THE STREET KING by Mike Ludden
With a propulsive pace, this Savannah, Georgia police procedural delivers a compelling plot and an unlikely duo of cops who will steal your attention and (possibly) your heart.
Tate Drawdy is a homicide detective in Savannah, Georgia, by way of Princeton and a wealthy Atlanta family. His background has earned him a few rivals in the police department but his abilities as an investigator have won him both friends and a well-deserved reputation as a good cop.
One of those friends is Char Pinckney, a
fiercely independent woman confined to a wheelchair after being shot in the line of duty. She’s still a cop, however, working with juvenile offenders.
Tate and Char’s points of view predominate but villains move the story as well, making for a interesting mix of voices.
The book takes off like a rocket
when a local forklift driver indulges in his side gig of robbing empty houses. Only this time someone is home and murdered in a swift confrontation. The robber-turned-killer discovers not only the cash he came for, but that the late homeowner ran a sex club for swingers. Stealing the club’s record book, the killer begins to blackmail the club members.
As Tate investigates the homeowner’s murder, he
happens upon a daylight abduction of a girl. He’ll save her but kill one of her assailants in the process, leading to a trial. Was Tate set up? The roiling drama over the event is an unwelcome distraction, especially when Tate’s father has a heart attack from the stress.
Meanwhile, blackmail of the sex club members doesn’t go as smoothly as planned. Spoiler alert: house robber to blackmailer isn’t a
successful career progression.
The urgent and artfully spare writing style really sets THE STREET KING apart from the usual police procedural novel. Each unnumbered chapter starts with a brief sentence giving the setting, much the same as reading a play that notes the setting of each scene.
Plenty
of suspense and action means you become attached to the unfolding story very swiftly, barely able to catch a breath before the next chapter has you desperately flipping pages.
The relentless pace delivers a white-knuckle finale, too.
