Customer Reviews

The Shattered Blue Line

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

 

 

Patrick A. Davis has written a number of thrillers about murders taking place in military settings and "The Shattered Blue Line" is the newest addition to the set. This is definitely one of Davis's best-yet --- very fast-paced, well-crafted, twisting, dare-you-to-put-it-down-for-long sort of stuff.

"The Shattered Blue Line" first takes the reader back many years, to the brutal rape of an Air Force Academy cadet. After this, the readers are introduced to Nathan Malone, who seems to have hit bottom, but will soon find out that the bottom isn't quite what he thought it was.

After the murder of an Air Force Cadet, Malone is put in charge of the investigation. It turns out he'll be partnering with Kaitlin Barlow, the sister of the woman who was raped so many years ago. As the two race to solve the murders, they clash heads and face pressure from the big brass, some of which definitely don't want Malone (and some, Barlow) on the job. On top of that, they have to face sexual tension between each other, as Malone had, well, a past with Kaitlin's sister, Christina.

Some of the events in this novel are very shocking and you'll be hard-pressed to figure out who the killer is. Even once you think you know, there's another twist yet to come. And once it's all over and seemingly wrapped up --- Patrick A. Davis then hits you with the big surprise, so watch out.

If you've enjoyed any of Patrick A. Davis's past novels, or enjoy any sort of suspense book or thriller, you'll definitely want to read "The Shattered Blue Line."

I was really impressed with this author. This book really drew me in and I couldn't put it down. Davis really keeps you guessing and there are full of surprises. Anyone who enjoys a good suspense should pick this book up because you will not be disappointed.

Major Nathan Malone, the Commander of the Office of Special Investigations, is jailed at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs on a DWI charge. He fully expects to be discharged but instead Superintendent Crenshaw frees him and puts him in charge of working with the representative of Senator Smith involving sexual misconduct on the base. When he meets the senator's representative, he shocked to see a woman who looks like Christina Barlow, the only woman he ever loved. The woman was raped by three men never caught at the Air Force Academy.

The woman he sees is Christina's identical twin Kaitlin who blames the Academy for what happened to her sister. The investigation takes a sudden turn into murder when the cadets Mary and Rachel are killed. Rachel was pregnant but refused to name the father. Her roommate Mary was killed because the murderer believed she told Mary who the father was. Suspicion falls on Rachel's ex-boyfriend who never wanted the break-up but he is found dead along with an investigator assigned to watch him. Rachel's mother is also murdered and the wife of a suspect kills him and herself. With pressure to solve the case, Malone works a hunch that leads him to the killer but before an arrest can be made, more deaths follow.

Malone, a wealthy playboy, is portrayed as a good investigator but a terrible officer who frequently breaks the rules. Patrick A. Davis has written a crime thriller that is exciting, well plotted and with so many suspects hiding secrets that his investigation frequently spins out of control. Though the homicide count requires a serial killer calculator, THE SHATTERED BLUE LINE remains a mesmerizing military mystery.

Harriet Klausner

I'm not kidding, I couldn't put this one down until I finished it at 3:00 am. Patrick Davis has written a series of mysteries with an Air Force background. This is his best. The best mystery I have read this year! An unsolved rape of a female cadet at the AF academy, an AF investigator with a checkered past, an unpopular senator seeking reelection based on his crusade against "coverups" by the Academy administration, the Senator's insertion of a member of his own staff into the investigation, and finally a series of murders; stir gently and you have a really explosive mystery. The end will blow you away--don't peek.

Fantastic! The main character, Malone, is well written. The supporting characters aren't delevoped too much, but they really don't need to be. The well-constructed plot moves along very well. There are a good deal of twists and turns. So many, in fact, I had to stop reading on several occassions, just to figure it all out before continuing!

When reading a book like this, it's difficult to make yourself realize that this is absolutely possible! I must admit, there were things about this book which upset me a great deal. However, the more I look back at those things, the more I realize I was upset about it because I didn't want to believe this could happen!

If you like a lot of surprises, it's a good bet you'll enjoy this one!

For those readers who aren't familiar with Patrick A. Davis, I'll start by saying that his books tend to be rather formulaic. In spite of this, Davis has been able to vary his ingredients to such an extent that the final result is usually satisfying and not always predictable. Other characteristics of this author include the ability to move the story along at a good pace and to pack enough events in each page to entice the reader to go to the next one. Although his plots are never linear, they usually flow fairly well, so that there aren't any loose ends when the final scene comes. To achieve all this, Davis frequently resorts to plot devices and inconsistencies, typical among which is a lead investigator who is extremely perceptive in one instance and borderline dense in the next.

