About To Serve and Protect

Edited by T. Mitchell
219 pages / 92000 words
ISBN: 978-1-60370-165-5, 1-60370-165-6
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc, paperback

Cops, correction officers and firemen are the guys who keep us safe. They serve and protect the citizens of the world, and give us some serious heat at the same time.

Chris Owen gives us cops with On the Clock, where Detective Strang has a murder to solve and a guy from another department to share it with. Gallagher is in computer crimes, and since the victim of their case was strangled at his computer, it's a natural match. The two share an obvious attraction, but will they get so wrapped up in each other that they can't solve the case?'

From CB Potts comes Nothing's Ever Easy, about Corrections Officer Grant, who despairs of ever finding a man who can get past what he does for a living. A chance encounter with a mysterious cab driver gives him hope, making him wonder what matters more: what you do for a living, or the kind of living you do.

In Flesh and Blood by Tory Temple, Chance and Tucker of Heat fame return. Tucker's having issues with what he feels is hate directed at him and his lover because of their relationship. Can Chance get Tucker back on track before things crash and burn?

Alexa Snow serves up Mitch, a policeman with a life that should be smooth sailing. Unfortunately, his boyfriend is getting on his nerves, he has a murder to solve, and he has a mysterious stranger telling him all the details no one but the killer could know. Can Mitch make sense of the chaos before the killer chooses another victim?

See what makes the men who save lives and catch the bad guys so hot! Lock up your copy of To Serve and Protect today!

Review

James Buchanan, author of My Blue Coyote, writes:

What’s better than a cop story?

Four of them.  Well okay, a fireman story, two sets of detectives and a pair of correctional officers, but you get the idea.  It’s a uniform fetish bonanza. Beyond the “serve and protect” theme all of the stories share a common thread: the search for someone to connect to, to be reassured by and loved for who you are. 

On the Clock, by Chris Owen, gives us a murder mystery.  Chance, and the investigation, brings together two men who might otherwise never have found each other.  A lost and looking Canadian CO in CB Pott’s story, Nothing’s Ever Easy, finds that what he needs isn’t necessarily what he was searching for.  Because, like the song says “you can’t always get what you want, but sometimes you get what you need.”

Tory Temple’s firefighters are back, negotiating the tricky world of their relationship.  Prejudice, injuries and demands of their job unsettle Chance and Tucker in Flesh and Blood.  While in Trace Evidence, Alexa Snow’s detective discovers while hunting a killer that love takes work.  Sometimes almost loosing what you have is the only thing that makes you realize it. 

I can’t pick out just one story to recommend.  They’re all good in their own way.  Each a little different, tackling the subject from a different angle.  Sweet and romantic to a little hard core, you won’t be disappointed in any of them. 

Sample

From On the Clock by Chris Owen

"Strang, you're up! Grab your coat." Lieutenant Williamson's voice cut across the room, impossible to ignore even though Cort was tempted to try. He'd been just about ready to head home with a stack of files to read from the comfort of his armchair, and now he'd have one more folder to add to the pile and wouldn't see home for hours.

"Where?" Cort asked, standing up from his newly cleaned off desk and reaching for his jacket. He was pretty sure that Williamson hated him. His shift was over in five minutes and there were already fresh detectives in the room, coming in for the next watch.

"Oakplace." Williamson handed him a sheet of paper with the address and the bare details on it. "Patrol's already there and the ME is on her way. The victim's a white male in his thirties, patrol reports no suspect at the scene when the body was found."

Cort nodded and stuffed the paper in his pocket. "On it." Arguing wouldn't get him anywhere but put on notice, and Cort had learned a long time ago to just go when he was told to, no matter what.

"Oh, and Strang," Williamson called, just as Cort reached the door. "Don't bitch about not having a partner on this one. If it looks like you need one, Samuels and Turner will be wrapping up something this year, won't you guys?"

Cort tried not even to look toward where Samuels and Turner's desks were, but couldn't quite stop himself. As expected, they were looking grimly at him instead of shooting their glares at Williamson, which was probably safer for them if not wonderful for Cort. "It'll be fine," Cort said weakly and made his escape.

It had better be fine, he told himself as he drove to Oakplace. He hadn't had a steady partner in months and was barely keeping up with his workload, but it had better be fine. Passing off his active cases didn't look good, and putting work on the others would only earn him more grief from Williamson. He hadn't even had time to look at his cold cases in weeks, and there wasn't any telling when he'd get a partner he could tolerate. It was looking more and more like it was time to put in for a transfer. The bullshit was becoming unbearable.

His mood wasn't the best when he arrived at the crime scene; he was tired and fed up, which wasn't his favorite way to start a case. The uniformed officer waiting in the hallway outside the apartment saw him coming and straightened up, clipboard in hand.

"Relax, I'm with Homicide," Cort said, showing his badge. "What's it like in there?" He scrawled his name and badge number on the sign in sheet, making the officer hold the clipboard steady for him.

"Pretty clean, no blood. The medical examiner's waiting, and the forensic team got here about three minutes ago. Everyone's kind of wound up that no one from Homicide's here yet."