THE INTERROGATION. [Import] [Paperback]

Thomas H. Cook (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: NY: BANTAM. 2002 (2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0575071311
• ISBN-13: 978-0575071315
• Shipping Weight: 10.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (27 customer reviews)

More About the Author

THOMAS H. COOK was born in Fort Payne, Alabama, in 1947. He has been nominated for the Edgar Award seven times in five different categories. He received the best novel Edgar for The Chatham School Affair, the Martin Beck Award, the Herodotus Prize for best historical short story, and the Barry for best novel for Red Leaves, and has been nominated for numerous other awards.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb historical police drama, March 31, 2002

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Interrogation (Hardcover)

Fourth grader Cathy Lake was supposed to meet her mother in the lobby of her friend's apartment building but failed to show up. Shortly after she was reported missing her twisted bloody body was found in the park near the duck pond. The police questioned several of the homeless that live in the park before arresting twenty-six years old Albert Jay Smalls, a vagrant who resides in a drainpipe.

After holding him for almost two weeks, the police have no evidence or witnesses that can place Smalls in direct contact with Cathy. The police have only twelve more hours to charge the homeless man with the crime or release him, something they are loath to do since the lead detectives, the chief of detectives and the chief of police are convinced he's guilty. They intend to use their remaining twelve hours to try and break him so they can get at the truth.

THE INTERROGATION takes place in 1952 before Miranda and Gideon at a time when the police had more latitude in dealing with a suspect involved in a heinous crime. This crime thriller is a fantastic historical police procedural due to the dynamic interactions of the characters and their personal perspectives on the crime. Thomas H. Cook is a mesmerizing storyteller, who knows how to create and sustain suspense throughout the story.

Harriet Klausner

13 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Moody, intense and suspenseful. Film Noir in book form., August 22, 2002

By 

T. J. Mathews (Livermore, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Interrogation (Hardcover)

`The Interrogation' is all about atmosphere.

If it were a movie it would be a classic black and white film noir starring George Raft.

If it were a painting it would be "Nighthawks" by Edward Hopper.

If it were a sound it would be the echo of unseen footsteps in the dark streets of an empty city.

Thomas Cook has masterfully created a bleak and silent city filled with solitary characters that are almost without exception imprisoned by their own loneliness, loss and guilt. At the center of it all is the marathon interrogation session going on in interrogation room 3. Oddly, this sparring between the detective and the child murder suspect is by far the most personal and intimate exchange in the book. We hang on every question and response, whether verbal or by body language. Is he guilty? Will he crack? What will they do to him if he doesn't? What will the new day bring? Keep reading and find out.

Seldom have I read a genre book so skillfully written. This is the first of Cook's books that I have read and it most definitely will not be the last.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Noir Novelist, September 1, 2004

By 

K. L. Cotugno (San Francisco, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Interrogation (Mass Market Paperback)

No other mystery writer today captures the essence of noir as well as Thomas Cook. The review amazon has pegged as their "Spotlight" review misses the point if this is the first of his books that they have read. His stories are more character driven than plot driven; they are more instrospective, moody, atmospheric, and for me, they never fall short. If the "Spotlight" reviewer didn't get the ending, it's because Mr. Cook's hallmark is that his clever intracies don't become evident until the end. He's almost impossible to outguess.