- Hardcover: 384 pages
- Publisher: Doubleday (April 16 2002)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0385501188
- ISBN-13: 978-0385501187
- Product Dimensions: 23.9 x 15.2 x 3.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 612 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (16 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #1,105,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
A call to a Peeping Tom incident starts Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman on his strangest case yet in this nicely low-key but compelling page-turner. True, the Iowa lawman encountered Satanists in his debut, Eleven Days (1998), but the perp described hanging in thin air outside the upper story window looks like Bela Lugosi. When a body drained of blood is reported in a rural mansion, Houseman realizes this investigation isn't going to be routine, or easy. More bodies pile up, in Iowa and across the Mississippi in Wisconsin (with a fellow cop noting, "Vampire. Suspect that weird has to be from your side of the river"). Police radio chatter "Ten-four, Comm. 'I'll be ten-seventy-six to the scene'" and details of the manhunt could not be more authentic, since the author (Known Dead; The Big Thaw) spent 26 years in law enforcement. He even includes a glossary of ten codes for the curious. With laconic masterstrokes, Harstad complicates his plot with the arrival on the scene of a professional vampire hunter, problems with a disgruntled subordinate and Houseman's introduction to the sexual underworld of blood sports. Series regulars such as investigator Hester Gorse and Old Knockle do their turns, with officer Sally Wells copping the funniest moments why not bring some garlic on the stake-out, just in case? The suspect is supposed to be a vampire. Harstad has crafted another engrossing entry in one of the best new police procedural series.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
From Library Journal
Carl Houseman, primary detective for the Nation County Sheriff's Department, is called out to the apparent suicide of his boss's niece. After a careful crime scene investigation and a thorough autopsy, it is clear that Edie Younger could not have cut her own throat. The wound is very similar to that of a young man found dead in nearby Wisconsin. To complicate matters, the dead man's girlfriend had reported seeing a vampire-like creature outside her window. As Houseman and Iowa State Special Agent Hester Gorse grapple with people who actually believe that one of them is a real vampire, the story becomes a picture-perfect police procedural. Everything is here the painstaking search for evidence, the questioning of suspects and witnesses, the hours spent in the rain on stakeout, and the attention to the rules of law. This fourth book in the series by Harstad, a former deputy sheriff with 26 years of experience, is packed with suspense, heart-stopping action, and haunting scenes. For all fiction collections. Jo Ann Vicarel, Cleveland Heights-Univ. P.L., Ohio
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than I expected,
By
This review is from: Code 61 (Mass Market Paperback)
"Code 61" by Donald Harstad will startle your senses and stretch your imagination, an unbelievable tale of the heartland so well told you will believe every word. Deputy Sheriff Carl Houseman is summoned to a crime scene, a purported suicide and every aspect of the area surrounding the body screams deception. When a young woman reports that the peeping-tom at her window is very pale and has fangs, perplexedofficers can find no ledge for anyone to perch upon. Then the autopsy proves murder with startling information that involves the small town and surrounding area police officers on a "vampire" hunt. Harstad's greatest writing talent is his ability to place his readers into the midst of a case and take them step by step through to its final conclusion. Once you have read one of Donald Harstad's novels you too will be a fan. Beverly J Scott author of "Righteous Revenge" and "Ruth Fever." Reviewer for Intriguing Authors and Their Books at http://www.funeralassociates.com/authors.htm
4.0 out of 5 stars
A most likeable cop,
By "kdons" (Burlington, IA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Code 61 (Mass Market Paperback)
With the title it has, I would never have even picked up this book if my sister-in-law hadn't given it to me because it is set along the Mississippi like KEEPERS OF THE RIVER. Yes, it's a vampire story but don't expect a real one. Too bad. I think the story would have been more intriguing if the vampire turned out to be genuine, but I suppose the author didn't want to risk leaving the mystery genre. With the hope of finding a Midwestern Dracula, I waded into a maze of technical police stuff but was carried along by amusing dialogue and a most likeable cop, Carl Houseman. He is an unique and engaging character. Unfortunately, the others are not so readily pictured and the ending was rather anticlimatic.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Another mystery from the heartland,
By Pangloss "soldierblue" (Woodstock, Georgia USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Code 61 (Mass Market Paperback)
I have read all of Mr. Harstad's books and found them all quite enjoyable. True, they are not of exceptionable literary merit, but the stories are intriguing and the characters add a lot to the story. I think they offer insight to life in the midwest, and a lot of detail about police work in that area. "Code 61" is a quick read with a rather unusual bad guy who could have really been expanded more in the story. He is discussed a lot peripherally, but not enough is said about his motive or background. Without revealing anything about the plot, I am a little confused about the title since it doesn't really tie in with the story all that well. I would also like to see the Hester Gorse character expanded. She is the tough, no nonsense state agent who assists Deputy Houseman in most of his cases. In any event, it is a good story and worth a read. I would caution readers that if you are not into "police procedural" novels, then this may not be for you.
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