Person of Interest-Theresa Schwegel

Person of Interest
Theresa Schwegel
St. Martin's, Nov 2007, $24.95
ISBN: 9780312364267

Chicago police detective Craig McHugh is undercover investigating a deadly Chinese-American gang the Fuxi Spiders, who peddle illegal drugs. Craig knows he needs to get in closer with members if he is to get the proof that they sell heroine including a lethal bad batch. To do so he plays card with Moy and other Fuxi Spiders, who take gambling as a sacred pastime, losing his entire official allotment and some of his own money in the game.

While he is away from his family, they have issues. The police found his brooding teenage daughter Ivy at a party where ecstasy was being used. His wife Leslie assumes he is having some sort of early middle age affair and feels entitled to one too so she chooses her daughter’s boyfriend. However, his professional and personal lives converge forcing a good cop to take drastic measures to keep his loved ones alive from vindictive thugs.

This exciting thriller will be on the short list for police procedural of the year as the action, some quite graphic, never slows down for even a paragraph. Besides a strong undercover subplot and a close look at the underbelly of the Windy City, the key that makes this a strong tale is a deep look at a cop whose keeps him away from his family leading to a dysfunctional relationship. Readers will seek Theresa Schwegel’s previous Chicago PD tales as they come highly recommended (see PROBABLE CAUSE and OFFICER DOWN)

Harriet Klausner