Three years before this short story, set in Washington state, opens, small-town high school chemistry teacher Tracy Crosswhite lost her beloved younger sister, a presumed homicide victim. (Her body was never found, but a paroled rapist was convicted of her murder.) Burdened by grief, their father killed himself a couple of years later. Tracy's reaction to this double tragedy has finally become the catalyst driving her to quit her teaching career at the age of 25, and apply for a position on the Seattle police force. She's not without some inherent qualifications for that job. Not only is she tall and strong (5' 10" and an in-shape 130 lbs.), she started shooting competitively at the age of 15 and holds three consecutive Washington State shooting championships. But a police academy is a grueling training environment. Will she have what it takes to stick it out, and to pass the requisite tests? Well --given that this is a prequel e-story to the author's popular Tracy Crosswhite novel series, whose title character is a Seattle cop, most readers won't consider that seriously in question. But that isn't a spoiler, because the meat of the story is in the journey, not the destination. And there will be plenty of suspense along the way, even if the end is surmised.
At 44 pages, this is at the longish end of the "short" story spectrum, and follows Tracy from her application interview through her time at the Academy. It provides a clear, realistic picture of some of the procedures and personality dynamics in modern police training, with some insight into the special challenges that women recruits have to undergo. Dugoni's writing is clear and well adopted to his purpose, textured but not excessively ornate or descriptive; his storytelling is absorbing and nicely paced. I read the tale in one sitting, and I think most readers will want to. His characterizations are excellent, living and three-dimensional, especially (but not exclusively) Tracy herself; she's a strong-inside, intelligent woman with genuine character, a lot of guts, and compassionate instincts, as well as some believable emotional baggage from the horrific family tragedies she's experienced. If she were an actual person (and she easily could be!) she's the kind of lady I'd be proud to have for a friend --or, if I'd ever had a son, for a daughter-in-law.
Although the Tracy Crosswhite series as such is mystery-crime fiction, this story isn't really that; we're strictly in the sphere of police training here, with no actual crime being investigated. I've classified it as general fiction: a realistic, descriptive account of modern life, though in the milieu of people who work at combating crime, or are training to. It's clearly intended as an appetizer for the series, though, furnishing an introduction to the protagonist and a sense of what drives her. Personally, I haven't raed the series opener; but that's only because I'm not looking to get sucked into another ongoing series, right now. If your immediate reading plans are more open, and you like a mystery series with this type of heroine, I'm guessing this one would be a good bet!
There's no actual sexual content here (though there's some sexual harassment); Tracy's not looking for a relationship at this time in her life. However, there is a sprinkling of bad language --mostly not too rough, but including a couple of f-words, a p-word (and no, it's not "piss") and a misuse of Jesus' name. On the whole, I considered the speaking styles in the bounds of realism for the way many of these characters would talk. (The obscenity, and most of the "crude vulgarities" --which made another character feel "nauseated"-- come from just one character, and reflect the fact that his personality IS crude and nauseating. Few if any readers would adopt him as a role model.)
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The start of a great series
I love the Tracy Crosswhite series, and "The Academy" is a Novella and prequel to the series. It introduces Tracy from the beginning of her journey when she left her job as a chemistry teacher to join the police academy. Tracy is an ambitious and strong woman who is a hero. If you enjoy reading series with powerful female leads, this is a must-read! I'm ready to jump into the following short story that gives us more background into Tracy's past.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 11, 2017
Reviewed in the United States on September 23, 2020
Reviewed in the United States on May 1, 2024
I love the Tracy Crosswhite series, and "The Academy" is a Novella and prequel to the series. It introduces Tracy from the beginning of her journey when she left her job as a chemistry teacher to join the police academy. Tracy is an ambitious and strong woman who is a hero. If you enjoy reading series with powerful female leads, this is a must-read! I'm ready to jump into the following short story that gives us more background into Tracy's past.
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Reviewed in the United States on January 3, 2023
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Richard Latham
Great beginning, who could not want to see how the story unfolds?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 26, 2016