|
[ Home ]
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
FOUR TO MIDNIGHT is Flander's second book. Sergeant Eddie North takes a call that he later regrets. Two of his men, Officer “Mutt” Hope and Officer Roy Knopfler, request his presence at a crime scene. Upon his arrival, he finds Councilman Sonny Knight badly beaten, lying by his car. Knight claims that these two officers were responsible for his condition. Hope and Knopfler claim they found the councilman in this condition, they did not cause it. North is willing to believe his men; however, there still needs to be an investigation into these claims. The black community uses this as an excuse to create chaos. In their minds, the police are not investigating this matter seriously because Knight is black. Racial incidents increase and the police find themselves under attack. Then there is a murder. North must ease racial tensions as well as find a murderer in addition to the person who assaulted Knight. FOUR TO MIDNIGHT is excellent. The characters are interesting and fully developed. Eddie North is accurately portrayed as a man concerned both with his squad as well as with justice. North is forced to make difficult decisions when these two loyalties are tested. North, as well as his men, shows some of the difficulties any police officer faces in a racially charged community. Although Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, it is also a segregated city. Throughout time, there has always been a strong between those who have things and those who do not. FOUR TO MIDNIGHT merely reinforces this idea. With FOUR TO MIDNIGHT, Flander breathes fresh air into the police procedural. The idea of police officers and racial tensions either on the squad or in the community is not a new idea; yet, Flander manages to make his story seem original. Whether this originality stems from his skill as a writer or some small plot element is unknown; however, that elusiveness does not deny its existence. Hopefully this feel of originality will continue through all of his future books and Flander's work will never feel stale.
Reviewed by Sarah Dudley, August 2003
[ Top ]
QUICK SEARCH:
Contact: Yvonne Klein (ymk@reviewingtheevidence.com)
[ About | Reviews | Search | Submit ]
[ Home ]
| 
