Review: Trouble right here in River City
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 6, 2011
"And Every Man Has to Die" is the fourth book in author Frank Zafiro's River City series, set in a fictionalized version of Spokane, Washington.You don't have to be from Spokane to appreciate all the witty banter and wonderful interactions between the patrol officers on River City's graveyard shift, or enjoy the plot as Russian gangsters try to establish a criminal empire in a small city that is ripe for the picking.  But the book is even more fun to read if you're from here and you recognize local streets and landmarks.  In one scene, two officers meet in the parking lot of the Costco I usually go to in order to discuss a meeting with an FBI agent at the Quality Inn where my sister stayed one of the times she came up from California to the real Spokane.  A crucial scene early on takes place in a neighborhood I drive through several times a week on my way home from work.  On a metatextual level, it was both slightly weird and really enjoyable to find myself thinking things such as "Isn't that just north of the Safeway I used to go to all the time?"Zafiro is a captain in Spokane's real police department.  That experience shows in all kinds of subtle touches in his scenes featuring his law enforcement characters.  Readers, especially those who are fans of procedural TV shows such as "Chicago Code" or "Flashpoint", will appreciate learning more about how patrol officers and detectives think and why they do things the way they do.  You will come to love at least some of these characters by the time you're half-way through the book.Russian mobster Valeriy Romanov is the kind of character you'll love to hate.  Parts of the book are told from his perspective and, well...  He has maybe two redeeming qualities, but neither one of them is enough to make you forget just how awful the guy is.  I knew Zafiro was on the right track when he revealed that Romanov is a huge fan of Frank Herbert's "Dune."  Romanov's mantra of "plans within plans within plans" should give you some idea of what to expect as things escalate over the course of the novel.You'll laugh.  You'll cry.  You'll want to read it again and again.