In spite of his flaws, Davis has been able to pull off several stories that, while not entirely plausible, at least hang together to the end, usually with one or more good twists thrown in. Unfortunately, The Shattered Blue Line is not among his best efforts.

Like other reviewers have remarked, the book is not bad through the first half, but after that the negatives start outweighing the positives and things seem to start happening solely for the sake of increasing the body count. As the departure from the realm of the plausible becomes more and more pronounced, the reader is made to suffer through an unnecessary climactic scene that, with few tweaks, could provide the script for a Saturday Night Live parody of a third rate action movie. Adding insult to injury, since he doesn't really develop any of his characters, in this book Davis reserves the right to make any and all of them behave in whichever manner fits the story line regardless of consistency or realism. The General, The Passenger, and The Commander were all better, so I'll give this author another chance. On the other hand, I would suggest avoiding The Shattered Blue Line to anyone who hasn't yet read another one of Davis's books. It's almost guaranteed to make a bad first impression.

This book was well written, exciting and flowed well....UNTIL it jumped the shark at the end not once but TWICE!!! I guess the author and editor decided that every book needs an unseen and amazing twist or two or three to be interesting. Instead of keeping it a hard core investigative book finding out the killer and possible rapist. The likable main character stumbles several times and misses (obvious clues & issues)!! The twist at the end (which I guessed and begged him not to do) he did, and the entire last 80 pages of the book destroyed the first half of the book which I was planing on giving a 5 star rating!!! Definitely not worth reading. I may try one of his other books in the hopes that he doesn't try again to go overboard with a wowza unbelievable ending!!!

As an Air Force Academy cadet, I appreciate a book written in this setting and the (mostly) accurate depiction of cadet life. The reason Patrick Davis is so in-tune with how things are run around here is because he is a graduate. I met him when he came to visit the Academy a couple years back and that's what got me interested in reading this book. Although I could have enjoyed more focus on the cadets, that is not why I graded this book at 3 stars.

The Good: Davis' depiction of the way cadets, officers, civilians, and everyone in between view and interact within this environment. He is very familiar with the scenery and locale and is very adept at describing it to the reader. The dialogue is also very well written.

The Bad: The storyline isn't very compelling. The characters are two-dimensional and don't inspire much emotion throughout mostly the second half of the book. It was a strong start, but it didn't keep up for the long run.

The Ugly: The outlandish twists and turns that make this book go from believable and enjoyable to ridiculous and unrealistic.

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I was left disappointed throughout most of the second half. The very ending twist was interesting, but I could see it coming from a long way off.

On a side note: Although the Academy is still feeling the affects of the sexual assault scandal, I feel (as do most other cadets) like we have healed and are moving on nicely. There are many programs and resources available to cadets to go for help and there is a lot of training on how we all can help each other. Because if we don't help each other, who will?

The seventh military thriller by Patrick A. Davis is set in the Air Force Academy. Fourteen years earlier, a young cadet named Christina Barlow is gang-raped while a student. Her attackers were never identified or charged. She killed in an automobile accident with her twin sister Kaitlin at the wheel. Kaitlin now works for a high-powered, limelight-seeking senator and wants revenge for her sister. The academy has come under attack for sex scandals concerning their female recruits. Various rape cases have come under investigation and Kaitlin has been chosen by the senator as liaison with full access to Air Force investigation.

Nathan Marlone is Commander of the Office of Special Investigations. His new assignment is to work with Kaitlin Barlow to investigate the rape charges made against the academy. Not exactly a rule follower, Nathan is always one step away form being thrown out of the Air Force. He has a link to Christina in that he lived across the hall from her while at the Academy and was romantically involved with her.

This plot was very fast-paced with many intricate twists and turns. It was extremely engaging and found I barely could put it down. The book was not without a few problems. The reader does have to make some leaps of faith because the story is not really plausible. There were conflicts of interest galore, but the story was so good it did not really matter. The chemistry between the main characters was lacking and the female lead was unlikable which was a bit of a drawback. The strength was the plot and twist at the end

This was a truly exciting page turner. Almost impossible to put down. Endless twists and turns. A beautiful female cadet was raped at the Air Force Academy. She was later killed in an automobile accident. Her identical twin sister suffers a nervous breakdown and assumes her identity. She turns into a mass murderer at the Academy--trying to avenge her sister. The chief investigator has dark secrets of his own. Suspects in both the original rape and subsequent murders fly by. An ambitious senator attempts to make political hay out of the situation. This book was really superb.