Persuader by Lee Child

Lee Child, Persuader (New York: Dell Books; 2003), 480 pages.

Lee Child's "Persuader" is another book featuring Child's signature character Jack Reacher. Reacher is a former military policeman who is now retired and spends his time travelling incognito around the United States. He prefers to keep to himself, but situations and circumstances arise that work against this. In this book, Reacher finds himself in New England helping federal agents infiltrate a criminal organization that has taken a federal agent hostage. Reacher's motivation in personal: he recognizes a member of the criminal organization as someone he and his team failed to kill ten years ago. With this second chance, Reacher successfully works "off the books" with the federal agents and infiltrates the criminal organization and systematically goes about doing what he does best, namely kill bad people without remorse.

As a work of fiction, "Persuader" is adequately entertaining. It’s well written by a prolific author that has built a successful writing and now movie franchise around the character of Jack Reacher. "Persuader" is not a work of art and it’s a good bet that the author will not be recommended for a Booker or Nobel Prize based on this work. The book however does enough to keep the reader turning the pages. I'm not sure this is Lee Child's best book. At times it’s formulaic and riddled with violence. I didn't enjoy it, but did not dislike it so much as to want to put it down. A book about a self-righteous, live for the moment nihilist who operates simultaneously in co-operation with the law and above the law and intent of a killing spree motivated by revenge is enough to contain my curiosity for the duration. The down side of this book is that it breeds familiarity and sympathy for such a character who acts simultaneously as enforcer, judge, jury and executioner. I'm not certain that this is what we want in all of our popular fiction, but acknowledge that Lee Child has built a career on serving an audience that wants exactly that. Perhaps this reader has read enough of the works of Lee Child for the time being. Perhaps it is time for this reader to move onto other authors and come back to the works Lee Child at a later date.

Three Crooked Kings by Matthew Condon

Matthew Condon, Three Crooked Kings (St. Lucia: University of Queensland Press; 2012), 352 pages.

This book, the first of two by the author on the subject, details the corruption in the Queensland (Australia) Police Force from the post-World War Two era through to the 1970s. The corruption is centered on three ambitious but corrupt policemen: Terry Lewis, Tony Murphy and Glen Hallahan who through intimidation, guile and other various means operated as a protected but corrupt core of officers throughout the police force. Condon writes about their rise from their positions as raw recruits, patrol officers, detectives and (in Lewis's case) management positions including ultimately the office of commissioner. Condon's book accounts for their rise through the force, their role in various illegal activities and protection rackets, the mentoring and protection they received from other corrupt officers, in particular, former Commissioner Francis Bishoff. The book concludes with Lewis's ascendancy to the position of Police Commissioner. The pending second book in the series is expected to cover his time in this office, and his eventual downfall and prosecution.

Many of the facts in this book have been covered in other books, most recently by Steve Bishop in "The Most Dangerous Detective." Many of the facts are repeated, but in less detail than in Bishop's book. The biggest innovation or revelation in this book are the facts revealed by Condon’s access to Lewis's personal diaries. Lewis kept detailed diaries throughout his entire career. Condon's exclusive access to these records enabled him to give a broader accounting of Lewis’s career. For example, Condon details Lewis’s impressive record as an ambitious patrol officer, Lewis's record in securing convictions, and his success as a detective in clearing cases. Condon also writes about Lewis's meeting with other important police and political figures, providing accounts of what was discussed. These facts enable Condon to confirm facts alleged by others, and point to contradictory or differing accounts of various events in the careers of the three principal officers (Lewis, Murphy and Hallahan).

Condon's book is aimed at a wide audience. It covers most of the subject matter in sufficient detail; however, it lacks the depth of Bishop's book. Nonetheless it is an excellent primer into the extent of police and political corruption in Queensland in the post-World War Two era. This book would best be read prior to Bishop's more detailed and scholarly work, and Condon's forthcoming second book in the series.