Private Justice (Lucas Book Series, 1)

By Richard Sand

Book Overview

First in the Lucas Rook series of mysteries, this follows Lucas's departure from the NYPD police force after the brutal revenge he takes for his twin's brother murder. Lucas takes on the case of a... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1930754175
• ISBN13: 9781930754171
• Release Date: November 2001
• Publisher: Durban House Pub Co Inc
• Length: 240 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.0" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

Not your mother's detective thriller

Like a fresh bag of Lay's Potato Chips, Richard Sand's earthy and gripping writing style makes one want to devour the whole product-- in this case, a 200-plus page cop thriller-- in a single sitting. But try to resist that temptation and enjoy the unique pleasures of this Philadelphia-based thriller in a more leisurely manner; after all, there's a lot here to appreciate. Part Mickey Spillane, part "NYPD Blue", Sand's "Private Justice" nevertheless also sports its own unique perspective, one mainly fueled by the author's wicked sense of humor and an imagination that doesn't shy away from vivid imagery and ideas, even very uncomfortable ones. On this latter point, Sand's guideline seems to be "If it'll be memorable, I'll throw it in." In addition to these... uh, memorable scenes (am I making it clear that this book isn't for fans of the neat & bloodless "cozy" mystery genre?), readers also are kept on their toes by some crafty plot construction. For example, though the cover identifies the story as "A Lucas Rook Mystery", Sand freely drops his official protagonist for chapters at a time to pay entertaining attention to a pair of nicely-drawn Philly cops covering the same case, and even has said cops regularly trash the methods and reputation of Rook (and without Sand then leaping in to re-establish his main character as a nice guy). It's clear that Sand just wants to tell a bang-up story and doesn't worry about who we like and why. In other words, he just wants you to keep eating those potato chips. And it's working... pass me another bag.

Dark, Fast and Mean

Private Justice is a dark, fast and mean read that grabs the reader at the outset. It is about a serial killer tracking young girls. PI Lucas Rook is hired to find and bring to justice the killer that has eluded police. The author, Richard Sand, knows his stuff when it comes to the inside workings of police work. I'm looking forward to the next Lucas Rook book.BJ