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Never Kill A Cop
When his partner was killed Lt. Cristos led the hottest manhunt the city had ever seen.
Paperback
First published January 1, 1959
3 people want to read
About the author
Hank Searls
57 books22 followersBorn Henry Hunt Searls Jr. novelist and screenwriter Hank Searls, author of the best-selling Overboard, Jaws II (based on the movie), and Sounding, is creator of the New Breed TV series and writer for the 1960's classic television series The Fugitive . His novel Pilgrim Project became Robert Altman's film Countdown. He has lived most of his life on, under, or over the ocean, having been a world-cruising yachtsman, underwater photographer, and Navy flier.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 28, 2025
One day in a Discord server I'm in, the conversation turned to the 1979-80 TV show Eischied starring Joe Don Baker. I remarked that I actually owned the novel the show was an adaptation of, and went through my piles of paperbacks looking for the copy of To Kill A Cop I bought at the downtown library bookstore for a dollar. Turns out I was wrong: I bought Never Kill A Cop. You live and you learn.
This is a police procedural detailing the hunt for a mafia hitman who shot a cop dead en route to a contract killing. It's a breezy read, no subtext or flowery purple prose, just nuts and bolts "Johnny was tired, but he only had enough time to shave and get back on the beat." If you like the genre, you can't go wrong. The ecosystem of this fictional California city is well-detailed, the characters are all so distinct you can predict how any of them will react to the unfolding drama, and each POV offers an interesting perspective on the case. The one fault is that it feels like events just sort of happen, then fall into the protagonist's lap, with our nominal hero doing very little to actually affect the story. Perhaps that's true to life in police work, but it's dramatically unsatisfying.
This is a police procedural detailing the hunt for a mafia hitman who shot a cop dead en route to a contract killing. It's a breezy read, no subtext or flowery purple prose, just nuts and bolts "Johnny was tired, but he only had enough time to shave and get back on the beat." If you like the genre, you can't go wrong. The ecosystem of this fictional California city is well-detailed, the characters are all so distinct you can predict how any of them will react to the unfolding drama, and each POV offers an interesting perspective on the case. The one fault is that it feels like events just sort of happen, then fall into the protagonist's lap, with our nominal hero doing very little to actually affect the story. Perhaps that's true to life in police work, but it's dramatically unsatisfying.
Displaying 1 of 1 review