Listened to: "Safer" by Sean Doolittle

Listened to: Safer by Sean Doolittle, 2009, 9781423377443.

Good book.

Academic Paul Callaway follows academic wife from Boston to Clark Falls, IA in summer move. Paul is arrested for kid porn and kid rape during his and wife's December holiday party. Told in flashbacks and current time by Paul.

Paul and wife's home is burgled and invaded the night they move in. Paul joins local citizens' neighborhood patrol. Paul clashes with retired cop, Roger, from across the street whose son was abducted and killed 10 years ago. Roger is in charge of local neighborhood watch. Paul clashes with Roger. Clash goes on and Paul discovers massive surveillance equipment and files in Roger's house. Paul and Roger clash again and Roger tells him to move by Dec. 16.

Paul gets good lawyer and ignores most of that lawyers good advice. Paul discovers links among Roger's dead son, past resident of Paul's house, Roger's cop friends. Paul digs deeper and investigates. Paul works with local tv reporter eager for a scoop and a move to the Big City. Paul avoids death. Paul avoids death again. Happy-ish ending.


Comments
1. I was enjoying this until the characters started playing golf. Then they stopped playing golf and I enjoyed the story again.
2. Cops make great bad guys. Officers are trusted and relied on for honesty and duty - having an evil one is scary.
3. Thing that would make this book better: CDs did that do not hang up and skip on the very last 2-3 tracks. Three or four discs had damage on the reflective labels.
4. Paul is the dip-shit kind of hero who you yell at for being such a dip-shit. His dip-shitted-ness does get some answers. Paul's digging and questioning solves things and moves the story along.
5. Other adjectives I used to describe Paul: Dense. Myopic. Hot headed. Idiot. Big Mouth. Clueless. Heedless. Dumbass. Dope. Egotistical. Dip-shit. Naive. Asshole.
6. Doolittle puts the plot and story together really well. This is not the first time I have written that about a book.
7. I wish some of the bad guys had more interaction with Paul earlier in the story. You meet the guys earlier on but I did not feel as much impact when they show their true colors and interests.
8. I think Doolittle lives in Council Bluffs, IA. Clark Falls seems to be the fictional stand-in. I presume Doolittle caught some ribbing on that one.
9. No ribbing could be as bad as having to live in Iowa. Not just Iowa but Western Iowa. He's almost in Nebraska.