Contents Under Pressure [Large Print] [Paperback]

Edna Buchanan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 1993

With a police cover-up and citywide outrage brewing in the wake of an African-American football star's suspicious death while in police custody, Cuban-American crime reporter Britt Montero steps in to uncover the truth. Read by Joan Allen. Book available.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The steaming, seething city of Miami is the compelling setting for a Pulitzer Prize-winning police reporter in Buchanan's ( The Corpse Had a Familiar Face ; Nobody Lives Forever ) series launch . Blonde, green-eyed and game, Cuban American Britt Montero is, at 31, a respected crime reporter for a Miami daily. Nevertheless, she is stonewalled in her investigation of the death of former pro football player D. Wayne Hudson, a beloved figure in the city's black community who died in a car crash while being chased by officers on the midnight shift--"a dumping ground for violent, trouble-prone cops." Pursuing the truth about Hudson's death, the dedicated Britt must contend with an editor interested only in soft news, with her fashion- and marriage-obsessed mother, and with the conflicts inherent in her romance with a homicide detective. After Britt breaks her story about excessive police violence, the ensuing trial and verdict lead to a breathtaking explosion of arson and sniper fire, from which Britt barely escapes with her life. A few cartoonish cast members don't diminish the impact of Buchanan's closely observed and affectionately portrayed stars, her extremely likable heroine and Miami at night. 75,000 first printing; $100,000 ad/promo; author tour; Literary Guild main selection.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

A fictional version of Miami Herald crime-reporter Buchanan's memoirs (Never Let Them See You Cry; The Corpse Had a Familiar Face)--i.e., a tale (reporter investigates suspicious death) surging with sentiment and crackling action, and far more appealing than the author's debut novel, Nobody Lives Forever (1990). Buchanan's alter ego here is Cuban-American Miami Daily News staffer Britt Montero, who seems poised for a series run with all the proper paraphernalia--feisty personality, fractured love life, intriguing sidekick (a photographer gal-pal), irritating boss. The sleek, first-person narrative centers on Montero's digging into the death of ex-football star D. Wayne Hudson, black, who, fleeing from police, allegedly smashed his car and died of his injuries while hospitalized. As Montero talks with the cops who pursued Hudson, a disturbing pattern emerges: All Anglo or Hispanic, with few exceptions, they are violent misfits exiled onto the wild midnight shift--a shift that Montero explores in the company of a homicide cop who soon shares her bed. Meanwhile, back at the office, crank callers (including Montero's mom) and a harebrained scheme to set a young reporter adrift in simulation of Haitian refugees add some edgy comic relief. Soon, though, the action turns downright nasty as Montero comes up with evidence that gets the midnight cops indicted--and then further evidence pointing to a coldblooded murderer wearing the blue. The ensuing trial and verdict lead to a Rodney King-style riot that flames across Miami and to the melodramatic but intensely exciting closing pages, which see Montero running from crazed mobs even as she's stalked by the killer. Formulaic, but Montero's a charmer and her story seethes with the street-life that her creator knows so well: first-rate entertainment. -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 472 pages
• Publisher: Thorndike Pr (September 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1560548975
• ISBN-13: 978-1560548973
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #524,577 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heart stopping action!, April 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Contents Under Pressure (Avon Twilight Mystery) (1st in Britt Montero Mystery series) (Mass Market Paperback)

I am an avid reader of Edna Buchanan's books. Edna really tells it like is about life and crime in Miami. "Contents Under Pressure" is by far, my favorite Buchanan novel. As her first novel in the Britt Montero series, I think that it's her best. What a page turner it was! I had to ration the book so that I could make it last. "Contents Under Pressure" is also my favorite because as a native Miamian, I know the all about the Arthur MacDuffie case, the real story that the fictional D. Wayne Hudsen tale was based upon. This book brought back some unsettling memories about what Miami was like during that time. I love Britt Montero and the stories she gets herself involved in. Keep the great books coming, Edna!

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not a Tourist Brochure, June 15, 2002

By 

David H. Stebbing (Asheville, NC, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Contents Under Pressure (Avon Twilight Mystery) (1st in Britt Montero Mystery series) (Mass Market Paperback)

Britt Montero, a seasoned 30-something crime reporter, works the seamy side of Miami for a major daily. If only half her tales are true of criminals and street people targeting tourists, I wouldn't want to go there, even for a day on the beach. According to Britt and her friends, the producers of the TV series Miami Vice (not actually named) spent millions upgrading dilapidated neighborhoods to make their level of degradation believable for TV audiences. In this stew of crime, heat, poverty, and traffic congestion, Britt uncovers evidence of racially-based police brutality. Pursuing such a story not only would sour her crucial relationship with the police, it potentially could divide the city. It's a trendy story, briskly written to pull the reader along. I couldn't say, however, that it stands out from the crowd of books featuring feisty single women, whose lives are full of people under 40. I listened to the recorded book, ably read by Donada Peters.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyable, February 28, 2005

By 

E. Arment (MA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Contents Under Pressure (Avon Twilight Mystery) (1st in Britt Montero Mystery series) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is the second Britt Montero novel that I read from the series and find them enjoyable. The characters are well portrayed and I find Britt and her photographer Lottie to be likable. The action is non stop and the plot is far from predictable.