Customer Reviews

Mystery Writers of America Presents the Blue Religion: New Stories about Cops, Criminals, and the Chase

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

What can a crime writer possibly do to engage you in a short story?

In the new book, The Blue Religion, T. Jefferson Parker, Greg Rucka, Leslie R. King, Michael Connelly and fifteen of America's top crime authors give you their best shots.

The stories are all what you would expect from veteran crime writers, and I found that nearly every one was able to keep my attention and satisfy the book's theme.

What I liked most about the compilation was each story provided a completely different aspect of the lives of those that protect and serve. Included are some humorous moments as in Jon L. Breen's "Serial Killer," and hopeless moments as described in Greg Ruck's "Contact and Cover." Then to cap it all off, lovers of Michael Connelly are treated to a short experience with Harry Bosch in a snippet story that addresses one of today's saddest types of accidental death.

Overall, you cannot go wrong with Blue Religion. There is something in here for everyone, and an opportunity to test-read work from authors you may not have tried on previously. I rate this 3-stars because a few in the compilation weren't actually done that well-and many of the authors included have done a lot better work.

Armchair Interviews says: This book should be in your summer reading bag.

These entertaining nineteen tales focus on the police procedural theme. However, as Mr. Connolly explains in his introduction, for the most part the entries concentrate on the "world of the cop" as the stories "explore the burden of the badge" more so than investigative procedures. The contributions run the gamut with a strong historical by Polly Nelson to the return of Harry Bosch to a retired cop and his wife running into trouble (T. Jefferson Parker's "Skinhead Central). There are no clinkers yet the range is vast from a dark tale of a selected amnesiac ("Such a Lucky, Pretty Girl: by Persia Walker) to amusingly light (Jon Breen's "Serial Killer"). All are excellent, especially insightful is Paul Guyton's tense "What a Wonderful World" that proves a short story can contain fully developed characters; an apropos title along with Alafair Burke's "Winning" as this anthology is a wonderful look at individual members of the Blue Religion special congregation.

Harriet Klausner

This was a lot of fun to read. I already enjoy short stories, which suit my short attention span. This book certainly delivered with different perspectives on the life of the cop, which also made this a great read. With this title, you get lots of different perspectives from different writers on the police officer: the sense of humor, the obsession, the politics, and the tactics.

I read some criticism about some of these stories not being the best work of these authors. I am not a college writing professor or anything, but I enjoyed all the stories, and I think I'm pretty picky. The stories don't beat around the bush - they get right to it and do it very well.

The stories that stuck with me (without spoilers): the hot dog cart girl, the boy who lost his dad (a London cop), the dad who left his kid in the car, and the female cops who get hazed from a colleague, who may be headed for a comeuppance.

This is also a great way to get introduced to some new authors. I didn't know anything about Connelly's Detective Bosch series but I enjoyed so much the Bosch short story I will be looking for more titles.

In all fairness, I started this book thinking the short stories would be a little different - stories written by Michael Connelly, as told to him by the officers who experienced them. As I started reading I realized it was stories by numerous writers. At times the stories lacked being thorough enough and a personal pet peeve I felt I was "left hanging" or wondering if the story really was true. A few of the stories were very intriguing, i.e. (SPOLIER) the female cop who is raped while undercover and later her husband kills the man and she covers it up to make it look like she did it. I enjoyed reading the detailed thought process she had to cover all bases to ensure her husband was not implemented. This book is a good read for busy people on the go who don't want to read a sotry that will drag on for weeks because of how busy they are - each story only takes 10-20 minutes to read.

Presented under the auspices of the Mystery Writers of America, this novel contains 19 intriguing short stories, with a common theme: cops. There are police procedurals and mysteries, but more important, the stories reflect on the live of cops--as persons, on their jobs, how they perform their duties, their sense of right and wrong, and, of course, as Michael Connelly says in a short introduction, "How are we to weigh the burden of the badge if we do not carry the badge?"

The stories range from T. Jefferson Parker's story about a retired cop and how he handles a juvenile delinquent, to Alafair Burke's take on a policewoman and how her husband reacts to a gruesome event while she's on the job, to Mr. Connelly's telling of how Harry Bosch conducts an investigation into the death of a baby.

Each of the stories is well-written and absorbing. Each, of course, stands on its own. And each is worth reading. All told, the volume makes for fascinating reading. Recommended.

This set of stories have in common the fact that without police officers, society wouldn't be able to function. I liked each story and learned something about why an officer fits into society in a different way, and also that it's difficult to perform police work. At the same time, I had difficulty getting through the stories. They didn't capture me, and that's just my experience. Others may have a different experience.

I really enjoyed this and bought the cd version for my husband. We love to listen to cd's on our drive to Florida. And we like Michael Connelly, I was hooked on him when I read the first book, Trunk Music. His recommendations are enough for me to pay attention.

Mystery fans will love this collection of short stories put together by the Mystery Writers of America. It features crime/mystery stories presented by 19 different authors, designed to keep you up reading into the wee hours of the morning. A great addition to the collection!

The focus is on people who happen to be cops. A good group of authors, some I haven't read before. Some I will look for, now. Time well spent. A few gems. Check out the Hawaiian story.

An anthology is not an easy book to review, specifically because it contains such a variety of styles and talent. Some of the stories may be phenomenal, whereas others are tedious at best. In which case, should the book be recommended for the few stories that stand out, or ignored altogether because of those that fall short?

Fortunately, THE BLUE RELIGION does not present this dilemma. This anthology of ninteen short stories portrays the various lives and experiences of police officers, and except for a mediocre tale or two, THE BLUE RELIGION is filled with superb pieces of crime fiction. It runs the gamut, covering time periods from the Civil War to present day, with a wide variety of storylines. These stories not only describe various situations on the job, but also the toll this line of work can take on the personal lives of these officers. Some of the topics include bigotry, sexual harassment, Alzheimer's, child abuse, and, of course, murder. There are even some amusing stories of tables being turned due to inflated egos or underestimating one's opponent.

THE BLUE RELIGION is presented by Mystery Writers of America, the premier organization for crime writers, and was edited by bestselling and award-winning author Michael Connelly. The nineteen featured writers include T. Jefferson Parker, John Harvey, James O. Born, Paula L. Woods, Jon L. Breen, John Buentello, Jack Fredrickson, Leslie Glass, Persia Walker, Edward D. Hoch, Laurie R. King, Polly Nelson, Diane Hansen-Young, Peter Robinson, Greg Rucka, Bev Vincent, Paul Guyot, Alafair Burke and, of course, Michael Connelly. Very well-written stories, the most outstanding of which are: A CERTAIN RECOLLECTION by John Buentello, A CHANGE IN HIS HEART by Jack Fredrickson, CONTACT AND COVER by Greg Rucka, RULE NUMBER ONE by Bev Vincent, WINNING by Alafair Burke, FATHER'S DAY by editor Michael Connelly, and an especially strong story WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD by screenwriter Paul Guyot.