The Detective Next Door

Gordon’s superior debut opens quietly as his unnamed narrator, a South Florida police detective, handles the quotidian aspects of police work. These include dealing with a woman unwilling to accept that her niece’s negative Facebook posts aren’t a crime to be investigated, and colleagues who view required work hours merely as suggestions. His main joy is his wife, Nic. Then, late one night, he confronts a thief in the act of trying to steal his car, in which he carelessly left his service weapon. The encounter turns deadly, forcing the cop into a desperate attempt to cover up his justified use of force, a choice that only gets him into deeper trouble, even after his neighbor, a virtual stranger, offers to help conceal the corpse. Gordon, a law enforcement officer and military veteran, comes up with plausible and intriguing plot twists, and is especially good at portraying his lead’s PTSD. The pace picks up dramatically after the killing, making the ending chapters suspenseful page-turners. Gordon is off to an impressive start. (Self-published)