D/C Mike O’Shea, a young cop with a knack for working hard and following hunches, is on the verge of cracking a prostitution ring when an undercover from another unit burns him.
With only days left before their pimps shuttle the girls out of the country, Mike pushes his team into overdrive. Hours later, with too little information, sleep, or luck, the unthinkable happens.
And now, the chase is personal.
In the first of the Mike O’Shea Series, 10-33 Assist PC draws us into the dirty world of human trafficking through the eyes of the cops who put their lives on the line every day to shut it down.
Born and raised in Toronto, Desmond P. Ryan graduated from UofT and joined what was then the Toronto Police Force. He has been a front-line officer, a beat cop, a patrol sergeant, an instructor at the Toronto Police College, and a detective over the almost thirty years of his career.
Whether as a beat cop or a plainclothes detective, Desmond dealt with good people who did bad things and bad people who followed their instincts. Now a retired detective, he writes crime fiction. Des is presently working on the Mike O’Shea Series and the Mary-Margaret Series, both published by Level Best Books.
Desmond lives in the Toronto neighbourhood known as Cabbagetown, where he can be seen wandering about, considering his next plot point or on his way to the pub.
Facebook Instagram Twitter Website
My thoughts: the team that are the the focus of this book are the good guys, tough, wise cracking cops who deal with one of the worst crimes – sex offences, in this case human trafficking, involving minors. The underage teenage girls Mike and his colleagues are looking for have been tricked, kidnapped, raped and abused. But that doesn’t mean everyone has given up on them.
Unfortunately a tangle with another team means their cover’s blown and now the risks are worse, the danger becomes personal when Mike’s partner is hurt and Mike determines to stop at nothing to get these young girls home and safe, bringing down the ring and locking up the cruel men involved.
There’s time for humour in amongst the grimness of their jobs, teasing their partners, asking for new ones, winding up the boss. There’s Sal, with his horrible sunflower seed habit, Julia and her Italian swearing. There’s even time to drop by Mike’s mother’s house for family dinner – even cops have to eat. Until it turns deadly, then everyone becomes laser focused.
A solid new police procedural set in Toronto, with realistic characters and intelligent plotting. This series should be really enjoyable if this first book is anything to go by.
*I was kindly gifted a copy of this book in exchange for taking part in the blog tour but all opinions remain my own.
ramblingmads 