Tarnished Blue [Paperback]

William Heffernan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1995

Paul Devlin, Inspector of Detectives for the mayor of New York City, probes the murder of a police captain, a hero cop rumored to be gay, and uncovers a deadly conspiracy of sex, blackmail, and death leading to the highest levels of government.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The cruel murder of NYPD Captain Joe "Little Bat" Battaglia of the Organized Crime Control Unit causes waves of alarm to sweep from the mayor's office to the patrolmen's locker room. The murdered captain, who may have been gay, is the son of former cop Tony "Big Bat" Battaglia, now a United States senator. Luckily Heffernan's (Blood Rose) investigator, Paul Devlin is inspector of detectives. Devlin works directly for the mayor of New York City and has the power and authority to cut through the politics, the cover-ups and the lies in order to find out why "Little Bat" was killed. Choppy and brusque, Heffernan's writing is still almost romantic at times, sounding at odds with the hard facts and gory details. "Despite his rugged good looks, Devlin seemed almost boyish when he smiled.... He was tall and solid with wavy black hair and dark blue eyes that could be surprisingly gentle or fierce." The investigation is complicated when Devlin's search uncovers deep corruption which must be carefully traced to its source, and the author is taxed mightily to bring all the loose ends together as the novel comes to its climactic end. The splendid character of Sharon Levy, a lesbian police detective who almost overshadows our hero, provides a real spark to this sometimes routine tale.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 384 pages
• Publisher: Onyx; First Edition edition (April 1, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0451182952
• ISBN-13: 978-0451182951
• Product Dimensions: 6.9 x 4.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 7.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,534,690 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, June 27, 2001

By 

fjmcmm (Gardena, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarnished Blue (Paperback)

Full of action and suspense. You will not be able to put this book down. You will be guessing all the way. And Devlin is the best.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Tarnished People, July 19, 2001

By 

Coalpuss "coalpuss" (Winter Park, FL USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Tarnished Blue (Paperback)

I think Heffernan may be a capable writer. He, perhaps, captures the language and actions of the usual police department in any given city. However, he seems to enjoy burying his readers in lots of f'ing profanity every other f'ng word. Also, the disgusting diatribe about gays and lesbians is way over the top. This is the second of his I've read and it will be the last. For those who enjoy down and dirty police stories, you will like this one. It doesn't get more down and dirty than Tarnished Blue.

0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a really good "can't put down book"...which I did not., September 7, 1996

By A Customer

This review is from: Tarnished Blue (Paperback)

I picked Tarnished Blue because of its cover...(really). This is my first book by William Heffernan... You can bet I will read more... Just one thing I did not care for... I think it's somewhat homophobic... Aside from that, WOW! Money well spent.