It wasn’t until I got to the end of this book that I realized it was by the same author of “Hero to Zero” that I’d also gotten for free off of BookBub. I suppose there aren’t all that many true-life cop short story anthologies out there.
Like “Hero to Zero” this is a collection of short (some very, very short) anecdotes about Fortier’s life as a cop. What I enjoyed about this book is that the stories are real, and fascinating. Almost any one of these stories could form the bulk of the plot of most action movies. They are presented as true, anyway. I’m not sure if they are. I would hope that not all of them are, as one in particular could land Fortier in jail if it were verified.
I liked this better than “Hero to Zero” because that book’s stories all had a set arc to them that felt tiresome after the fifth or sixth one. Maybe it was tiresome to see it in real life, too. In this book, there’s no way of telling where the stories are leading. Some are funny, some are tragic, many are horrific or viscerally revolting (the story of the tweaker and the blocked up toilet, in particular, is not a good one to read while eating.)
The writing is spare, factual, and opinionated. Again, I think the writing here is stronger than in “Hero to Zero” because they felt less like morality plays. I recommend this for people who like police procedurals and true crime.
