2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
From a Source I Respect. . ., May 28, 1998
By A Customer
A few years ago in the mining town of Grass Valley, CA, I came across a wrinkled copy of Bishop's "Citadel Run" and thought it an interesting novel with some characters that could have received more fleshing out -- but all in all an "interesting read."
Yeah. Real easy for me to put it in the "interesting read" category. Not knowing, of course, the probable years of rejections, agony, re-writing, editorial snippings, and general crap that Bishop had to endure just to get his first novel into print.
Caught my eye: his background. He'd been there. I've been there. Still am there, so to speak. Verisimilitude. I look for it, bond with it. Joseph Wambaugh broke the barrier and God bless him for it. Bishop continues. God bless him, and more cheques forthcoming for you in your future, Mr. Bishop.
This current novel? Hardback, and about time. Bishop has come into his own with this novel and I can only support his cast and background. I very much enjoy his central character, Fey Croaker (the last name: a tad hard to take, but on the other hand, tongue firmly, for a second, planted in cheek. . .) and the support characters he has designed. The plot? I can more than identify with trying to design an ingenious plot. It takes quite some time, writing, re-writing, more re-writing and then, for those who just tuned in, more re-writing. My hat is off to you, Mr. Bishop.
I am a homicide investigator with a larger California agency. I, therefore, respect those who write from a position of experience. I will not denigrate the writings of, for example, John Sandford (nee John Camp) or Michael Connelly -- both most EXCELLENT authors. I continously purchase and WILL purchase any further books these two publish -- not to mention anything by James Ellroy, simply for the black torture of his soul and the ragged tips of his fingers on a keyboard.
But for Bishop, Wambaugh, Petievich (Gerald Petievich, where the HELL are you!?), I have the utmost respect. I know the! y know the dues they have paid, the price in terms of physical and, mostly, mental writhings. When they sleep at night, I know that, sometimes, yes sometimes, whether they admit or not, a case, a time, a date, a smell, a scene like a poor photograph, will come cascading back.
More power to you, Paul Bishop. I have not, but would, like to meet you. I have designs on the writing world as well -- in my own fevered dreams. They are restless amorphic things which, quite frankly, appear to have plans of never leaving me alone. There is, for me, then, the only option of putting them down on paper.
Keep writing, Mr. Bishop. You and only you know why, ultimately, you must continue.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A very good read, February 10, 1998
There are a lot of surprises in Tequila Mockingbird. Just when I'd settle in to decide where the plot was going, off it would go in an unexpected direction. This was a very good read that started off with April Waverley, pregnant and distraught, shooting her husband, Detective Alex Waverly, as he sat in his automobile outside the West L.A. police station. This seems straightforward enough, wouldn't you say? But it's not. And the reason it's not you'll have to find out for yourself when you read the book because I'm not about to give away the first surprise! Even though it was told right out in the blurb in Mystery Writers Guild, in which this book is an "Editor's Choice" selection. One of the best parts about reading this well-plotted, well-written, police procedural is knowing that Paul Bishop has spent 20 years with the L.A. Police department, so he knows whereof he speaks. The reader is there, following the subsequent, ever more complicated investigation, wherever it leads, which is into some unexpected locations. Fey Croaker is the name of Paul Bishop's LAPD homicide unit supervisor. As far as I'm concerned a writer can write in any kind of viewpoint he or she wants to. But there's always a problem when you try to write a strong woman, or a sensitive man, whether you are of the same gender or not. How far do you go? I felt Fey Croaker started out just right. Later, I felt some of her actions and reactions were more "manly" than "womanly." She takes a beating like a man, for example. In my opinion, and having known several women this applied to, the problem with being a woman taking over what has traditionally been a man's job is that the woman has to become more like a man in her actions and reactions. Also in my opinion, then, Paul got Fey exactly right! If Fey were to keep on acting and reacting in a "womanly" way, not being quite as tough as a woman would be expected to be in that situation --then she'd seem too "womanly" for the job. It's a dilemma that affects a woman writing in a man's viewpoint also. How sensitive can a guy get before being perceived by some readers as more "feminine" than "masculine?" I think the best any of us can do when writing in the viewpoint of a gender not our own is to strive to portray the character as honestly as we can and hope that at least some readers are going to perceive the character the way we did. stores. There's no one typical male or typical female out there. So I'm not being critical of the way Paul Bishop developed Fey Croaker. I think she's a strong character in a strong story. But I do think it's a difficult task to convince readers that a woman can be this strong--or that a man can be as sensitive as I sometimes make one. I liked that Fey grabbed her shoulder holster and ran out and took control of the situation, and then did the "womanly" thing by putting her arms around the woman who had shot her husband. I think this is the sort of sensible response a woman needs to bring to a job like Fey's. But it sure is a hard line to draw. All in all, I thought Paul drew the line well. I'd classify Tequila Mockingbird as a suspense story--the bad guys are known pretty early, it's a case of whether or not Fey can prevent them from winning, rather than any mystery about who is involved. I enjoyed it. Meg Chittenden
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