Another Good Read
My friend Dan Marcou, a retired SWAT cop and police supervisor from Wisconsin, has another police novel out. This one is titled “Nobody’s Heroes,” and it continues the adventures of a group of street cops in a small city in Dan’s state. This time, they’re up against a serial killer.
If Dan’s action scenes sound realistic, well…it’s because they’re real. He hit upon the ingenious strategy of taking real-life gunfights and simply transposing them shot-for-shot to his fictional characters. In this case, cop’s cop “Dave Compton,” a beloved street-wise patrol sergeant, relives the shooting of a real-life beloved, street-wise patrol sergeant, Dan’s and my mutual friend Marcus Young. In both cases, the good guy survives multiple gunshot wounds and goes on to inspire others, and in both the real case and the fictional version, the classically evil bad guy ends up in the ground. Marcus is of course one of those mentioned in the acknowledgements.
Brother Dan also has a way with words. When officer asks a more experienced one why he calls even the worst bad guys “Sir,” the latter replies that it’s an acronym for “Sincerity Isn’t Required.” That’s a better definition than the one I learned many years ago. At one point, the serial murderer is described as “nervous as a feral cat at an NRA picnic.” Dan’s stuff is just fun to read.
You can order an autographed copy of “Nobody’s Heroes” from Dan Marcou, PO Box 195, Holmen, WI 54636 for $20 including postage. In a time when certain politicians try to spin fiction into reality, it’s good to see a veteran street cop turn reality into entertaining fiction.
September 18th, 2009 at 2:33 am
I’m going to send a check, as I’m a voracious reader of good writing.
I’d rather read a good fiction novel than watch television. If I can talk “She who must be obeyed” into it, I’m not going to replace this television when it finally gives up the ghost. People ask me if I have cable, and I reply, “Yes, one for towing.”
Take care and stay safe.
Biker
September 18th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Gonna have to check them out. My favorite author uses a Boston Detyective and Medical Examiner as her main two charcters most of the time. Tess Gerritsen, some pretty bizzare stuff. Lives up in Maine, must be something in the water up there.
September 19th, 2009 at 2:45 am
So THAT’S why the young punks in the neighborhood have been calling me SIR!!!
September 19th, 2009 at 9:45 am
The one thing that has always irritated me is when the cop gets interviewed by the media about a criminal and they use the term “gentleman”. It’s as if they are searching for a better description, but that word just automatically comes out. How about “dirtbag”, “neanderthal”, “a**wipe”, “scumball”, etc.? I know it confers a high degree of proffessionalism and maintains innocent until proven guilty, but gentleman certainly doesn’t fit, especially if he just got done mowing down several innocents in a drunken rage after holding up the 7-11. What gives with that? Or, is that an anacronym for something too? Seriously, wouldn’t “person”, “Mr. ____”, “the accused”, “the perpetrator”, something along those lines be more appropriate?
BTW, “The Ayoob Files ” is a great book. I shook my head in amazement the wholeway through. Changed my outlook about handgun performance. Thank you.
March 30th, 2010 at 8:46 pm
I know this is posting on a long, dead discussion, but Steve brings up something I just had to comment on.
I see the police using the term “gentleman” as a term of irony. They stay polite by using it, and also make a really dark joke. The dirtbag they just nabbed or are chasing is just about everything a gentleman is NOT in their minds, thus it’s a case of ironic humor. I like it. I use it. I want them to keep it up.
I’m going to look up this author’s name on amazon.com and see if I can get his books. I like reading good works of fiction by someone who has a good, familiar grasp with the situation. Much like David Drake when he writes with gritty realism in his military works (he’s a historian, former lawyer, and former interrogator with the US Army during the Vietnam war), or Harry Turtledove when he writes alternative history (he is a historian).