His book was a jolt from page one. I loved the voice of the protagonist even if he is a deeply flawed individual. The mechanics of the plot were intricate but quickly handled, you can tell the author was a police officer in his past. I'm not sure if this character will be sustainable but wow did I enjoy this book. ( )

Frank Marr, was a police detective in Washington, D.C., but was forced to retire due to his own drug habit. Now a private investigator, Frank creates his own accountability, his own rules, hovers between the ups and downs of his habit and sometimes comes very close to his own edge.

When a novel is written by an author that has training and years of experience in law enforcement, the reader is given a gift of authenticity that penetrates the mind and tugs on emotions unlike any other reading experience. David Swinson served 16 years with the Washington Metropolitan Police Department. His creation of Frank Marr as private investigator shows us realism, humanity, and vulnerability. Frank can't be put in a mold. As the layers of Frank's thought process unfold during the investigations, it depicts a different side of life than many of us will ever experience. I found it thought-provoking.

As an aftereffect of reading this novel and again watching the news of the day, the reader wonders how many unnamed heroes helped to bring back a little balance to law and order within the last 24 hours as the wheels of justice keep turning. Would we have sanctioned his/her behavior? Was there a "Frank Marr" among them? I would softly answer, "yes." I think the author would too. ( )

I had heard this book being described as gritty, which immediately caught my attention. I like stories that capture the violence that is prevalent in society and I enjoy reading books that have a "raw" feeling to them. Based on the description, I felt that this book would be right for me. So here is my review:

Frank Marr was a decorated police detective before he retired early. Now, he makes a living as a private eye for a defense attorney. Most think that Frank retired early because he was burnt out. Little do they know that he actually left because of his drug addiction - an addiction that he is still fueling. Frank has been skillful at hiding his drug use from others - until now. When he accidentally discovers a kidnapped teenage girl in the home of a drug gang, Frank is thrust into the spotlight and is then asked to investigate into the disappearance of another girl, whose case is eerily similar to this one. But with the status of a hero comes heightened scrutiny that could reveal his dirty secret to the world.

I will begin by saying that I had very high expectations for this story. Unfortunately, it did not live up to them.

At first, I was intrigued by the language and the description of the scene. Frank is a gritty character, and he is definitely NOT your traditional hero. However, he doesn't seem to really have a moral bone in his body. After rescuing the first girl, all he can think about is how annoying of a situation this is for him. For someone who was once on the force, he sure doesn't act like it! As the story progressed, I found that the dialogue got cheesier and cheesier, to the point where I really couldn't take it seriously. I mean.... bro? Really????

I did enjoy how realistic the story was. I could see how an investigation would proceed in the manner that it was depicted here in this book, and I could also envision the different interactions between all of the different characters. But there were still events that were quite ridiculous, like how Frank pretended to be a girl's uncle and beat up a kid. It doesn't matter if the teenager in question is a bad seed or not, you can't just make your character do something completely random and out of the ordinary, if you have spent the whole novel trying to paint a realistic picture!

I also had an issue with the love interest that was included. It really wasn't necessary, and it didn't seem believable. Why the author included it is the real mystery here.

Now onto the drug addiction itself. I thought there would be an interesting backstory that would explain how Frank got addicted, and perhaps there would be a good reason why he never tried to get out of it. Nope. The author didn't broach it at all; instead, he just kept on mentioning what drug was taken when and in what amount. It ended up having no relevance to the story, and was actually more of a nuisance than anything else.

Overall, this story left me wondering what was the point of it all. I understand that the world isn't a nice place and that sometimes nothing really changes even if you catch the bad guys. But this novel just went in a circle, where the ending was just as unfulfilling and depressing as the beginning. There were too many random and scattered elements that didn't add up. In the end, I'm going to have to give this novel a 2/5 stars. ( )

'The Second Girl' by David Swinson is a crime novel with an exciting plot but not a whole lot more going for it. Going against it would include irritating first person writing, sporadic use of unrealistic dialogue, and constant (as in, how can this guy still be walking around?) drug use by the main character who is an unlikable 'protagonist' (for some reason, he reminds me of Harvey Keitel's 'Bad Lieutenant' movie) who also happens to be a walking cliche (ex-cop, now PI, heart of gold, substance abuse issues, leverages old law enforcement contacts, etc.).

The plot is decent: 'good guy' inadvertently discovers a kidnapped girl while in the process of ripping off a drug house, gets her back to her family, and later becomes involved in finding another girl who has also been kidnapped. The DC police and FBI are involved, but our intrepid PI Frank Marr somehow keeps ahead of them by knocking heads, waving his gun around, and doing bad things to bad guys, all while dosed up on incredible amounts of coke and God knows what else. It all works out in the end, and how Marr stays out of the clutches of the criminal justice system himself is a miracle.

All in all, a pretty exciting read but, truth be told, George Pelecanos does this type of thing a lot better. ( )

Frank Marr found teenager Amanda Meyer quite by accident. He was searching the house of known drug dealers, to replenish his own supply, when he happened on Amanda, naked except for panties, handcuffed and chained in the bathroom.

Not knowing what to do since his search was illegal and for nefarious purposes, he decides to take Amanda to his sometimes boss, attorney Leslie Costello, and let her contact the police. Of course that’s putting her in a bad position, but Frank’s drug supply is getting low and he needs to get back to the house to find and confiscate the stash for his personal use.

Unfortunately, his plan somewhat backfires when Leslie, his also sometimes girlfriend, calls him. The parents of Amanda’s neighbor, hearing of his success in finding Amanda, want to hire him to find their missing teenage daughter, Melanie. Frank doesn’t do missing persons, but feeling somewhat obligated, he agrees to meet with them in Leslie’s office and ultimately takes their case with the proviso that if no new information is unearthed in a week, he’ll stop the search.

As readers of The Second Girl by David Swinson will soon find out, Frank took early retirement from the police force, ostensibly for being stressed out. However, we know better (it’s surprising that his former police contacts don’t know better). He is addicted to drugs but apparently knows how to control it so he’s fooling everyone, including his sometimes sleeping partner, Leslie. As a private investigator he doesn’t need to follow the same rules the police are required to follow. As a result, he gets results that the police may find hard to obtain.

Frank’s investigation takes him to the drug lords and prostitution rings of the greater Washington, D.C. area. There’s plenty of fighting, breaking and entering and surveillance. Frank is a decent character, as are his police cronies. The story moves along nicely.

My only criticism is the amount of drug references. We know Frank’s an addict but I don’t necessarily need to know on a daily basis what drugs he’s taking, what alcohol he’s washing it down with, what combination of drugs offsets a high high with a not so low low. And please, to fool everyone he knows? I don’t think so.

So my suggestions to former police detective Swinson, is that you’ve made your point regarding Frank’s addiction. Now minimize how much we have to read about it and carry on with what could be a good series. You’re a much better writer than many other ex-detectives who have decided to write mysteries. ( )