Code Four

by Colin Conway, Frank Zafiro

The last two years have been tumultuous ones for the Spokane Police Department. On the surface, the agency has suffered from scandal and police officer deaths. Underneath, a secret and deadly game of cat and mouse has played out.Now the Department of Justice has sent investigators to determine if federal intervention is needed. Their presence disrupts everyone’s agenda and threatens to expose dark secrets. Goals shift from winning situations to simply surviving.Not everyone will.In this tense and explosive final installment of the Tyler Garrett saga, everyone’s true nature is laid bare. Garrett scrambles to maintain what he has built. Chief Baumgartner tries to protect his department. Captain Farrell’s plans crumble around him, and Officer Ray Zielinski’s career is at risk. Meanwhile, DOJ supervisor Édelie Durand diligently follows the facts where they lead. And through it all, the unflappable Detective Clint keeps his eyes firmly on the prize—Officer Tyler Garrett.

414 pages, Kindle Edition

Published April 26, 2021

About the author

Are you on BookBub? You can follow Colin there at: www.bookbub.com/profile/colin-conway

Colin Conway is the creator of the 509 Crime Stories, a series of novels set in Eastern Washington with revolving lead characters. They are standalone tales and can be read in any order.

He also created the Cozy Up series which pushes the envelope of the cozy genre. Libby Klein, author of the Poppy McAllister series, says Cozy Up to Death is “Not your grandma’s cozy.”

Colin co-authored the Charlie-316 series. The first novel in the series, Charlie-316, is a political/crime thriller that has been described as “riveting and compulsively readable,” “the real deal,” and “the ultimate ride-along.”

He served in the U.S. Army and later was an officer of the Spokane Police Department. He's owned a laundromat, invested in a bar, and ran a karate school. Besides writing crime fiction, he is a commercial real estate broker.

Colin lives with his beautiful girlfriend, three wonderful children, and a codependent Vizsla that rules their world.

Reviews

[Kevintipple · Rating 5 out of 5]

Code Four is the final installment of the series that began in Charlie-316 by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro. While much is resolved, one can see how this might not be the end of the story for several of these characters. As this is the fourth and final installment of the story arc that has spanned these books and one wants to avoid spoilers, story details will be limited in this review.

This book picks up a few weeks after the end of the last book where the Anti-Crime Team had been dissolved. Yang has quit and left town, Zielinski is on suspension, and Tyler Garett is still active and on duty with the Spokane Police. He works days now which make some of his extracurricular activities a bit riskier. Currently, he is hunting Earl Ellis for reasons that have very little to do with his police work. Ellis is missing and Tyler Garrett has to find him.

At the same time, Chief Robert Baumgartner just got news that will ruin his day as well as many days to come. Representatives from the Department of Justice will be in town within minutes to start an investigation into the department. Everyone knows about recent events that have been publicly reported regarding various officers and the command structure. The deaths of officers, officer involved shootings, and various other situations were bad enough. That media storm had pretty much blown itself out except for a city council person who was taking full advantage to raise her visibility.

Now with the Feds coming, everything will get stirred up again and the blowback for the chief, a bureaucrat fist and a cop a distant second, could be hard to manage. It is not just his future at stake either. Investigators from DOJ bring trouble on many fronts, especially for Captain Tom Farrell who has been conducting an unauthorized and off the book investigation for many months now. He isn’t the only one doing an off the book investigation into one of their own.

The DOJ team also has their own internal issues as well as personal ones. For their supervisor Ĕdelie Durand, having to leave Washington, D.C., right now is personally brutal. But, she is doing her assignment because the job comes first as it always has. Her assistants, Esteban “Steve” Curado and Danielle Watson, may not be as driven as she is, but they are also very good at their jobs despite the fact they both squabble with each other like teens in the backseat on a family road trip.

What follows is a politics heavy read that involves the DOJ investigators and the major characters of this four-book story arc as things come to a resolution in many different ways. The dynamics between various characters both personally and professionally are a hallmark of this police procedural series and remain present here. Politics has always been a theme in the series and it is heavier here as many folks try to cover up what they are doing or have done. While some folks were corrupt and did things for money, others took actions with the best of intentions. The arrival of the DOJ makes it impossible to hide what has been going on and brings many matters to a long-anticipated conclusion.

What began with Charlie-316 ends here, apparently, in Code Four. A great series by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro that absolutely should be read in order as each book builds on its complicated predecessor. This book, and the series, are highly recommended.


The series:

Charlie 316

Never The Crime: A Charlie 316 Novel

Badge Heavy: A Charlie 316 Novel

Code Four: A Charlie 316 Novel



Code Four: A Charlie 316 Novel
Frank Zafiro
http://www.frankzafiro.com/
Colin Conway
https://colinconway.com/about
Down & Out Books
https://downandoutbooks.com/bookstore...
November 2020
ASIN: B08KGTKBK9
eBook (available in print format)
385 Pages


I received a digital ARC of this read from author Frank Zafiro weeks ago with no expectation of a review.


