Customer Reviews

The Betrayers

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In St. Louis two county deputies Chris Hummel and Wade Childers make what seems to be a routine traffic stop of Jimmy Rizza, only to be killed by Mike Dillon. St Louis Homicide Detective Lieutenant George Hastings leads the inquiries into the murders of the law enforcement officials that have all the cops outraged and in turn concerns the criminal elements who fear mass intrusion in their business.

The first thing George realizes that makes the case seem less random than first thought is the weapon of choice was a machine gun. George wonders if the homicides are drug related with Hummel and Childers lured into a trap. As his superior Captain Karen Brady places increasingly unfair pressure on him to catch the culprits, George also feels unhappy with that young punk son of an affluent lawyer, Sergeant Bobby Cain, assigned to assist him. Ignoring his feelings of being a sandwich meat, he considers who could have set up such an operation including the hit order. Incarcerated drug lord Steve Treats or vicious felon John Zanatelli come to mind but what makes the investigation convoluted are the follow up executions that occur to eradicate the trail.

Though the murder victims are different the fascinating use of a crime thriller to look at dysfunctional group dynamics will remind the audience of Fritz Lang's classic 1930s movie M (starring Peter Lorre). The investigation takes a back seat to the interactivities and relationships within the two prime groups. For instance, George has no respect for or trusts either his direct supervisor or the sergeant; the same holds true within the criminal circles as Jimmy only relies on his brother while Matt has his machine gun. Fans of tense fast-paced crime thrillers will want to read this terrific police procedural.

Harriet Klausner

James Patrick Hunt's hard hitting fourth novel, The Betrayers, begins on a cold November night as two St. Louis beat cops, Deputies Chris Hummel and Wade Childers, sit in their patrol car, discussing how to handle the owner of a Pathfinder they've pulled over. Although all seems normal, there's something about the guy that gives them pause. Suddenly, a black Pontiac Bonneville pulls up behind them; before they can react, machinegun fire erupts from that vehicle, killing them both. The driver of the Pathfinder then leaves with his compatriots in the Bonneville.

Enter Lieutenant George Hastings, saddled with the burden of handling the highly volatile situation. With few solid leads, Hastings is forced to follow tips from any source, no matter how tenuous or shaky. One, which posits that Hummel might have been on the take, leads him down a dangerous path, towards a brutal killer with enemies on both sides of the law.

As you might have guessed from the title, the novel delves deeply into betrayal and its effects on individuals and groups. All of Hunt's characters are driven by the act of betrayal, either committing it themselves, or in dealing with the collateral damage those acts precipitate. His examination of this complex milieu is simultaneously horrifying and uplifting, illustrating the heights and depths law enforcement officials and criminals can rise or fall to. Hunt manages this tight rope act beautifully, expertly evoking his eclectic set of characters, sometimes making you despise the cops, sometimes creating sympathy for the crooks, but always holding you spellbound.

On a late fall evening, two police officers are machine-gunned down on the streets of St. Louis, Missouri. The questions asked by the officers on the scene were: Did the cops pull over the wrong person, or did one or both of them have a connection to something else?

Lieutenant George Hastings 'catches' the case. Because his partner is in the hospital, he's paired with the well-connected detective Bobby Cain. The two police officers focus on the slain officers' lives to determine if one or both was involved with something that got them killed.

Slain officer Chris Hummel did a year-long stint undercover and his work contributed to the arrest and conviction of a big-time career criminal. Cain is not sure that Lt. Hastings' take on the case is correct, but he reluctantly follows Hastings orders. The trail begins to lead, not to Hummel's work as an undercover narcotics officer, but to the women in his life.

The Betrayers is filled with good cops, a bad cop, evil mobsters, an assassin and the women these men are involved with personally. The plot is fascinating and it's a fast read. My criticism is that there are so many characters that it's difficult to get to know them very well. Some of them show up and then disappear. And those that stick around, even the bad ones, weren't well-developed enough to really care about them or dislike them.

Armchair Interviews says: This is a good read, but based on the plot, could have been much better.

One of those books that makes you wonder how it got into print. I suspect it's more the agent than the author. Weak writing throughout the first five chapters. The main character is a cardboard cutout of cliches, the author TELLS us an enormous amount of backstory and the dialogue is average, at best.

On the back jacket there's a quote from George Pellecanos that says Hunt is "reminiscent of the best of Elmore Leonard." Well, either Pellecanos failed to read the story he was touting, or he's never read Elmore Leornard.

The author has done some research on police procedure and I found that to be authentic. The rest of it? Meh.

Avoid this one.

I have to admit that the delivery process was great. My main complaint was the book itself. I don't recall reading anywhere in the description that this was a former library book. When I got it, it was covered in the usual library book plastic, had a mystery sticker stuck on it, it had two "Chesapeake Public Library" stickers on the front and back interior covers, and it was stamped on the first page as "discarded." After hearing about someone selling library books online, I sincerely hope that this book was properly removed from the system. If all of this was written in the description, it wasn't written clear enough.

But like I said before, the delivery was good. If I could give 3.5 stars, I would.