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Austin City Blue [Hardcover]

Jan Grape
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)

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Book Description

December 2002
In Harm's Way

When Austin police officer Zoe Barrow fatally shoots twenty-five-year-old Jesse Garcia during a standoff, Internal Affairs has some hard questions -- because the dead perp also happens to be the guy who put a bullet in Zoe's husband and left him a vegetable. Assigned to desk duty until she's cleared of any vendetta, Zoe tries to piece together a series of strange and violent new twists that will make or break her career.

One of her snitches, a local prostitute, is murdered and Zoe finds a strange connection to another unofficial case: a friend of her husband's who thinks his wife has hired someone -- a cop -- to kill him. Soon, threats from Garcia's uncle, another brutal murder and a sobering link to police corruption put Zoe in the line of fire, fighting to save her badge, her honor and her skin.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
4.2 out of 5 stars
Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars Austin City Blue Sep 26 2003
By A Customer
Format:Hardcover
Jan Grape's first mystery novel Austin City Blue was nominated for best first novel (Bouchercon 2002). I bought it because I used to love the wonderful, friendly, book store she and her husband owned. I knew it would be well written (I have read several of her short stories) and took a chance. I was delighted to find that I loved the book. The characters are memorable, the writing is polished and the plot is engaging. I hope it is first in a series.
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2.0 out of 5 stars disappointing Aug 23 2003
By Foodie
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Being a displaced Austininte, I looked forward to reading this book because of its locale. Unfortunately, the plot and characters were poorly developed, sentences were often clumsily constructed, and the Austin historical snippets were repetitive and not terribly interesting.

Guess I'll skip the next Zoe Barrow book, if there is one.

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4.0 out of 5 stars Zoe rhymes with Joe Aug 26 2002
Format:Hardcover
Jan Grape is best known for writing short stories and editing mystery anthologies. AUSTIN CITY BLUE is her first novel and hopefully, the beginning of a promising new series.

Zoe Barrow is a member of the Austin Police Department currently assigned to working desk duty at her local precinct. A few days ago she was attending a sports event at a local arena when she heard the call requesting police backup. Officer Barrow went to the scene and found two officers wounded at the hand of a single perpetrator. When the suspect starts to make a move she shoots him even though she is not aware of his identity. A few moments later she learns that he was Jesse Garcia the man responsible of putting her husband in a coma.

Zoe does not trust her feelings. She is not sure if she shot Garcia out of doing her duty or just plain revenge. It does not help that she is confined to office work and the people at Internal Affairs are getting on her case. She manages to get distracted from all that when Avery Peppard, a friend of her husband, comes to her asking for help. He believes his wife is having an affair with a cop and that they are plotting to kill him. She does not know what she can do for him so she helps him find Jason Foxx, a private detective, to help him. It is not until an informant with a connection to Peppard is found murdered in a motel room that Zoe decides to get involved.

Ms. Grape writes a good novel that is heavy in character development. Zoe is a conflicted woman who is torn between what she knows and what she believes. She loves he husband very much but he has been in a coma for a long time. She is attracted to Foxx but does not want to betray her husband. The story is fairly good with several red herrings placed throughout the novel. The author leaves the door open for another book and it will nice to learn more about the life of Zoe.

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