Enemy in Blue: The Chase (Book #1) (The Cruz Marquez Thrillers) [Kindle Edition]

Derek Blass (Author)

Book Description

 

READER'S CHOICE REVIEW

"With so many people praising this book, why do you need to hear from me? I'm writing this review because this book meets my 300 rule, i.e. 300 years from now, people will still be reading it, and still hooked page after page. It's a rare author that does that for me." -R.Matejek (5/5 stars)

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PRAISE FOR ENEMY IN BLUE,  A THRILLER (130,000 words long)

"For action, body-count and digging into the underworld of police politics - this is really a great read. However, I think the best asset of the novel is the incredible drawing of the antagonist - the evil Sergeant Shaver really shines." -K.Hall, author of Red Mojo Mama (5/5 stars)

"The plot is as gripping as it is chilling. The story flows smoothly, and each chapter ends with the perfect amount of suspense to keep you wanting more. A fantastic and exciting read, as I could not put the book down." -B.Burton (5/5 stars)

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YOU KNOW WHO YOUR ENEMY IS?

The streets aren't safe when your enemy wears a blue uniform and a gold badge.

What if the good guys weren't good?

What if a cop went rogue and killed an innocent man?

What if it was all caught on video and the cop would do anything to cover it up?

Chase this lawless cop through the streets and to a scintillating series of showdowns with Cruz Marquez, a young attorney trying to nail down his enemy in blue.

Will justice be served?

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READERS CAN'T GET ENOUGH

"This was a page-turner from beginning to end." -S.Owen, professional reviewer for Paper Mustang (5/5 stars)

"I felt everything about the novel was well to greatly done, the writing, the weaving of the plot, the characters and their personalities, all great. The ending was gutsy and daring..." -L.E.Olteano, professional reviewer for B-O-M Books (5/5 stars)

"The plot plays out like an episode of Law & Order -- with a shot or 2 of tequila." -David F. (5/5 stars)

For anyone craving an action-packed thriller who can't get their fill of James Patterson, John Grisham, or Clive Cussler...ENEMY IN BLUE is your next escape!

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Other THRILLS:

* * Enemy in Blue: The Trial, is the thrilling legal sequel to Enemy in Blue: The Chase.  Will the villains from Book #1 be brought to justice?

• "The race to bring the perpetrator to justice brings the reader to the trial and the exciting climax." -J.Breesmom

* *Allegiance, the action-packed third book in the series.  Cruz is thrust into a war on the border.  Who will he pledge allegiance to as he exacts revenge? 

• "Hard hitting...be prepared to have your gut wrenched and your heart broken, as there are no winners in this relentless border war." -Rachelle Ayala, Author of Michal's Window.

Editorial Reviews

From the Author

Derek's next thriller, Allegiance, is out now and is on sale for just $3.42.  Get it now before it returns to its normal pricing!

Product Details

• File Size: 395 KB
• Print Length: 342 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Rogue Books, LLC (May 26, 2011)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B0058V1JEW
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,672 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)
  • #70 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Men's Adventure
  • #73 in Kindle Store > Kindle eBooks > Literature & Fiction > Genre Fiction > Mystery & Thrillers > Thrillers > Legal
  • #83 in Books > Mystery, Thriller & Suspense > Thrillers > Legal

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

69 of 72 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Debut! July 30, 2011

By Tina A

Format:Paperback

This debut novel by Mr. Blass is a real page-turner. The author created characters who are believable and realistic. The story is reminiscent of a fast paced police/lawyer television show or Hollywood movie. The reader gets to experience the crime(s), the capture, and more interestingly, the justice system, and how that system does and does not work.

The author successfully introduces very topical issues throughout the book to raise the consciousness of the reader. That in itself makes this book more than a work of fiction -- a fast summer read. The content makes one think of social issues pertinent to today's world. The author is brave to take several difficult topics and weave them into a first novel.

I agree with other reviews that claim that this novel could be made into a movie. I saw the movie in my head while reading it! If you like fast paced books that are not run of the mill, pick this one up. You won't regret it.

