Balboa Firefly (Tommy Donahoo Book 1) by Jack Trolley, Tom Ardies

To paraphrase the classic…Should old thrillers be forgot and never brought to mind? Well, Brash publishers don’t believe that and so they’ve made it their mission to give thrillers of years past a new digital life. Sometimes it’s books that well deserve a second chance, sometimes it’s books one can do without. This one is somewhere in between.
A first in series featuring detective Donahoo of San Diego police, of gruff Irish charm, of considerable detecting skill and no ambition past solving crimes. So much so that he repeatedly passes up promotions. In this, his first fictional outing, Donahoo is supposed to solve a convoluted multiplayer plot to essentially improve a neighborhood using some really drastic measures. The multiple antagonist thing is presumably the thing that’s the main original attraction here and it is creative enough, but the much more prominent draw is the writing itself, the darkly humorous cop banter, if you’re into that sort of thing. If not, there’s plenty and I mean plenty of action (and even some romance, can’t have Donahoo get lonesome) to entertain you.
But the thing is some of that banter might not be for everyone, specifically not in this politically correct day and age we live in. Because it is so blatantly racist and homophobic at times, it’s just kinda takes you aback. Mind you and this is a really important distinction, it isn’t racist and homophobic in intent, purely in language. But since the PC police doesn’t really make that distinction, it can be kind of jarring to read some of this. Of course, yeah, it sounds very realistic, and people really did say all those things and not that long ago, this book isn’t really that old, 1996 or so, originally, going by the story. It just makes the banter something of an acquired taste and highlights how far we’ve come as a society, albeit strictly linguistically, it seems.
So anyway, there you have it, a quick, fun, action driven police procedural thriller with buddy cop comedy elements from a different era. The San Diego location was an added bonus. Thanks to the publisher for providing a free copy for review purposes. Stay brash, folks.