Kevin R. Tipple ©2020

[Cathy Geha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Code Four by Colin Conway and Frank Zafiro
A Charlie-316 Novel #4

* The first book introduced us to the characters and sets the stage with a corrupt cop to hopefully eventually be brought down.
* The second book deals with politicians, coverups, more corruption, and further crimes
* The third book sets in motion an attempt to trap a corrupt cop through use of an Anti Crime Team but with mixed results – as corruption and crime continue and some good people die.
* The fourth book concludes the series with a visit of a Department of Justice team of three coming to see if there is a problem requiring intervention on the police force.

This was a wonderful way to tie up this series and gave me insight into an area of the law and government that I was not aware of. I had no idea that the Department of Justice could swoop in on a police force, do research, make recommendations, and have such a large impact.

What I liked:
* Learning about the DOJ and what part of their job might be
* Seeing how the characters from previous books are doing
* Watching the continuing story of the efforts being made by Wardell Clint to take down Tyler Garrett
* Watching the interactions of the various team members with one another
* Getting the insight into various characters including the one who was dealing with terminal health issues of her spouse
* That it seemed believable even when dark and gritty
* Knowing that there are more good than evil people on police forces
* Knowing that good can overcome evil
* Seeing Jun Yang and finding out what she was doing
* All of it except

What I didn’t like:
* Being reminded of the fact that there are corrupt policemen and just how evil some can be

Did I like this book? Yes
Would I read more by these authors? Definitely

Thank you to the authors for the ARC – This is my honest review.

5 Stars

[Norman Lavallee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent police procedural! It is a great story that shows the great efforts but human failings of big city police. It also clearly illustrates the back stabbing politics in big city government as well as the often acrimonious relations between local and federal law enforcement. I highly recommend all 4 books in this series

[Ron Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just as I had hoped, this was a thoroughly satisfying end to the series.

One of the things I like most about these books is that no one is 100% good, or 100% bad. Every character, even the villain, has some good points. And the heroes have flaws, some serious.

Chief Baumgartner is a good study in leadership. He's not perfect, but he tries pretty hard to be the best he can be.

Detective Wardell Clint is a difficult hero to like. He is obviously intelligent, and quite tenacious n his dogged pursuit of justice. His departmental nickname, "Honey Badger", is well-earned. But he has his flaws, chief of which is being as prickly as a hedgehog. Quite difficult to deal with. He recognizes that he needs to work on his people skills, and does try, though not often successfully. One thing that bugged me just a little is that although Chief Baumgartner caught a lot of flack for an intensive off-book investigation, and Captain Farrell got fired because of it, Detective Clint, who actually conceived the idea of the investigation, and pretty much ran it solo, apparently suffered little or no repercussions.

I could go on, but no need.

In the afterward, the authors, both ex-cops themselves, point out that although corruption is a fact of life in most police departments and that reform is necessary, that corruption is usually tied to a small fraction of the department, and that the vast mast majority of police officers are hard-working men and women with a high degree of integrity.

Read the entire series!

[Judith M · Rating 5 out of 5]

CODE FOUR - from Frank Zafiro and Colin Conway is the finale we have all been waiting for - The perfect culmination of the Charlie 316 series. We have gotten to know the characters through out the previous offerings in the series, and they are back and better - or worse - than ever. We know their every quirk and habit. The same slow and steady build that we have become accustomed to continues to simmer and steam. The characters are all back to finish their story, their work, their path. The questions keep forming. The scandals keep evolving. The action keeps growing. The author’s attention to detail, both in the lives of the characters and the corresponding police action and carefully written course of procedures are real and believable.

Is it the way you expect? Do they end up where you think they will? You will have to read this final offering to see, but I guarantee, you will not be disappointed! I could not put this newest Zafiro/Conway offering down.

[Ellen White · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wardell Clint telling Harris at another briefing to think outside the box, 6 weeks and no arrest for a cop being killed. He and the Chief still question what happened two years ago. Now finding the Justice Dept is making a sudden appearance they too have questions. Two cops dead, 1 ambushed and no arrests. An in depth look into the drama and the tasks inside a police force. Job not easy and the toll on them when secrets and
difference happen. Good series to enjoy.

[Benjamin A. Peckham,Sr]

Codes and cases and causes

Continue following the Tyler Garrett cause/case through the eyes of the cops trying to "catch him in the act" and Garrett, himself. Everyone involved asks themselves, at some point, if it is worth it. For most of the people involved, the price could be too high.