose of reality: Betsy DeVos (of Michigan), has been a major advocate for charter schools (at the expense of public schools), but presumably without resorting to murder and mayhem, so one might reasonably expect that her fictional counterparts in this crime novel could do so as well.

Author Jeff Kass teaches English at Ann Arbor's Pioneer High School, and he manages to inject a little suspense and lot of local color into his story. But that's about all that's going for it. Rife with gruesome violence, misogynistic fantasies, and overwrought prose, this pulp fiction can't possibly expect to attract a discerning audience. Perhaps Kass has made some pertinent in-school observations, but he seems desperate to convince his readers that he's thoroughly familiar with the lingo, sexual preferences, and drug habits of adolescents. One has to wonder why the Ann Arbor District Library's Fifth Avenue Press agreed to sponsor this work, but it's worth noting that their stated mission is simply to "support the local writing community and promote the production of original content". Notably absent is anything about literary quality. It's hard to believe that Kass' own students would be edified or entertained by this book. I certainly wasn't, but my altruistic instincts compelled me to see it through in order to save you from the same fate.

[Monical · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good Ann Arbor townie book, lots of authentic local color. I thought the plot was OK but some of the characters (especially the villian) were over the top. I see the author has other books, so looking forward to reading other stuff from him.