"Steve couldn't help but notice the shape of a big handgun held by the man's right hand inside an overcoat pocket."
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Code Ten-Fourteen: Man Down by Chris O'Grady Amazon Digital Services
book review by Michael Radon
New York City private detective Steve Fraser has the problem of having too much work on his plate. After an attempted drive-by the night before, a threatening man comes to see Steve with a gun and asks him to dig up whatever he can about a man who might be connected to guns. A man is shot to death after swapping apartments with a neighbor. A prominent nightclub manager with a shady side is suddenly the target of men he hired to get rid of someone else. A bank robbery ten years ago on the other side of the country remains unsolved. Somehow, Fraser has to tie up all these loose ends and figure out just who is going around town killing men who are seemingly only tangentially related to one another. And he may need to do it before he winds up the next name on the list.
Drawing inspiration from the classic silver screen noir detective stories, this book blends mystery, action, and suspense into a package that wraps up in a tidy finale that will leave readers without any lingering questions. New York in winter makes a perfect setting for this grizzly tale of betrayal and paranoia, and the dialogue of the characters is all very fitting for the kind of personalities that make up the true strength of this story. The reader has every opportunity to discover clues along with the detectives and police working this case, journeying from having no idea what could possibly happen next until reaching the eureka moment waiting at the end of the book.