Those who haven’t read the earlier installments of Jeff Shaw’s Bloodline series will have little trouble following the overall arc of the protagonist’s life and work in BROKEN. But they might want to go back and catch up anyway, if for no other reason than the dog. Travis has all the charms typical of his species, but in BROKEN (the trilogy’s third volume), the trained canine reveals life-saving skills that his own human, protagonist Capt. Marcus Trufant, didn’t even know existed.
The author’s former career as a police officer lends BROKEN plenty of authenticity, with extensive details about the inner workings of city and police systems. Among strong details are sensory depictions of injured or dying individuals described from their points of view and a poignant scene involving one character’s death. But the most informative and entertaining of these details are the newly discovered abilities of that loyal dog.
BROKEN begins in Kentucky, where a U.S. Senator’s son dies of an overdose, setting off a high-visibility case. Clues lead to San Francisco, where the newly promoted Captain Trufant is investigating another case involving the suspicious death of the retired chief of police—a case in which he becomes a prime suspect. The new chief, openly hostile to Trufant, is only one of myriad past and current enemies—from drug lords to victims of brutal pasts to politicians—now threatening the captain.
The book has a massive cast, with even walk-on characters given full names, and in individual passages the reader might get lost keeping track of them and their backstories. The story is further weighed down by extensive inclusion of factual and emotional information from earlier books in the series.
Copious details about guns and multiple violent murders (some gratuitous) abound. A complex and multifaceted storyline asks readers to juggle a lot of information, clues, past actions, and motives; and, as a result, the shock value of some major reveals is weakened. There is also a scene that strains credibility, and some readers might tumble to at least part of the mystery’s multi-pronged solution early in the novel. Flat sentences serve only to move the story along, and the perfunctory narrative is not aided by stilted dialogue. For example: “Good work here Dylan and smart thinking, now tell me about Rivers.”
Still, readers interested in a detective mystery that is long on violent battles, has plenty of twists and complications, and offers insights into the workings of criminals and police officers will enjoy the story of this fierce, dedicated officer—and his gifted dog.
Readers chiefly interested in heroic action, complex developments, and dramatic confrontations will enjoy Jeff Shaw’s BROKEN.
~Anne Welsbacher for IndieReader