A very quick read.   The writing is somewhat uneven in terms of the diction, because Stacy Horn goes back and forth between kind of parroting tough detective-speak and writing more formally and deeply about the crimes they’re investigating, and…I don’t know what, exactly, but there’s something about investigative journalists’ writing about cops that almost always bugs.   They try to infuse these guys with a lyrical quality, and it often fails because the writing isn’t good enough, but even when it works, it’s beside the point.   We’re not reading for a comparative study of cop introspection.   Anyway.   Lots of crime books do that and I’m not singling Horn out; the book is a good read in spite of certain ambitious tone changes that she doesn’t quite pull off, and her handling of the Sanseverino murder in particular is very affecting.   (9/8/05)

Share!