54 of 60 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Intense, gripping, awesome! February 14, 2012

By L.E.Olteano - Butterfly-o-meter Books

Format:Paperback

WhoA!! Ok so as I've said it a few times already, I'm a big fan of detective/police related books/shows, I eat up all those documentaries on cases, solved or not yet solved, reality shows where a crew follows a team and stuff, thrillers of all sorts. I'm a fan of seeing law enforcement, well, enforce law, in a non-abusive way. It builds my trust in the notion of civilized society and it gives this sense of security, you know? I mean that's the whole point of the "guards" in the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle concerning the ideal republic - in order for the city to work, it needs to have keepers of law and order, and these will supervise and correct other citizens that do wrong - but then who supervises the supervisors, right?
Well here we have one example of the supervisors of the greater good of the citizens going sort of against their ethic porpoise. And if you want the simpler, clearer version of my reaction to reading this novel I'll give it to you straight up and clear: it freaked the hell out of me in a major way!

I felt everything about the novel was well to greatly done, the writing, the weaving of the plot, the characters and their personalities, all great. The ending was gutsy and daring, in my opinion, sort of positive-ish maybe (haven't decided yet, lol) and open to sequels. I feel a sequel coming after this, totally, one because the story deserves it (hint, hint, hiiiint!), and two because this book has been received well - that generally spurs on the creative process of authors, I'd say.

My soft spot in reading, as in life I guess, is character. Man, the characters in this story blew me away! For one thing, there were several of them that I desired to personally shoot in the toe. Or in the pinky, I'd take either option if they were available, lol. Shaver was awful and I hated his guts almost as soon as I 'met' him, that's a clear sign of really good writing regarding mood-setting and showing off the personality of the character. I will say that the male characters of the story felt better done (no pun intended, lol) then the female ones, but the female ones were more like side-dish anyways since the main cahoonas were dudes.
Though I liked the way they were built, and they seemed very vivid to me, I can't say I actually liked any of the guys. There were actions I really got and sympathized with more then agreed with (like the Diego situation - I didn't agree with his choices at all, but I got his reasoning for making them), but I didn't walk away from this novel wishing to read more about any one particular character.
I would however like to read more about them, by large.

What this novel excelled at was eliciting my emotional involvement and getting all kinds of reaction from me. I was crushed when that punkass Shaver started doing his nasty, and I was very in tune emotionally with everything happening to Martinez and the others, without having a crush on the characters themselves - now this is a really hard trick to pull off in my case. By large my emotional involvement with a story is directly dependent on how attached I am to one or more characters in it. I really loved the fact it was one of those thrillers that kept the eye on the ball, though action got layered and it developed on some tangents, we always had the eye on the ball. I like that in a book, call me conservative, but I do. I like it to know what its identity is and for it to be really well rooted in, not bounce around on all fields.

Anyway, all in all I totally recommend this novel if you like cop-thrillers. It's well done, it's intense, it's emotionally gripping, it's awesome.

56 of 66 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Enemy in Blue July 21, 2011

By Lucille Rivera

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I can honestly say that I could not put this book down! It was full of suspense! It was very well written. I was totally absorbed in the emotions of the characters. Emotions ranging from disbelief when the young woman watched her father shot for no apparent reason. I felt anger and grief for the policeman's wife when her husband was killed in his own home!! The heroic measures that were taken by Martinez to bring justice to the men responsible for causing so much pain to so many innocent people. Yet in the midst of all this pain there was a start of a wonder love story (maybe the next book?) between the young handsome Latino lawyer and the beautiful Latina reporter!!
I so much wanted to read the last page as the story became more suspenseful and exciting! However, I'm glad I waited....The ending was mind blowing!!

Lucille RiveraEnemy in Blue

More About the Author

Derek is an author and trial attorney in Denver, Colorado. He has first and second chaired trials ranging from medical malpractice with surgeons to the detention of alleged illegal immigrants.

