Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1415605 in Books
• Published on: 2007-11-19
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: .67" h x 5.48" w x 8.43" l, .80 pounds
• Binding: Paperback
• 320 pages

From Amazon.com
Fans of police procedurals and the grittier murder mysteries will welcome Baxter Clare's debut novel, in which a hardened female police lieutenant, L.A. Franco, known as "Frank," tries to catch a serial rapist and murderer while stoically nursing her grief over the shooting death of her lover Maggie. Having been assigned right out of the academy to Figueroa, the LAPD's roughest district, at 39, Frank's "mastery of the mean streets was no longer a question, either for herself, her colleagues, or the veteranos and OGs within the division." As a (closeted) lesbian and a legendary hard-ass, Frank isn't the most popular of cops, but she earns the grudging admiration of almost everyone she works with. In a film, she would be played by Humphrey Bogart, and speak out of the side of her mouth. Despite this stereotypical characterization, and some tedious, slangy dialogue between cops that periodically interrupts the flow of the story, Bleeding Out is fairly engrossing. Frank may not be new, but she's effectively drawn, and her exploits on the trail of the killer would enliven a beach vacation or a transatlantic flight. --Regina Marler

From Library Journal
Fans of California police procedurals will go ape over this excellent, psychologically inquisitive first mystery. Lt. L.A. "Frank" Franco (a woman) heads a detective team in the LAPD's roughest district, where two rape/murders put her on the trail of a most singularly obsessed serial killer. Gruesome autopsy reports, details of exhaustive searches, the recurrent reconstruction of the perp's abusive past, a departmental investigation, and the gradual erosion of Frank's personal barriers all feed a dramatic, tension-filled plot. An exceptional heroine and a captivating case; strongly urged for all collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Police lieutenant "La Freek" Franco commands Homicide Squad 93 in south-central Los Angeles, home to gangs, violence, and brutality. She's just shy of six feet and leery of emotion ever since losing her lover in a robbery, so she deadens herself with chronic overwork, exhausting workouts, football, and booze. When two battered girls turn up murdered in her jurisdiction, her squad turns its attention to tracking down a serial rapist turned murderer. Enter Allison Kennedy, a young narcotics detective brought in as bait. Frank and Kennedy ricochet off each other badly, and only when they face a common enemy do they unite. Clare's debut novel is engrossing and suspenseful, and just misses a high-five because a crucial part of the action is missing: readers want to see the long-awaited capture of the serial killer. Instead, a routine news announcement reveals his arrest. Hopefully, Clare's talent will more completely bear fruit in the next book. Whitney Scott
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