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The Storm Murders Trilogy (Volume 1)
by John Farrow
Book Reviewed by:Two policemen are called to an isolated farm house. Inside are two dead people. But there are no tracks in the snow leading either to the house or away. What happened here?
On the day after a massive blizzard, two policemen are called to an isolated farm house sitting all by itself in the middle of a pristine snow-blanketed field. Inside the lonely abode are two dead people. But there are no tracks in the snow leading either to the house or away. What happened here? Is this a murder/suicide case? Or will it turn into something much more sinister?
ONE
Sudden on the windshield, the sunlight was blinding. As the squad car emerged from a canyon formed by towering dense spruce onto a broad plateau of farmland, the officers inside the vehicle snapped down their visors. Wild gusts sculpted fields of fresh powder into rhythmic waves overnight, but as the storm passed the wind ceased. No trace of movement disturbed the distant view to the horizon, a seamless ocean of white lying perfectly still as though arrested at the moment of a tidal shift. Plows made a pass, yet the road remained slick with a glimmer of snow. The two cops fumbled for their sunglasses, neither for effect nor from any sense of police propriety, but the reflection off snow on a clear day under a cold snap in February created a brilliance more luminous than any summer's noon.
The man riding shotgun scanned the horizon. He daydreamed of distant destinations, all south. His driver, silent also, remained intent on the soft shoulders as he slowed for a turn and ...
The plot not only thickens, it gels into a teeming, delightful stew (sorry for the mixed metaphor) of clues, red herrings, and blind alleys – some in New Orleans, Louisiana where Sandra is kidnapped. There's even a point where, despite all the law enforcement involved from Montreal to New Orleans to Washington, DC, no one appears above suspicion. Mmm. Delicious. And just when I thought I had it all figured out – yes, Farrow is that tricky – everything I thought was going on was tossed into the air. The conclusion – like the chase – is curvy and complicated enough to satisfy the most avid conspiracy theorist...continued
Full Review
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(Reviewed by Donna Chavez).
What is more stressful for a law enforcement officer? Facing a bunch of drunk, angry, armed motorcycle gangsters or facing retirement? The Storm Murders' protagonist, retired Montreal Sergeant-Detective Émile Cinq-Mars would think the latter.
Most who enter the field of law enforcement do so with intentions of public service and bringing peace and justice into their communities. Many have specific and similar qualities, according to the Colorado Police Officers' Foundation. They either like, or possess a knack for, being an authority figure who can command control in out-of-control situations. They often feel comfortable in a military or quasi-military organization where they share a close kinship with their fellow officers, and ...
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