Derek graduated from Duke University and the University of Denver Sturm College of Law. He majored in English and Economics at Duke. In Colorado, Derek has served as the co-Chair of Mayor Hickenlooper's Denver Latino Commission, and was recently selected to serve as a co-Chair of the Denver Chapter of the Colorado Latino Forum. Derek was named as a Colorado Superlawyer "Rising Star" in 2010 and 2011, and was awarded the Colorado Hispanic Bar Association's 2010 award for most Outstanding Young Hispanic Lawyer. He is married to his wife Meranda, and has two uncontrollably terrible dogs (and one good one that isn't really his).

Visit his website at www.rogue-books.com. Check out his blog on writing at derekblass.wordpress.com. Friend him on Facebook. Follow him on Twitter (@DerekBlass). You can also email him at [e-mail]. Derek writes thrillers with a heavy dose of action. He is currently working on his next novel.


Why did you write this book?

Stories are often born from tragedy. Just look at all of the news inundating us on a daily basis. In my case, I came to Denver, Colorado in 2003. Pretty immediately, I got involved in the Denver Latino/a community by serving on Mayor John Hickenlooper's Denver Latino Commission. While on the Commission, we dealt with several cases involving allegations of police brutality. Just in the Latino/a community, Frank Lobato was shot and killed, Juan Vasquez was beaten to the point he suffered severe internal damages, and Michael DeHerrera was violently arrested for standing on the sidewalk. In the African-American community, Paul Childs was shot and killed by Denver police, and Marvin Booker was tazed while in custody in jail to the point that he died. These are the events that catalyzed me to write Enemy in Blue.

It should be understood that Enemy in Blue is not an indictment on all cops. There are certainly good cops. There's simply no room for ANY bad cops though. These people have the right to carry a deadly weapon and use it against us if they see fit. They have the authority to arrest us, thereby taking away our freedoms, based solely upon their discretion. So, they need to be held to a higher standard, and in many instances, they are behaving worse than normal citizens.

How did you come up with the title?

That's a fun question. There was one working title, that ended up not working by the time the book was done. Things change, A LOT, over the course of writing a book! Once it was apparent that a new title was necessary, I enlisted my wife and some of my readers to help me find a new title. Through countless brainstorming sessions, one of my readers came up with "Evil in Blue." I liked it, but not 100%. I was grabbing the mail one day, and "Enemy in Blue" just came to me. Funny how things happen!

How did you choose your genre?

Hard to explain, but I can see action in my head. Fight scenes. Car chases. Torture, kidnapping, etc. (Honestly, I'm not a violent guy in real life!) It was as natural to me to write thrillers with a heavy dose of action as it would be for Christopher Moore to write cheeky fiction.

What inspired you to be a writer?

I've written a lot since I was young, and started on many novels but never followed through to finish one. It's really a labor of love, and with a full-time job that I am committed to (attorney), it takes substantial discipline to keep writing. That being said, there is nothing more beautiful than writing a story, or more appropriately put, to having characters write a story for you. When I write, I'm just as surprised by their decisions as my readers. My characters drive my story and that is an amazing aspect of writing that everyone should try! If people are interested, I started a blog on writing a while back (www.derekblass.wordpress.com) that describes many of the fun, and tedious, nuances of writing.

With all the other thrillers out there, why buy Enemy in Blue?

It's a no nonsense book, full of action and entertainment. I wrote the book for my readers, not for myself. I promise you will be captivated by the action over the course of the book. At the same time, the book invites you to be introspective on issues of illegal immigration, police brutality, and political corruption. It's not just mind candy, but it's also not a book that will club you over the head with principles. From a purely cost/benefit analysis, both versions of the book are very competitively priced, and the Kindle version is less than a dang cup of coffee at Starbucks! I promise it will deliver more lasting enjoyment than that cup of joe!

Sequel possible?

Oh, yeah! I'm working on a book that involves several of the same characters right now--probably about 6-9 months from completing it. I'm also considering going back in time and writing a book about the antagonist (Sergeant Shaver) because he intrigues me and I want to dig deeper!