Crystal Meth Cowboys
The city of Wislow sits on the frayed elbow of central California, sealed off by the mountains and the sea. Rookie Wes Lyedecker begins his first day as a cop there, brimming with the desire to ‘make a difference.’ His cynical training officer, Thomas Bell, is unimpressed.
The cops confront a berserk biker in a motel room - the man amped out of his skull on crystal meth. This bloody confrontation propels the cops down a twisted path.
Wes Lyedecker learns lessons they never taught in the Academy as the two cops battle Sinoloan drug lords, the Mayor and Wislow’s richest man, in a desperate attempt to find the source of the uncut meth that is tearing the town apart.
Bell and Wes finally track down the heavily-armed crystal meth cowboys and their lab. And all hell breaks loose.
Taking a chance on a new author often disappoints--this one doesn't. In the cop drama genre, this book is fast paced and funny at times, sad at others. I kept wanting to sit down and read to find out where the story was going and what was going to happen to the two main charcters, Wes and Bell. The story didn't rely on predictability and kept me surprised. It is gritty in language and imagery but it worked well for me.
While I was waiting for a friend to get ready for dinner out - he is IMPOSSIBLY slow - I started to flip through a book he was reading. The page I landed on had the most marvelous image. --"The other cops laughed loudly. Chug's head rested on the bar, cradled in his folded arms. They had decorated his hair with swizzle sticks and drink straws." -- I 'borrowed' the book immediately and crushed it in 20 furious hours. Oooo, sweet Christ, this O'ccifer Bell? This character? He #*!@ RULES!!!
Authenticity is vital for any good cop story. Too many novels written about police officers and how they do what they do read like the author's only expertise comes from watching reruns of the television show "Law & Order." Not so with John Knoerle's excellent "Crystal Meth Cowboys," a gritty thriller written with the kind of detail that could only come from having spent time riding around in a squad car.
The Complete Works of John Knoerle
