The Cleanup [Kindle Edition]

Sean Doolittle (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The unlikely tale of an unsuccessful cop, a cute grocery check-out girl and her dead boyfriend gives Doolittle (Raindogs) plenty to chew on in his latest crime novel. Officer Matthew Worth, a divorcé with little going for him—careerwise in particular—works security at an Omaha supermarket, where he's developed a crush on check-out clerk Gwen. Innocent flirtation turns messy when Gwen kills her abusive boyfriend and turns to Worth for help, pleading self-defense. Instead of calling it in, Worth decides to cover up the murder, leading to trouble with two dirty narcs who were involved with the murder victim in a money-laundering scheme. From there, secrets, lies and murders pile up, pushing Worth from every direction at once. Doolittle has penned a character-driven yet suspenseful novel about choice and consequence, with a well-crafted lead and a narrative style that's punchy and sincere. Though Worth's motivation is sometimes unclear (even, at times, to himself), readers looking for a tense crime drama—hold the procedure—will enjoy getting inside the head of this well-meaning sad sack. (Nov.)
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From Booklist

*Starred Review* Anyone foolish enough to say that the age of pulp fiction ended years ago need only pick up one of Doolittle's little noir gems. This one is about a good cop going through a bad streak, a grocery-store cashier ready to dump her abusive boyfriend, and one simple favor that gets blown way out of proportion. Seedy, steamy, quirky, and fidgety, the author's prose feels like it stepped out of the 1950s. And the story is right out of the pulp-fiction manual: a good man who digs himself into a hole so deep that his only choice is to blast his way out. Noir fans will savor this one. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Format: Kindle Edition
• File Size: 287 KB
• Print Length: 338 pages
• Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0440242827
• Publisher: Dell; Reissue edition (October 31, 2006)
• Sold by: Random House Digital, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B000MAH5LK
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #257,118 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

More About the Author

Sean Doolittle is the critically-acclaimed author of several crime and suspense novels. His first book, Dirt, was named one of the 100 Best Books of 2001 by the editors of Amazon.com. His second book, Burn, won the Gold Medal in the Mystery category of ForeWord Magazine's 2003 Book of the Year Award. The Cleanup received the 2007 Barry Award, the Crimespree Magazine reader's choice award, a Spinetingler Award, and a Nebraska Book Award. Doolittle's books have been licensed for translation in several languages and praised by such contemporaries as Dennis Lehane, Michael Connelly, Laura Lippman, George Pelecanos, Harlan Coben, and Lee Child. His short fiction has appeared in The Year's Best Horror Stories, The Best American Mystery Stories, and elsewhere. He lives in western Iowa with his family.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nebraskan Crime Lord does it again ..., December 6, 2006

By 

M. Perry "mr_badmood" (Fairmont, West Virginia USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cleanup (Mass Market Paperback)

Sean Doolittle's engine is firing on all pistons in THE CLEANUP, a gritty crime thriller about good cops, bad cops, and the desperate people caught in-between.

When Matt Worth, a disgraced cop, steps in to help a battered young woman at the grocery store where he moonlights, things get ugly really fast. Events quickly steamroll out of control ... there's a corpse that needs disposing .... a missing stack of money ... a local crime ring with more brawn than brains ... and finally a pair of rogue cops with dirty fingers and smoking pistols.

Matt Worth may be a down-and-out loser, but if he doesn't act fast in this situation, he's one dead loser ... and Gwen, the broken bird, will join his fate.

Doolittle's sense of place has served him well in previous books, such as the LA-set DIRT and BURN. Here he's back on his home turf of Nebraska (where RAIN DOGS was set). It's a harsh, cold landscape that serves the story well, filled with dread, blood and just enough hope to keep these underdogs running for the sun.

With the energy of a young Donald Westlake and the hard-bitten but lyrical style of Dutch Leonard, Doolittle's upping the ante big-time here. An excellent, exciting novel from a terrific writer.

What the hell are you waiting for? Buy it. Read it. DIG IT.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Simple Plans, January 13, 2007

By 

Gary Griffiths (Los Altos Hills, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cleanup (Mass Market Paperback)

Matthew Worth comes from a long line of Omaha cops. Though the well intentioned but hapless Matt is more "Deputy Dawg" than "Hill Street Blues", and finds himself pulling probationary duty patrolling the local supermarket - on the grave shift. Sean Doolittle is no Joseph Wambaugh, either, but he is a writer of serious Midwest noir chops that knows how to turn a phrase and keep pages turning.

So Matt thinks he's done a pretty good job of screwing up his life and his family's rep for protecting and serving - until he meets young Gwen, the grocery store checkout clerk with problems that turn out to be way out of Matt's league. With little motivation beyond male chivalry the making of a compelling plot for Doolittle, Matt jumps in to Gwen's aid and is soon wrapping corpses in carpets and evading thugs from both ends of the plains and on both sides of the law. Doolittle keeps this neat little gem moving along with the help of some interesting characters and enough grit and violence to tarnish the sensibility of the heartland.

This is a fun read, reminiscent of Scott Smiths "A Simple Plan" without as much of the baggage. Or "Fargo" missing the droll fascination of Frances McDormand. Don't think to hard about an unlikely plot and questionable motivation, and you'll likely find Sean Doolittle and "The Cleanup" well crafted crime entertainment.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Thinking man's cop story., February 26, 2007

By 

Timothy G. Niland (New Jersey, USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Cleanup (Mass Market Paperback)

The Cleanup is an interesting tale about what happens when good intentions go awry and spin out of control. Policeman Matt Worth works the security detail in a local supermarket after being demoted for striking a superior officer. When he develops a crush on the checkout girl only to find out she's in an abusive relationship with a smalltime hood, things go from bad to worse. The book switches perspective from the cops to the crooks and back with aplomb, making the narrative hard to follow at times, but those who stick with it are rewarded with a thoughtful and suspenseful novel.