Review: Frank Zafiro writes another winner with "And Every Man Has To Die"
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 05 1, 2011
Possibly the most complicated and hard hitting novel in the series, "And Every Man Has To Die" currently scheduled for May release is the fourth book in the River City series. A series that began with "Under A Raging Moon" moved into "Heroes Often Fail" and last year's release "Beneath A Weeping Sky" has provided lots of action, crime, drama and occasional romance through the lives of the men and women of the River City Police Department in eastern Washington State. While the novels and numerous short stories that bring this fictional world to life may be just that, fiction, there is universal truth in them. Beyond that, the hard hitting series provides hours of quality reading as does this latest book.It's July 1998 as the novel opens and Officer Katie Macleod and others are being dispatched to a report of violent domestic abuse. Officers Battaglia and O'Sullivan arrived mere seconds before she did and are quickly inside the victim's apartment. Forced to confront the male suspect as he attempts to escape down a flight of stairs, Officer Katie Macleod quickly becomes involved in a fight for her life.A fight that will have major repercussions in obvious and not so obvious ways. Against the back drop of an increasingly strong and always ruthless Russian mob suffering its own not so obvious power struggle, author Frank Zafiro once again brings home the truth of what it like to be a police officer day after day. While the Russians may have "plans within plans within plans" to gain control of not only just River City but much more, the men and women of the River City Police Department are just trying to hold the line.And survive.Author Frank Zafiro has created another gem in a series distinguished by numerous short stories involving these characters as well as the three preceding novels. Those of us of a certain age can remember the TV series "Hill Street Blues" which, for its time, was not only ground breaking but brought police officer reality home to the average viewer. Author Frank Zafiro does the same thing through words and creates images that will linger in the brain long after the final pages detailing a shocking conclusion are finished.Material provided by the author in exchange for my objective review.Kevin R. Tipple  2011