Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Trigger is the first book by David Swinson that I have read and whilst it was ok it did not, for me, live up to the blurb

I found the style of writing not as engaging as I would have liked and found it hardworking at times.

Only rated as OK

Good hard hitting tale of a policeman shooting an unarmed teenager with a drug based gangland background. The ensuing investigation by an ex detective to try and prove that the victim was armed is the essential theme of the yarn but an informant holds vital information and getting her to give it proves difficult. An ex-driver connected to the drug gang is taken on as assistant to our hero as an entertaining twist in the tale. It all builds via more murders to a surprising ending, hopefully more of the same to come!

I only realised this was the 3rd in the Frank Marr series after I had finished this novel which means this works well as a stadalone. This edgy urban crime drama, is a thriller with morally suspect anti-heroes with their own sense of ethics and justice, it has echoes of George Pelecanos novels and is imbued with a strong sense of authenticity, conveyed by the author who served as a police officer in DC. Set in Washington DC, Marr is a ex-police detective forced to take early retirement after going off the rails through alcohol and his cocaine addiction. He is ostracised by his family and his personal relationship with lawyer, Leslie Costello fell apart, both casualties of his addiction. He is now operating as a private investigator but struggling financially. Now clean but still fighting his demons, he fills his days by hitting drug houses he has previous knowledge off, stealing cash and valuables whilst flushing the drugs down the toilet.

Leslie calls him, hiring him as an investigator when his old police partner, Al Luna, a man he loves like a brother finds himself in hot water after shooting dead a black teenager, Arthur Taylor, convinced the boy had a gun. However, no gun was found on the scene, and with intense media coverage and protests, Luna is deemed a liability by those with political power, with Internal Affairs have kicked off their own inquiry. Marr believes Luna, and follows the theory that a gun was removed from the scene, probably by Taylor's associates. In a story that involves confidential agents, Luna's secrets, gangs, and the city's drug war, Marr hires Calvin as his assistant, a young black man he left for dead in the past when he engaged in enforcing his own form of justice. In a relationship marked initially by extreme distrust of each other, with their history of being on the opposite side of the fence from each other, the two start to get closely acquainted in the many hours of surveillance they carry out.

It is the relationship between Marr and Calvin that was the highlight of this novel for me, it provides the source of hope that communication and knowledge of your enemy hold the possibility of slowly dismantling their history with its seemingly insurmountable walls of acrimony, hate, prejudice and stereotypes. Neither Marr or Calvin have a past to be proud of, and despite the obstacles that litter their path, perceptions shift and trust begins to hold sway. Swinson's greatest strength is his characterisation, and the reality of policing and gangs that he conveys that comes from his real life experience amidst a background of a Washington DC facing the never ending drug war, and a police force that struggles to understand the community it polices and vice versa. This is a insightful and engaging read, I particularly enjoyed the dialogue and the twists and turns in the story. Many thanks to Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC.

This was just a bit too depressing for me.

It is about Frank, an ex cop, who is retired - mainly because he was addicted to cocaine, and is now doing his own investigations. He has a sort of vigilante approach to drug dealers and their abodes - raiding them for drugs and cash, before disposing of the drugs and keeping the cash. All very altruistic, but he is battling with his inner demons when it comes to the addiction.

An old friend is involved in a shooting of a young black teenager, and Frank is brought in to help investigate the surrounding circumstances.

A good police procedural, with grit and some really good bits, but there just weren't enough shocks and twists to keep me enthralled for the length of the book.

Glad I read it, and not a wasted read, but I probably won't read this again.

What I liked about this police story is the edgy decisions that these guys achieve to survive... taking law into your own hands, sanctioned by state must he hard to give up.. and these police dice with that dilemma .. our main protagonist, Frank, breaks into houses of dealers he's known in past and robs them in order to dump them . But an old friend's crime was to shoot an unarmed boy .. and Frank is determined to get to the bottom of it.
The entire novel gets a bit convoluted at times, and dwells longer on certain aspects than on others for too great length, but it's v interesting and I recommended

Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for the ARC.
I really like books written by people who know what they are writing about. Written by an ex-cop, about an early-retired detective Frank who had substance abuse issues and who is now a private investigator looking for answers to a shooting carried out by his previous colleague and friend. Frank fortuitously teams up with a young man, Calvin to progress his investigations, although the background to their knowing each other was too randomly drip-fed into the writing for it to be really clear. However, their partnership goes from strength to strength as an understanding between them develops.
It read fast-paced, had gritty and believable dialogue, and effectively took you into the seedy world of informants, drug dealings and police investigation, a real page-turner where I developed quite a liking for Frank and Calvin.