Bleeding Out: A Mystery [Paperback]

Baxter Clare (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Meet Lieutenant L.A. Franco - better known as Frank - who commands Homicide Squad #93 in the gang-ravaged central Los Angeles area. Described by one of her detectives as "Dirty Harry's personality stuffed into Martina Navratilova's body," Frank allows nothing into her bruised personal life except music, football, booze and exercise - all her drugs of choice. And just when she needs them the most, they are all about to fail her...

The first book in the critically acclaimed L.A. Franco series, Bleeding Out introduces Frank and author Baxter Clare to readers everywhere.

--This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Fans of police procedurals and the grittier murder mysteries will welcome Baxter Clare's debut novel, in which a hardened female police lieutenant, L.A. Franco, known as "Frank," tries to catch a serial rapist and murderer while stoically nursing her grief over the shooting death of her lover Maggie. Having been assigned right out of the academy to Figueroa, the LAPD's roughest district, at 39, Frank's "mastery of the mean streets was no longer a question, either for herself, her colleagues, or the veteranos and OGs within the division." As a (closeted) lesbian and a legendary hard-ass, Frank isn't the most popular of cops, but she earns the grudging admiration of almost everyone she works with. In a film, she would be played by Humphrey Bogart, and speak out of the side of her mouth. Despite this stereotypical characterization, and some tedious, slangy dialogue between cops that periodically interrupts the flow of the story, Bleeding Out is fairly engrossing. Frank may not be new, but she's effectively drawn, and her exploits on the trail of the killer would enliven a beach vacation or a transatlantic flight. --Regina Marler

From Library Journal

Fans of California police procedurals will go ape over this excellent, psychologically inquisitive first mystery. Lt. L.A. "Frank" Franco (a woman) heads a detective team in the LAPD's roughest district, where two rape/murders put her on the trail of a most singularly obsessed serial killer. Gruesome autopsy reports, details of exhaustive searches, the recurrent reconstruction of the perp's abusive past, a departmental investigation, and the gradual erosion of Frank's personal barriers all feed a dramatic, tension-filled plot. An exceptional heroine and a captivating case; strongly urged for all collections.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 280 pages
• Publisher: Firebrand Books; 1st edition (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1563411180
• ISBN-13: 978-1563411182
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.7 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,044,381 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars It's really a thriller., May 17, 2000

By 

John Aseltine (California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Bleeding Out: A Mystery (Paperback)

How did L. A. Franco ever get her job? She hates her boss and distrusts the whole LA Police Department that she works for in Baxter Clare's good, new book "Bleeding Out". She's tough and competent. I got the book for a birthday present, and I wasn't sure I'd finish it. The back cover blurb says "Mystery/Lesbian Fiction", and that isn't anything I'd pick up for myself. But after a few pages, just a sample, I couldn't leave the book alone. Baxter Clare's first novel is a hell of a story. It's very graphic, but that goes with the territory, Southeast Los Angeles. Frank, that's what everybody calls Franco, drags you along with her single-minded determination to get the villain. She's real and her friends and coworkers are real. And the bad guy is really BAD. "Bleeding Out" is what a thriller should be. It will have broad appeal among all us mystery fans.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Drops Of Brilliance, October 24, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Bleeding Out: A Mystery (Paperback)

I found drops of brillance in Bleeding Out. As with any debut novel, I give the authoress her due. Baxter Clare introduces us to the world of Lt. Franko and all that is entailed in her inner city struggle between criminals and police politics in solving a serial rapist case. We are also privy to inner demons of a violently lost lesbian love, a rebirth into a non-conforming society, and an isolation finally thrown off. Almost as if cloaks of darkness removed will allow voids to be filled--like buttery warmed pastries & the playing of "These Foolish Things" ( I prefer Etta James' version ) can fulfill a Sunday morn.

An intriguing criminal read with inner glimpses into important issues of lesbianism.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars well written, engrossing thriller, July 15, 2001

By 

M. J. Lowe "www.mjlowe.info" (Denver, Colorado United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bleeding Out: A Mystery (Paperback)

Clare's first novel, Bleeding Out, is a taut, gritty, psychological thriller set in contemporary South Los Angeles. Police Lt. L.A. Franco is a tough, tall, handsome, intelligent, dyke investigator. Years ago, the traumatic loss of her lover prompted Franco to shut down much of her personal life and focus on work. Years in one of the city's toughest districts have built an armor around Franco.

Franco cares about the people in her district and is alarmed when the first victim of a serial murderer appears. Franco sees the pattern in these murders as an extension of earlier, increasingly brutal, rapes and walks a razor's edge as she allows herself to sink deeper into the killer's mind in order to track him down.

Clare provides remarkable insight into the "rearing" of a serial killer in a series of short, often horrific vignettes at the beginning of each chapter. These hauntingly powerful depictions stay with the reader.

Allison Kennedy, a young, smart mouthed, narcotics officer is brought in to act as bait for the killer. Displeased with the stake out plan, Franco is annoyed, worried and just a little attracted to Kennedy. --Feelings that Franco does not welcome, yet may be important for her salvation. Not because their relationship is necessarily destined to be a success, this is not a "happily ever after" love story. -- Because for the first time in years Franco feels more than simple lust for another woman and is willing to risk the relationship.

Some of Clare's secondary characters are difficult to differentiate, particularly in the macho police world. Yet other characters are complex, compassionately drawn and touchingly real. Not a thoughtless, pleasant armchair mystery; Bleeding Out is a well written, engrossing thriller of police investigation and politics.