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Reviews (4)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Set in Los Angeles in 1971, Dial's engrossing fourth Josie Corsino mystery (after 2014's Unnatural Murder) charts the beginning of Josie's career with the LAPD. Three years after graduating from the police academy, Josie has been working for two years as an undercover cop (or UC) in a radical group called the Workers Liberation Movement. What Josie really wants is a patrol job-and to be one of the first women assigned to one. But before she can move on, Josie must help find another UC, Dave Soriano, who has disappeared. Josie partners with Charlie Jones, who's also undercover in the WLM, to track down Soriano. Josie and Charlie need to work quickly to untangle a very twisted web of love and betrayal-before higher-ups in the LAPD expose their true identities, putting their lives in even more danger. Dial's real-life experience in the LAPD allows her to cleverly delve into the mind-set and mental processes of UCs as they deconstruct the city's crimes. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Capt. Josie Corsino's fourth case is a prequel to her first three (Unnatural Murder, 2014, etc.) set so far back in the past that she isn't even Josie Corsino yet. The year 1971 finds the LAPD still battling the Workers Liberation Movement, with Josie Pastore stuck in the middle. As a member of the Public Disorder and Intelligence Division, Josie's been embedded with the WLM, working undercover, for three years with precious little to show for it when she's arrested during an unusually confrontational demonstration. Josie's LAPD liaison, Sgt. Jon "Brickhouse" Murphy, arranges her bail and tells her to ask unobtrusive questions about Detective Dave Soriano, another PDID op who's gone missing. And Emily Rice, a useful idiot whom both she and the WLM cultivate because of her husband, ACLU attorney Burton Rice, rescues Josie from her squalid apartment by offering her the use of her guesthouse. But leads on Soriano's whereabouts are sparse, and Josie's not willing to risk blowing her cover to pursue them very aggressively. So Murphy teams her up with undercover cop Charlie Jones in the hope of finding Soriano more quickly. The task is made harder by the fact that Josie and Charlie are living double lives, surrounded by people they can't trust, and Sgt. Julie Carlson, Soriano's new LAPD contact, seems more interested in venting than helping. Then, suddenly, the quest is ended when the body of Soriano, shot to death, washes up on Venice Beach. Josie's eager to end her assignment and return to the cop's version of a normal social life, but Murphy insists she stay in place and unmask the killerwith a little help from deputy DA Jake Corsino. Hmm. The mystery actually gets less and less interesting as it limps along to the final hollow surprise. As usual in this series, Dial's precise eye for the carrots and sticks of the LA justice system is the standout feature. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Another authentic look at the LAPD through the eyes of Josie Corsino, with a twist. It is 1971, and she is fresh out of the police academy and working as an undercover operative (UC) in a tumultuous Los Angeles where demonstrations invariably turn into riots, and homemade bombs are in fashion. When a fellow UC disappears, Josie is forced deeper into the violent radical underground. There is some denseness in the narrative, which is endemic to the genre, but the action moves steadily through short chapters and clipped professional exchanges. A treat for fans of realistic police crime drama, from a 27-year LAPD veteran.--Murphy, Jane Copyright 2016 Booklist
Library Journal Review
It is 1971 Los -Angeles, and Josie Pastore has spent three years posing as a member of the extremist Workers -Liberation -Movement. The disappearance of a fellow undercover officer gives her the opportunity to "come up" and resume her public identity-if she can find the missing cop. Dial's depiction of the plight of female officers in the early 1970s is intriguing, as Josie's career options are limited if she leaves her cover without successfully finishing her task. The grind of undercover life and police work in general is also convincingly portrayed. L.A. in the 1970s, and its citizens, make for an appealingly dark setting, from dive bars featuring scarred veterans and heroin addicts to upscale neighborhoods with aging film stars and bored housewives playing revolutionaries. VERDICT Fans of Dial's (Unnatural Murder) "Josie Corsino" series will enjoy this early look at Josie (as an unmarried rookie) and other characters; readers unfamiliar with the previous titles will also enjoy. An intriguing option for fans of the California police procedurals of Joseph Wambaugh and -Michael Connelly. [See also Karin Slaughter's Coptown for -another take on female police officers in the 1970s.-Ed.]-Julie Elliott, Indiana Univ. Lib., South Bend © Copyright 2016. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.