I requested this book for my partner, who enjoyed it. Gritty, realistic, and easy to read, it could have used a bit more polishing from the editorial team, but not poorly done.

Got this as a freebie from Amazon. No need to summarize the plot, it's fairly standard: old cop under fire, young cop trying to play it straight, old cop becomes mentor, they bond.

The first half of the book really did not grab my attention. Manfredo defines the relationship between the two cops: Rizzo is in trouble with IAD for protecting his old partner, and McQueen was rapidly promoted to detective for saving the mayor's daughter from a rape, and creating the background for the recurring mantra: "There's no right. There's no right. It just is," a phrase you just knew would be the last line of the book. So far nothing special.

The book really picks up, however, in the second half. After the two are chosen to locate the unstable daughter of a city councilman who has disappeared, however, it really picks up and I finished the last 150 pages without going to the bathroom. No real surprises the councilman is dirty and has ulterior motives for wanting to get his daughter back, etc., but the story becomes more focused and adds some interesting characters. I won't add any spoilers, just a note that those who know their Alamo history may remember James Butler Bonham and what he did. Rizzo uses him as behavioral model.

According to a blurb on the back of my copy, Manfredo had some twenty-five years of experience in the criminal justice system. If this book reflects his experience with politics and police and the intersection of the two, it's a very dark view of the system.

Two stars for the first half, maybe 4 for the second half. Splt the difference. ( )

Rizzo's War contains some of my favorite attributes: a gritty setting; smart, likable, good, but flawed (like the rest of us) cops; and most of all - a mentoring relationship.

Unfortunately, I did become overwhelmed with numbers. Yes, the setting is NY and the street names are numbers, but did every single turn or destination have to include the street name? Ugh. And, I was annoyed with a repetitive line. Rizzo smokes, so almost every time he was in the car with his partner McQueen, he would blow the smoke out the passenger window. I got it - he smokes. He smokes a lot and tries to spare his partner the secondhand smoke. Grrr.

Putting the above aside, I really liked Manfredo's style. He allowed us into the heads and hearts of both Rizzo and McQueen while moving the story line along, so I feel like I know these two cops, and I really like them both. They have different personalities, mainly due to their experience level, but they blend and compliment one another nicely. Also, shining light on the ambiguity of the job and working a variety of cases added a very realistic feel.

I prefer a strong sense of suspense and a little humor every now and then to make a book an "excellent" read, but I'm very pleased with Manfredo's debut and look forward to my next encounter with these two detectives.

Originally posted on: Thoughts of Joy ( )

Joe Rizzo is a veteran NYPD detective who is partnered with ‘young gun’, Mike McQueen. Rizzo is to be the teacher and McQueen the wary, but willing student. Both Rizzo and McQueen have their reservations about trusting each other. Rizzo has been around enough to know there is a lot of grey area between the black and white that McQueen sees in his idealistic view.
They work several different types of crimes together from burglary to murder. Their ‘main’ case is the missing bipolar daughter of a city councilman. As they investigate, interesting things start turning up and they learn more about the father than they wanted to know. The way they are asked to investigate is somewhat suspect too, but the rewards could be quite high.
Rizzo has a savvy, somewhat jaded view, but that’s what makes him so knowledgeable about the ‘real’ way detective work goes. The stressors on both Rizzo and McQueen, and decisions both officers wind up having to make are amazingly real and will determine how their life and jobs proceed.
This is an interesting police ‘procedural’ book that is realistic. Very well written and intriguing throughout.

Reviewed by Ashley Wintters for Suspense Magazine ( )

What frustrates me more than an altogether awful book is a potentially good book done sloppily. That describes Lou Manfredo’s Rizzo’s War to a ‘T’ — it’s a novel that, while an earnest and ambitious novel at its core, has a hard time showing anything of import under the sagging and drooping mediocrity.

(Rest of review is here, for legal reasons.)
http://pop-damage.com/?p=4502 ( )