4.0 out of 5 stars
Review by a fellow nightshift cop, December 19, 2005
This review is from: The Night Is Mine (Hardcover)
Great stories, and well told. I guess I have to downgrade it little because I just can't keep from comparing it to Hunter's first work, "The Moon is Always Full", which is a masterpiece. In "The Night is Mine" (great title by the way), Hunter again tells some great tales, but some of them read more like a field report and lack that magical touch from his earlier work. Worth the read, if you like any of Hunter's other work.
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2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful, January 1, 2001
This review is from: The Night Is Mine (Hardcover)
I had to order this book from Amazon's out-of-print service but it was well worth the wait and price. Hunter's stories were humorous and knowledgable. I felt as if I was there. He truly wrote how it is in this novel. I read it straight through because I truly enjoyed Hunter's tales.
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1 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
The Low Life of A Backward Town....., June 19, 2006
This review is from: The Night Is Mine (Hardcover)
This David Hunter is not Abraham Lincoln's "abolitionist general", not even close; his memoir is entitled Trailer Trash, which just about sums it up. He was a cop in Knoxville, Tennessee, where anything goes. This collection of small items, Hunter (named appropriately) obviously lived through on the "mean" streets of this town. The title comes from his expereinces on the night beat, when most of the hard crime takes place under the guise of darkness. It is the most dangerous for cops.
These crimes he relates happened 13+ years ago. Today, things are much worse -- drug dealing, the oldest profession still thriving (now your choice, male or female), killing in the projects and out on the streets commonplace. This town is worst than a big city and crime is highest here on percentage/population. I've heard that he was a writer, but this is the first I've found. His picture in the daily newspaper where he writes a silly column is much different from what you see on the back flap, as different as night from day.
He wrote about the crimes he dealt with (made fun of the offenders) or heard from his fellow deputies. Don't men just love to gossip? Not exactly in the inner city where most of the violence dominates everyday life. No part of this town is safe from the druggies and predators.
Cops say "what goes around comes around'" their interpretation of the Biblical "we reap what we sow," meaning that there will be retribution for our actions at one time or another, perhaps when we least expect it. He advocates public humiliation, take heed MYL, as an andidote for pompous behavior; typical police attitude here. Goodness sakes, he thinks it builds character. Where'd he get that, at boot camp for the Marines? The more you browbeat the villain, the better you feel.
He quotes Lewis Carroll (pseudonym for one Charles Lutwidge Dodgson) in 'Alice in Wonderland' about the tea party's Mad Hatter. This town is full of those characters, crazy as a loon out on the streets daily. Police look the other way. In "Important Friends" and other ploys, he makes fun of name droppers. So, I know the Mayor and he calls me by my first name! You think the police would believe that? They are so dumb one thinks Fosamax is a mood-enhancing drug. He consistenly made fun of the people he arrested. Give a man a badge or job as a city bus driver, and he thinks he is a God.
Heaven help us poor mortals from these inhuman animals.
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